[Usability] On The Open Source desktop & Linux in General

["Ryan Green" <ryangreen weedmail com>]

Some thoughts...but first some background, I'm a recent convert to Linux and have played with a few distros e.g. Red Hat, SuSE & Mandrake & am comfortable in both the major desktop environments i.e. KDE & GNOME. I must say I'm on the whole pretty please by what I've seen in both the desktops. And do think that they afford new migrants from both Windows & Mac most of the comfort of their old OSes. But I do sincerely believe that there is still much room for further improvements. Below are some of the ideas & proposals I have:

1.)A fully INTERACTIVE & ACCESSIBLE Speech & Remote Control-Enabled Desktop (for easy accesibility especially for the disabled & to a certain extent, lazy dudes ;))  

2.)An INTEGRATED Communication Suite (i.e. like Evolution has mailing, calender, contacts functions tightly INTEGRATED but with additional integration with ICQ, IRC, Gabber, etc all in one packaged solution), an Office Suite (i.e. StarOffice with Impress, Writer, Calc but with added Personal Accounting e.g. QHacc, Gnucash, Linux-Kontor, Banal and WebAccount,
a Web Browser Suite e.g. Galeon, Dillo, Mozilla, Netscape, Links etc, a Web Design/Graphics Suite (i.e. Babel, Quanta, Scribus, JBuilder, Gthumbs, Sketch & GIMP), Multimedia Suite that is divided into Music, MPEG/MOVIE Players (VideoLAN, MPlayer, Zplayer) & Multimedia Productions. And all these suites to have their own seperate Folders on the desktop i.e. possibly doing with the need for an application laucher.

3.) Another Feature i thought might make the *NIX desktop slick i.e. a Folder to hide all running dock apps but still located at the lower right corner, where double clicking it will reveal the running apps).

4.)One interesting & maybe both KDE & GNOME should look into is REAL-TIME Drap N Drop & PIN BOARD abilities aka QNX (i.e. a POSIX compliant *NIX like OS) i.e. where one computer linked to a common network can Drag N Drop files/folders onto one another's desktop...? hmmm...

4.) Also a Centralized Control & Admin Center that incorporates existing functions as found in Mandrake Control e.g. User Add/User Delete, Harddrake, Internet/Network Set-up & Admin but with added features to Package Management e.g. GUI aka Graphical FrontEnd to tarball ./configure, make, make install, make clean process, a centralized installed packages registry detailing package info like when (i.e. dates) it was installed, upgraded or removed, automatic dependency 9i.e. auto fetching of dependent packages needed via FTP, Http, CD-ROM)/conflict resolution that is more in line with & reminiscent of Apt-Get in Debian based distros & the function of Alien i.e. a program that converts .deb, .tgz, .slp packages into rpms & vice versa. Of course it will also be able to handle Uninstalling of packages & Not Needed dependent packages/file. This Package Management part of this Proposed Centralized Control & Admin Center will also take care of kernel upgrades no more confusing makem!
rproper & the likes. Last but not least this Centralized Control & Admin Center
should also be capable of providing a centralized frontend to application configuration files editing. All of these to come complemented by warnings of actions on the part of the user i.e. Do U Really want to remove this package?

5.)Also i like to see a more INTUITIVE, INTELLIGENT & SPECIFIC Job/Task based layout to Application Menus e.g. Games can be divided into Multi-Player >>> Half Life, Unreal, FreeCiv, Parsec, Quake...Single-Player >>> Maelstrom, Tux Racer, Ampethamine. Clanbomber, NetHack....hmmmm

I undrstand that REAL-TIME Drag N Drop across raises certain security issues to which I suggest we can adopt something like SunOS aka Solaris 8's Role Based scheme to security i.e. Primary Administrator, Sysadmin, User , etc where certain superuser privileges can be delegated where appropriate to all users. Hmmm on second thoughts, hmmm maybe this is more a distro level concern.

All of the above suggested improvements in my opinion & those of 3 other good pals of mine with different degree of exposure to Linux ranging from half a year to 5 years & using Linux for work, play & internet will I think lead to Linux Desktop that is INTEROPERABLE,INTERACTIVE,INTUITIVE,INTELLIGENT & PROFESSIONAL with an emphasis on the MAXIMUM possible USER FRIENDLINESS, ERGONOMICS & INTEGRATION. I know some of you will say that all these smells like M$'s Windows or Mac but there's one MAJOR difference i.e. both are PROPRIETARY in nature whereas both KDE & GNOME are Open Source. :)) Even though Mac's OS X looks slick & we know it's built on top of a BSD kernel, there's almost NO HOPE in persuading Apple to share with the Open Source community the secret to their GLOSSY design. We in the *NIX family will have to come up with something that will at least rival if not surpass both Mac & Windows. In BOTH KDE & GNOME I think we have MORE than mere competitors to the Windows & M!
AC desktops but BOTH KDE & GNOME possess the potential to  outdesign, outperform & outshine both the Windows & MAC desktops.

As for why the stress on near idiot-proof, lazybone approach to desktop design, well let us be REALISTIC & REALLY sit down & think about what the REAL world outside e.g. your everyday corporate & home users alike are like & try to acommodate & cater to as much of their needs & wants as it is possible. I'm NOT calling for the total elimination of terminals, geeks 
need not worry for terminals e.g. xterm, eterm & what have you will still be a part the desktop. What I'm calling for is an
understanding of what your Joe/Mary on the street wants in a system to encourage wider acceptability of Linux & the *BSDs.. 

On the issue of security & it's relation to attracting more cross-overs from other competing OSes. I have the following views:
The OSes i.e. Linux & *BSDs on the whole already come with a SOLID reputation for RELIABILITY, STABILITY & RELATIVE SECURITY BUT the same cannot be said of some applications. Hope u get what i mean...;) we need to implement stricter controls & standards i.e. Quality Control. What we MUST do is to work more closely with application developers i.e. volunteers & corporate alike to ensure HIGH Reliability standards in the programs i.e. one persistent & somewhat disturbing
observation is that I understand that distros have to keep themselves up-to-date i.e. jam pack their releases with bleeding edge applications so as to win over Quantity crazy folks but by packing their distros with thousands of packages, some of which are BETA even ALPHA releases)may compromise the overall stability of a user's system. i hope a balance can somehow be achieve that satisfies BOTH the want to keep oneself up-to-date & system stability & reliability.
.

Also we need to work more closely with hardware companies to ensure the maximum hardware compatibilty with the afore-mentioned OSes. Also as much as I applaud the spirit as embodied in the Linux Standards Base & File Hierarchy Standard & the likes, i want to see more effort towards standadization & inetroperability amongst the disparate distros i.e. the packages designed should be made distro-independent!!!

I sincerely hope that the above can be given some consideration and once again I urge all desktop, application developers & distros to put aside personal interests & work together as much as it is possible for WE all want to see the promise that is the Linux Desktop becomming a REALITY. Thanks.




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