Re: Reprise of the panel layout proposal

[James Ramsey <jjramsey_6x9eq42 yahoo com>]

--- thristian atdot org wrote:

> The basic problem is this: the user should not be
> able to get
> themselves stuck. On the Macintosh, for example, you
> cannot get rid of
> the Finder, the menubar, or the drive icons on the
> desktop - enough to
> "bootstrap" your desktop back to whatever state you
> like. The problem
> is that GNOME was designed to integrate with any
> window-manager, and
> so pretty much *all* its various functions are
> designed to be
> removable. In the worst-case scenario, we're left
> with a user staring
> at a blank screen, while GNOME and the window
> manager point at each
> other and say "I thought *you* were going to take
> care of it!".
>
> Bearing that in mind, what is the minimum possible
> desktop needed to
> "bootstrap" your desktop back to full functionality?

You understand the problem clearly. Thank you!

[big snip]

> OK, I'll re-evaluate my Minimum GNOME Requirements:
a
> way to start
> programs, a way to switch between programs, a way to
> get to the
> Control Centre, a way to log out, and a panel.

> Possibly, these things don't need to be on the same 
> panel, or make any
> panel "undeletable" - I would suggest that the last 
> copy of any of
> these items cannot be removed, a panel containing
the
> last copy of any
> of these items cannot be removed, and the last panel
> cannot be removed.

> "Containing" also means "containing a drawer which 
> contains".

> Note that this bit of my proposal does not contain 
> any mention of
> for advanced users only" yet shouldn't get in the
way
> of anyone setting things up however they want.

I really like this idea. It retains the GNOME GUI's
current malleability for the most part, yet keeps the
user from doing really bad things to the desktop.
IMHO, it's an elegant solution rather than a clunky
compromise.



=====


----I am a fool for Christ. Mostly I am a fool.----


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