Re: [Usability] Chabada's Suggestions

[Matthew Paul Thomas <mpt myrealbox com>]

On Jun 28, 2006, at 2:36 AM, Alan Horkan wrote:
> On Tue, 27 Jun 2006, Matthew Paul Thomas wrote:
> ...
> > "Nautilus could not open the file because the filetype is unknown", 
> > or "&operatingsystem; cannot play MP3 files, because some countries 
> > allow software patents and Free Software cannot pay patent licenses".
>
> ... there are so many things wrong with that second sentence I will 
> not criticize it other than to say I hope you will retract it, or 
> rephrase it.
> ...

That (like most of your postings, alas) is critical but utterly 
unhelpful. How specifically would you improve the sentence?

(I'm assuming that Gnome is considered to be Free Software by default, 
and if a distributor charges money for the inclusion of MP3-playing 
proprietary software in their OS, they can patch the message to suit 
the rare case where you've uninstalled that software.)

--
Matthew Paul Thomas
http://mpt.net.nz/