A tale of two desktops
,----[ Quote ]
| Many smaller steps toward consistency have already been made by both
| GNOME and KDE. KDE 4 should also see the adoption of freedesktop.org
| projects like the GStreamer multimedia framework and D-Bus
| inter-process messaging framework. Developments like this should
| continue to improve the consistency of the Linux desktop in to the
| future.
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http://www.pcauthority.com.au/feature.aspx?CIaFID=3446
Fluxbox on Gutsy, just to be different
,----[ Quote ]
| Just for giggles, I installed Fluxbox on Gutsy today ... which isn't
| really very daring, since the repositories have only been open for
| a day or two, and there?s very little in there that has changed.
`----
http://kmandla.wordpress.com/2007/04/26/fluxbox-on-gutsy-just-to-be-different/
Related:
It's a UI thing.
,----[ Quote ]
| So here go, with your knowledge of Word for Windows from the last
| 18 years, tell me how to open a document using the mouse. You'll
| most likely answer the open document icon, or File ->Open.
| Congratulations, and you?d be correct.
|
| Now this is Word 2007. Show me where the File Menu is. Stumped?
| Well it turn's out the Office logo in the corner is the new File
| Menu. Usually the icon in the title bar is the Application menu;
| at least since 1995. Normally you click that and expect to see
| Maximise, Minimise, Resize, etc.
`----
http://kirwanphotos.com/blog/?p=34
The power of the open source ecosystem
,----[ Quote ]
| What have I learned from my Apple experience? I learned the power
| of integration. It's clear that there is very, very little "code
| duplication" in OS X. For example, the text editor you get in pretty
| much every Apple program (Apple Mail, TextEditor, and pretty much
| everything else with an editor in it) is clearly always the same
| one. This could be considered an implementation detail, but I can
| tell you that users notice it, because everything is so consistent.
|
| The same thing can be said about applications: there is "one" of
| everything (one addressbook, one program to manage your photos, and
| so on). Linux, on the other hand, is all about choice: there are
| many, many ways to do anything. The divide between KDE and Gnome
| is a prime example. It is true that the open source ecosystem
| tends to ensure that the best supported and most used applications
| tend to emerge. However, in Linux if you want to browse the
| Internet you can pick between Konqueror, Firefox, and so on. To
| write your email, you can use Kmail, Thunderbird, Evolution. All
| of them have their strengths, and ll of them are fantastic.
|
| [...]
|
| Having experienced both worlds, I can honestly say that I much
| prefer the open source way. Choice isn't just important: it's
| crucial. Trusting the natural open source ecosystem ensures that
| only the best applications emerge and thrive. However, I also
| believe that giving users a "simplified way" of doing things is
| essential - and that's exactly what (K)Ubuntu is doing.
| It's a longer and bumpier road, but it brings better results -
| and it's a much funner ride.
`----
http://www.tuxmagazine.com/node/1000245
|
|
