Mohammad Bhuyan schrieb:

Should a user expect major changes in desktop experience on 10.3 from 10.2?

That's hard to tell right now, because I don't know exactly how much of the new stuff will be ready on time.

Software Portal / Application Manager is really a cool concept. Once it works and well integrated into desktop workflow, this is going to remove the major pain of desktop management. I can't wait to see it working.

You said it: "once it works and well integrated into the desktop" :-) But I am also curious and excited about that project :-)

As our desktops are more connected than ever, it is a frequent [...]

Sounds like an interesting concept and what I like most it shows a way of unusual thinking (which in many times leads to some very awesome results). My first comment would be, that usually the notification stuff appears when I actually work with the application. By having the notification in the tray it is not in the focus of my sight, so I have to shift my gaze and my attention to the corner of the desktop.

I wanted to add more bits regarding some UI issues. I will take it slow :D. Also I will cover some in my other email in reply to Silviu.

:-) Cu, Martin -- Martin Schmidkunz User Experience Specialist martin.schmidkunz@novell.com +49 (0) 911 740 53-346 ------------------------------------- SUSE LINUX Products GmbH, GF: Markus Rex, HRB 16746 (AG Nürnberg) ------------------------------------- Novell, Inc. SUSE® Linux Enterprise 10 Your Linux is ready http://www.novell.com/linux -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-ux+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-ux+help@opensuse.org

I've been following the progress of Linux for quite a while, trying out new versions every 6 months or so to see if it has progressed to a point where the pros outweigh the cons. These are some of my thoughts on the matter. I do not wish to start a flamewar, simply state that although it does lots right, it also does things wrong. Talking about such things should always be encouraged, not suppressed. A few things strike me about Linux development and OSS in general which I think would be beneficial to be addressed. Firstly, and as a side result of the 'developers == users' approach, very rarely is there ever any avenue for user feedback available. Most large scale distro's have no place to discuss what they like/dislike/need about the software in question. If you don't believe me check out all the main distro's websites and look for a place where people are discussing the distro itself. Critical discussion doesn't really happen - in fact this is the only place I have found where I can potentially voice issues I have with the platform without starting a flamewar - most forum regulars refuse to ever hear a bad word, no matter how justified. Bugzilla, and the GPL, is largely the reason for the first point. Everyone has the power to either submit a bug report or fix it themselves. The problem with this approach is that Bugzilla, while fine for crash reports, is entirely incapable of handling usability issues. Improving the software through a refined UI is simply not on the table with regards to Bugzilla. You can also, of course, code the changes yourself, but the enormous investment of time (that most people simply don't have) and the skill required makes this highly impractical. Since there is no open discussion of GUI improvements and most of the development work is done as a result of bugzilla postings, improving software through a refined GUI doesn't seem to be a common occurance. I realise there is an exception to every rule but by and large I always find the GUI elements in Linux unrefined and very basic. I admit I have not tried Suse for more than a few minutes (it does seem much more professional than Ubuntu though) so I will use Ubuntu as an example of what I mean. I've been using it since Warty (4.10). I recently downloaded Fiesty (7.04), which is nearly 3 years older. The GUI on Fiesty looks and behaves pretty much identical to Warty. There are a few slight cosmetic changes but by and large no work has been done - the bulk of it is all behind-the-scenes changes. There's nothing fatally wrong with it, true, but there is nothing really spectacular about it either. You can tell when using a piece of software if the developers have spent a large amount of time perfecting the UI (it's this sort of thing that's important to me) and I rarely ever see it in FOSS or have a 'that's cool' moment when I encounter something thats' particularly well done. As for the 'community' I have pretty much given up participating in it. I believe that all software is flawed and has room for improvement in some ways or another. Observing the OSS community (not all, just a rabid, vocal (and mostly newbie) majority) will talk about how Linux is fabulous, amazing and flawless while taking any and every (even if it's untrue) cheap shot at Microsoft. I'm not a fan of MS by any stretch, but I use software to achieve an end and don't care about ideology + politics, yet the FOSS community has a larger propaganda and FUD machine than Microsoft could ever hope to have. Software is judged on ideological considerations, rather than based on impartial considerations. It makes having rational, honest discussions nigh on impossible. I think Linux needs to engage it's users more and create more of a forum for critical feedback. I believe that critical discussion of Linux is highly suppressed, with the 'preaching to the choir' problem and the overly defensive nature of the community. Linux needs to find out why people *don't* use it, not why they do. I appreciate the whole 'if you don't like it don't use it' thing, but it is fundamentally incompatible with the goals of increased marketshare (and claims of superiority) that also accompany it. I believe the 'open source' mentality can apply to the free exchange of ideas, both positive and negative, as well as the free exchange of code. Non programmers need to be actively included in the process, people should be solicited for their opinions and ideas should be discussed, with good ones kept and refined and the poor ones (rightly) dropped. At the moment, as I see it, anyone who has any ideas for improvements to Linux will be very hard pressed to find a place where they can discuss them and have them considered. Anyway sorry for the rant, but I am pro-Linux in my heart, It just seems to fall short of my expectations a lot of the time. I feel it could be so much more, especially if the community was more honest about its limitations. I'll be more than happy to discuss Suse once I get some time to properly evaluate it, I just want to know if I will be torch-and-pitchforked like everywhere else for daring to say it's not perfect. Thanks. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-ux+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-ux+help@opensuse.org