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diff --git a/zarb-ml/mageia-discuss/20100927/001334.html b/zarb-ml/mageia-discuss/20100927/001334.html new file mode 100644 index 000000000..d12f59f69 --- /dev/null +++ b/zarb-ml/mageia-discuss/20100927/001334.html @@ -0,0 +1,127 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> +<HTML> + <HEAD> + <TITLE> [Mageia-discuss] Mageia's strategy + </TITLE> + <LINK REL="Index" HREF="index.html" > + <LINK REL="made" HREF="mailto:mageia-discuss%40mageia.org?Subject=Re%3A%20%5BMageia-discuss%5D%20Mageia%27s%20strategy&In-Reply-To=%3C4C9FD0E7.8090001%40roadrunner.com%3E"> + <META NAME="robots" CONTENT="index,nofollow"> + <META http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> + <LINK REL="Previous" HREF="001332.html"> + <LINK REL="Next" HREF="001350.html"> + </HEAD> + <BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff"> + <H1>[Mageia-discuss] Mageia's strategy</H1> + <B>Frank Griffin</B> + <A HREF="mailto:mageia-discuss%40mageia.org?Subject=Re%3A%20%5BMageia-discuss%5D%20Mageia%27s%20strategy&In-Reply-To=%3C4C9FD0E7.8090001%40roadrunner.com%3E" + TITLE="[Mageia-discuss] Mageia's strategy">ftg at roadrunner.com + </A><BR> + <I>Mon Sep 27 01:01:59 CEST 2010</I> + <P><UL> + <LI>Previous message: <A HREF="001332.html">[Mageia-discuss] rpm or deb? +</A></li> + <LI>Next message: <A HREF="001350.html">[Mageia-discuss] Mageia's strategy +</A></li> + <LI> <B>Messages sorted by:</B> + <a href="date.html#1334">[ date ]</a> + <a href="thread.html#1334">[ thread ]</a> + <a href="subject.html#1334">[ subject ]</a> + <a href="author.html#1334">[ author ]</a> + </LI> + </UL> + <HR> +<!--beginarticle--> +<PRE>P. Christeas wrote: +><i> Let me rant in a rather non-polite tone: +</I>><i> why does *every* Linux distro have to be for Windows users?? Why does every +</I>><i> product need to be targeted at stupid people? (obvious answer: there is lots +</I>><i> of them) +</I>><i> +</I>><i> +</I>I think you have to separate "looking like Windows" from "implementing +as does Microsoft". One of the things MS does very well is user +interface design. What they *don't* do so well is implementation: +everything is done through the GUI, and MS oversimplifies by making +choices silently for the user without giving the user the option to +override. + +We're not exactly innocent in this respect either. MDV tools are +excellent, but they need the closure of a full transparent CLI as well +as a GUI. Experts and administrators need to be able to provide +configuration through batch scripts. This is not the case in many +areas. I do a large number of fresh installs intended to create a new +system configured as an existing system was, and it's really annoying to +boot for the first time and then have to invoke several GUIs to do +things like printer configuration, wireless configuration, and font +installation. + +In many areas, we have lost track of the simple fact that a Graphical +User Interface should be just that - an *interface* to a modular and +independent non-graphical module which provides "business logic". It +should never be the only way to access the business logic. Hopefully, +free of Mandriva's corporate restrictions, we can achieve that now. + +Another issue is choice. System tools have to provide a range of choice +suitable for both experts and newbies. While it is acceptable to choose +defaults that will work for newbies out of the box, it is not acceptable +to limit choices for everyone to those defaults. We've done this on +more than one occasion, the most memorable one being to radically change +and lock down the application menu system and refuse to consider any +configuration options that would deviate from this. + +Finally, there is transparency. MDV tools have in many cases extended +the standard Linux way of doing things in imaginative and useful ways. +What they don't do is document those ways so that admins and users used +to standard Linux ways can manually intervene or provide tool +extensions without extensive code reading. Also, there are many +portions of the toolset, e.g. disk partitioning, network sharing, +setting up VPNs, etc., which involve extremely intrusive and possibly +destructive operations. All such tools need to have an option, not +necessarily the default, to display to the user a detailed list of +changes that the tool proposes to make, and prompt for approval. + +The problem here is that advanced users and admins get understandably +scared when a tool proposes to do something that involves modifying +multiple critical configuration files or system resources without +providing the details of the changes so that they can be denied if +unwanted, or undone later if so desired. + +An even better approach would be to have each configuration tool produce +a program-readable file describing actions it takes, much as RPMs +provide, so that the tool, or some general tool running on another +bootable system with access to the root partition of the affected system +could undo the changes. + +I understand why these things were never done in the past. +Management/marketing (and perhaps even some devs) wanted the +windows-like newbie simplification, and didn't have the resources or the +desire to provide the closure of these features. I hope that we can +move past this. +</PRE> + + + + + + + +<!--endarticle--> + <HR> + <P><UL> + <!--threads--> + <LI>Previous message: <A HREF="001332.html">[Mageia-discuss] rpm or deb? +</A></li> + <LI>Next message: <A HREF="001350.html">[Mageia-discuss] Mageia's strategy +</A></li> + <LI> <B>Messages sorted by:</B> + <a href="date.html#1334">[ date ]</a> + <a href="thread.html#1334">[ thread ]</a> + <a href="subject.html#1334">[ subject ]</a> + <a href="author.html#1334">[ author ]</a> + </LI> + </UL> + +<hr> +<a href="https://www.mageia.org/mailman/listinfo/mageia-discuss">More information about the Mageia-discuss +mailing list</a><br> +</body></html> |