Re: [sabayon] hello

[Robert Taylor <robtaylor tinsputnik com>]

Thanks for the input Herman!

Some comments:

> 
> But whats wrong with the fact that the user can slightly modify his
> desktop and make him/her feel more at home. Let them add some applets
> (personally I would go nuts if I didn't have that windows selector
> applet) or a nice wallpaper, they have to work on it, not me.

Well let me turn that around on you a bit.  The question is not 'whats
wrong with this usecase or that usecase' but what is the continuum of
interface customization and lockdown that is important here.

I know what you are saying and actually i agree.  But i believe we
should be able to take a DE and strip it down to bare bones nothing if
we desire, and allow for various combinatorial settings all the way up
to full customizeability.

Locking a desktop down can be viewed as glass is half full, but
conversely it can be seen as glass is half full.  I am approaching the
idea from the perspective of enabling users and enabling workflows. 

In our testing of Linux, the BIGGEST OBSTACLE TO USERS has been
consistency between interfaces.  They like to click around and customize
stuff, but what really makes them happy is if their interface remains
exactly the same between logins.  

This of course is our usecase, but i can easily imagine that there are a
continuum of usecases out there that span the lockdown spectrum from
zero permissions to full permissions.

> 
> I absolutely believe Linux is ready for the desktop (at least the
> corporate desktop).

:)

I'm glad to hear that, I have to do a lot more research to become fully
convinced of this.  The issue of locking down an interface is actually
becoming  very important to us.

However, we are piloting Ubuntu, and so far its actually trivial to
replace windows machines with Linux ones.

I think its time to put up a wiki that thinks about these issues more
indepth and brings together ideas and strategies from all the different
projects and user experiences.

Thanks for the brianstorm guys, keep it coming!

- Rob