Re: If this starts another flamewar please ignore

["Rikke D. Giles" <rgiles centurytel net>]

On 2005.12.20 04:22, Yiannis wrote:
>  For those not knowing the story... Linus Torvalds made the   
> following  statement and is posted on 13/12/05  "This 'users are  
> idiots, and are confused by functionality'  mentality of  Gnome is  
> a disease."
<snip typical anti-gnome rant>

You know, I have been using Gnome since version 0.6 or something like  
that.  So I used it way back when it had all that 'functionality'.   
And I liked it, that's why I stuck with it.  I've developed many  
programs for myself or my contracts in Gnome.  And I use it as a  
desktop.  From version 0.6 I've used it as my only desktop; not  
primary, not mostly, but only.

Back when we switched to the 'simpler' Gnome I was flummoxed.  But,  
where are all my settings?  Where is all my cool stuff to change  
around?  But Gnome 2.0 looked so great...   Now, I can't even  
remember what it was I was so upset about missing.  I LIKE that all  
the apps look the same, I like that they act the same.  I like them  
having buttons that do the same things, I like having the help look  
familiar, when I need it.  I even like the way the Metacity works,  
when at first I hated it.  It's comfy and simple and doesn't get in  
my way.

There are only two things I dislike about the changes:
1.  My windows don't remember their spots when I start up the  
application again, after shutdown, etc.
2.  I don't really like spatial nautilus, so I turn it off.   And  
there's that functionality that everyone says is gone; I _can_ turn  
it off.

And I can set what I want, where I want.  When I look at an old gnome  
desktop I cringe now.  Look at all that stuff I had to do to make it  
even workable!  Look at all those settings.

I dunno about Torvalds.   He's obviously a tinkerer, and Gnome  
doesn't need tinkering so much, and he's obviously one who wants  
things 'just so' and his way only on his desktop.  That's great.  Me,  
I'd rather work on my coding and writing papers than tinker with my  
desktop.  And there's one other aspect to Gnome which I really  
respect.  The HIG.  It's a bugbear sometimes when coding, but it's a  
GOOD thing.  I have a handicapped family member, I know what  
handicapped people go through.

My husband uses it, and he's not very computer 'literate', shall we  
say.  And he has his desktop set up and looking exactly as he wants,  
all customized, with the 'simple' Gnome that's supposedly  
uncustomizable. It's so oriented to him that I can't use it without  
some trouble; it's completely unfamiliar.  Sometimes I think these  
critics haven't even seriously tried Gnome.

Kudos to the Gnome developers.  You guys rock.

Cheers,

Rikke Giles