[oclug]Re: Linux too hard?

[GR Gaudreau]

> > [gr]  I sure hope it does, and it's true that desgning an
> > interface is difficult. The thing I find the hardest, I think, is
> > the interfaces working so very differently one from another. In
> > Windows, or the Mac, especially the Mac, things work together a
> > lot more. Maybe I'm just expecting too much.
> [Mike]
>     Expecting too much from a bazaar, probably. Shops within that
>     bazaar can
> be consistent, like all KDE apps feeling the same, and all Gnome
> apps feeling the same. It's well known that users prefer
> consistency, myself included. I expect keys like Ctrl-X to cut,
> Ctrl-C to copy, Ctrl-P to paste, because windows made it a de facto
> standard and I'm used to it. 
>     I hate to admit it, but for some tasks I find windows far
>     easier, because
> of the draconian consistency. Sometimes even the task of finding a
> decent file mangler under Linux can be quite a chore, and yet the
> windows explorer has been good for years. I honestly don't know why
> Gnome has abandoned gmc. I think it's the best thing those bloatware
> professionals ever did. Nautilus is just...sick. Konqueror is only
> useable as a file mangler IMHO, as the web browser has too many
> bugs. Typically if I want a file mangler, I use Emacs in dired mode.
> 
>     I understand the frustration, but without one dictator
>     controlling all
> free software development, it will never be coordinated, and I think
> we'd lose to much by introducing such a dictator. 

[gr]   Truth be known, even if I went to the Mac, I think I'd
eventually end up installing a ppc Linux anyway. I like Linux, it's
just that sometimes I get so frustrated with it.

I was reading an editorial today in Linux Magazine, page 4, titled
"No Red Scare," where Jeremy Zowodney talks about a unified look and
feel that's is being initiated by Redhat. I, for one, appreciate the
effort. I also think Linux developers could learn a lot from from Mac
developers. These guys have it together. Heck, even XP is nice to work
with, though I don't much like the colours. The learning curve from 98
or win2k is very reasonable, even for a non-tech type like me.

Maybe what's needed is a committee of some kind to give a direction to
Linux development. Not some dictator type, but a bunch of people
getting together, who have taken a look at how Mac, especially Mac,
and Windows have used their savvy and experience to build interfaces
that are workable and --dare I say it?--user friendly. You know,
common menus, common key bindings(which can be changed if desired),
and so on. Of course, I understand that in the hardware dept,
manufacturers have been extremely slow getting on the Linux bandwagon;
and that's a bummer.

One thing that should really be looked into is printing in Linux.
Geez, it's frustrating when you can't even get a printer to work as
you'd like, when you consider that it's easy as pie with Windows and
the Mac. You'd think that after so many years the printing problems
would have gone away, especially when you have a printer which is
Linux friendly, like my Lexmark Z33, for example.