Re: thoughts a functional shell

[Ross Smith <myxiplx googlemail com>]

While I like the idea of a document-centric system, I think the
gnome-shell idea is the best idea I've seen to approach it given the
way people use their computers today and the software available.

The big problem for me is that document-centric needs both the shell
and the programs running within it to be designed with that in mind,
and I don't see how a new shell alone is going to achieve that.

To mention a few specific problems with your ideas:

- Opening documents is slower - instead of immediately opening with
the default program, the user is having to make a choice.  This will
alienate the 90% of users who just want to use computers.
Unfortunately I don't see how document-centric can work when there are
so many different programs which can work with each type of file.

- Ditto for creating new documents - which program is going to be
used?  I would suggest that it's actually easier for creating
documents for the users to just open the program they want to use and
start working.

To me the beauty of the gnome-shell 'Activities' approach to me is
that it's starting down the line of document centric working, but
activities can mean documents or programs, which means it integrates
well with the current software and the way people work now, but it
also provides a really convenient way to just work with documents -
and I see that being potentially a large stepping stone towards
document-centric software.

So with gnome 3.0 you get the best of both worlds - things work just
fine for people wanting to run programs, and it also works for people
who just want to use documents.  And the concepts I've seen discussed
on the wiki indicate to me that some of the people working on gnome
3.0 definitely have document-centric in the back of their mind.

Finally, some food for thought - to me, the Activities concept is
superb, I think that linking activities through workspaces is
potentially better than just document centric.  Many of the things I
do involve working with several documents, and co-ordinating quite a
few things at once.  So I could be working with 2-3 documents,
browsing the web, and chatting with colleagues.  That involves
multiple documents, and multiple programs, but it's all just one
activity.  And on a busy day, I might want to have half a dozen
activities on the go at once.

So gnome 3.0 covers:
- Program centric - I just launch the program I want
- Document centric - I just open the document I want (and no need to
browse through folders to find it)
- Activity centric - I open all the programs, and documents I want all
together, and with zeitgeist I can browse through the programs and
documents used with each activity.

Ross

PS.  I'm very much a newbie here, so please, don't assume there's any
huge weight of experience behind these ideas ;-)




On Sun, May 10, 2009 at 5:45 PM, daniel planas armangue
<daniplanas a gmail com> wrote:
> hello, first of all I will introduce myself:
> My name is Daniel and I am a flat active member of the community Art
> ubuntu, sorry for my bad inglish :(
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> the desktop continues to be focused on programs (activities), only you
> change the name.
>
> I propose to focus the desktop files (documents).
> I propose that the desktop functions such as Rhythmbox
>
> -classifique-automatically separate the files and type:
>
> . imagenes
> . musica
> . videos
> . packages
> . text documents
> . ... etc.
>
> -a single-folder for the library of music (ie a single folder to store
> all files)
>
> . home folder
>
> -system-search songs (files)
>
> . This philosophy requires desktop indexing
>
> -------------------------------------------------- --------
>
> that the difference compared to the current system:
>
> Cons:
> . the system is more invisible to the user and many times you do not
> have a mental idea of where everything is (although you will find it)
>
> . indexado required if there are many files
>
>
> pros:
> . The desk is much more organized (it is true that many like to make a
> library of folders and files manually and are all very orderly, but many
> users siquera not know where it will stop when you download a file or to
> save a document) .
>
> . desktop (currently a work table) can become an organizer
>
> . It is faster to access files, which are ultimately the final interest
>
> . programs go to the middle and do not engage!
>
> . less clicks, fewer things to more easily read =
>
> ------------------------------------------------
>
>
> see the mockups, everything is more clear:
>
> 1-menu
>
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork/Incoming?action=AttachFile&do=get&target=1-menu.jpg
>
> 2-document
>
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork/Incoming?action=AttachFile&do=get&target=2-document.jpg
>
> 3-new
>
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork/Incoming?action=AttachFile&do=get&target=3-new.jpg
>
> 4-activities
>
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Artwork/Incoming?action=AttachFile&do=get&target=4-acticities.jpg
>
>
>
>
>
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>