Re: [Usability] About Me Applet

[Neil <neil horizontheory com>]

Yeah, I forgot to hit Reply-to-All.  This one is sent to them.

Well, I think instead of getting rid of it, it should simply be used. 
The reason it's not being used, I imagine, is because not all programs
are Gnome exclusive (and they shouldn't be), and this is a Gnome
exclusive feature.

One way to handle this that I can think of right now (and I haven't
slept in a while, so forgive me if unfogged minds find this stupid) is
to have a sort of unified standard for DEs to provide user information
and a standard way for programs to call the information from whatever DE
is active and then let it be used however.  Building on that, a better
way is to have a standard which dictates a format for a file that
programs could read and DEs could write to (and read, handy if you have
more than one).  I wouldn't mind writing the standard, actually, if
people felt it would needed.  And since Gnome is already storing the
About Me information somewhere, a simple script could copy over the
relevant details to the new format.

-Neil.

On 6/12/2007 4:51 AM, Steven Garrity wrote:
> Hi Neil,
> Thanks for the reply - did you intend to reply to the list as well?
>
> If the About Me info isn't used anywhere, maybe it shouldn't exist? If
> the information is used, it should be clearly explained where/how.
>
> Cheers,
> Steven Garrity
>
> Neil wrote:
>> On 6/7/2007 6:16 AM, Steven Garrity wrote:
>>> Pardon the apparently ridiculously obvious question, but what is the
>>> rationale behind the data a user enters into the "About Me" applet?
>>> In what types of places is this data used?
>>>
>>> I ask because I can't imagine wanting to enter this type of personal
>>> info (job, address, contact, etc.) without knowing how it will be
>>> used. Will it be added to my instant messaging profiles? Will it go
>>> an an email footer? etc.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Steven Garrity
>>>   
>>
>> Neither of those places, so far as I can tell.  I think the intention is
>> that it would be used in the default fields for certain applications.
>> Ideally, the applications would prompt you either at save or first
>> run. But as I was writing this response, I tried to think of an
>> application
>> that I'm aware of which has used that data, and I can't think of any off
>> the top of my head.
>>
>> -Neil.