Re: Reasonable deal for pre-ordering Ubuntu tablets
Chris Burgess <[email protected]> Wed, 6 Apr 2016 10:50:37 +1200
| Newsgroups | gmane.org.user-groups.linux.dunedin.general |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <CA+4hDcdnKs_H5CRysQPp7Wmv5-LoxbGWiaD7OaojNUH=DnyoUQ@mail.gmail.com> |
--===============5604310374937993131== Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=047d7b2e0cc77ff409052fc4aceb --047d7b2e0cc77ff409052fc4aceb Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 My take on this is that "I know where I put it" worked well when computer use wasn't the norm so computer users weren't the "average folk". Either your job required you to use the computer, or you were passionate enough to devote some cycles to learning a system. You soaked in the locations of the tools you needed. As computers became ubiquitous, the church broadened, and people started gulping at the app buffet / firehose that you'll find today on your smartphone, this was no longer realistic. We all saw this and recoiled at some point. <image of cluttered desktop> This is why search is a thing now. The store got too big; Hammer Hardware NEV lost to Mitre 10 MEGA, and search became a requirement. -- Personally I am with Kathinka on this. I don't invest much memory in where icons are. I type. I use a terminal and tab completion, or a launcher available from a key combo, and I grab things by their name. Some school of thought divides humans into "visual", "aural" (?), "kinesthetic". In a computer interface, I feel like a "linguistic" - I know the names of things, and the quickest way to find them for me is to name them. (Tab completion *is* search, and spellcheck, and an assistive rail that lets me check I didn't mistype the first four directories in the long path on a remote server I'm about to strike ENTER on.) I do appreciate visual labelling though; I don't scan well through a large number of text labels. (Some of this is about launching apps, but using apps doesn't map so well to the "name a command". However, I'd rather type *bold* than select the text and find the button for bold, OR select the text and hit ^b, so ... Anyway. I think we have more diverse ways of using computers. I think that the OS defaults today have evolved, which has made for discomfort for those of us who adopted early and today feel that those defaults don't match our use. I think there are plenty of good tools that make computing pleasurable, because there are plenty of people in similar boats to me. And I think I have used many metaphors here, but since we're talking about a desktop that's OK. On 6 April 2016 at 10:27, Christopher Lee <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi All, > > On Wed, Apr 6, 2016 at 9:12 AM, worik <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> My complaint is that Ubuntu, Gnome and I believe MS-Windows (I do not >> use it so am unsure) have moved from a paradigm of "I know where I put >> it", which is like a desktop, to "I can search for it" which is like a >> filing cabinet. I think that is promoting "language people" over >> "post-verbal" people. I yearn for the applets on the top bar, the easy >> to access menus and the launchers/files lying on my desktop. >> >> Yes I could assemble a software stack myself but I have a *lot* of >> things to do. >> > > When you say Ubuntu here do you mean Unity (referring to the desktop > environment) because, as I'm sure has been said before on this list, Ubuntu > isn't just Unity and is a collection of software. > If you're interested in a different desktop experience it's as easy as: > apt-get install windowmaker (or xfwm4 or blackbox or any number of > different desktops). > > Personally I don't think this takes very long and I semi-regularly try out > different ones to see how I like them (currently on i3 might try out > windowmaker for a 'retro' MacOS feel). > > My point is, the joy of an open system is the amount of alternative > software that achieves the same thing (hopefully one to your liking) and > with nice package management available makes it easy and quick to > experiment to find something you like. > > > Chris > > _______________________________________________ > DunLUG mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.ethernal.org/listinfo/dunlug > DunLUG Wiki - http://dunlug.kallisti.net.nz/ > --047d7b2e0cc77ff409052fc4aceb Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <div dir=3D"ltr"><span style=3D"font-size:12.8px">My take on this is that &= quot;I know where I put it" worked well when computer use wasn't t= he norm so computer users weren't the "average folk". Either = your job required you to use the computer, or you were passionate enough to= devote some cycles to learning a system. You soaked in the locations of th= e tools you needed.</span><div style=3D"font-size:12.8px"><br></div><div st= yle=3D"font-size:12.8px">As computers became ubiquitous, the church broaden= ed, and people started gulping at the app buffet / firehose that you'll= find today on your smartphone, this was no longer realistic. We all saw th= is and recoiled at some point.</div><div style=3D"font-size:12.8px"><br></d= iv><div style=3D"font-size:12.8px"><image of cluttered desktop></div>= <div style=3D"font-size:12.8px"><br></div><div style=3D"font-size:12.8px">T= his is why search is a thing now. The store got too big; Hammer Hardware NE= V lost to Mitre 10 MEGA, and search became a requirement.</div><div style= =3D"font-size:12.8px"><br></div><div style=3D"font-size:12.8px">--</div><di= v style=3D"font-size:12.8px"><br></div><div style=3D"font-size:12.8px">Pers= onally I am with Kathinka on this. I don't invest much memory in where = icons are. I type. I use a terminal and tab completion, or a launcher avail= able from a key combo, and I grab things by their name. Some school of thou= ght divides humans into "visual", "aural" (?), "ki= nesthetic". In a computer interface, I feel like a "linguistic&qu= ot; - I know the names of things, and the quickest way to find them for me = is to name them. (Tab completion *is* search, and spellcheck, and an assist= ive rail that lets me check I didn't mistype the first four directories= in the long path on a remote server I'm about to strike ENTER on.)</di= v><div style=3D"font-size:12.8px"><br></div><div style=3D"font-size:12.8px"= >I do appreciate visual labelling though; I don't scan well through a l= arge number of text labels. (Some of this is about launching apps, but usin= g apps doesn't map so well to the "name a command". However, = I'd rather type *bold* than select the text and find the button for bol= d, OR select the text and hit ^b, so ...</div><div style=3D"font-size:12.8p= x"><br></div><div style=3D"font-size:12.8px">Anyway. I think we have more d= iverse ways of using computers. I think that the OS defaults today have evo= lved, which has made for discomfort for those of us who adopted early and t= oday feel that those defaults don't match our use. I think there are pl= enty of good tools that make computing pleasurable, because there are plent= y of people in similar boats to me.</div><div style=3D"font-size:12.8px"><b= r></div><div style=3D"font-size:12.8px">And I think I have used many metaph= ors here, but since we're talking about a desktop that's OK.</div><= /div><div class=3D"gmail_extra"><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On 6 April 2= 016 at 10:27, Christopher Lee <span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:veebe= [email protected]" target=3D"_blank">[email protected]</a>></span> wrote:<br>= <blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1p= x #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir=3D"ltr">Hi All,<br><div class=3D"gm= ail_extra"><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote"><span class=3D"">On Wed, Apr 6, 2= 016 at 9:12 AM, worik <span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]= g" target=3D"_blank">[email protected]</a>></span> wrote:<blockquote class= =3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;bo= rder-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex"> <br> My complaint is that Ubuntu, Gnome and I believe MS-Windows (I do not<br> use it so am unsure) have moved from a paradigm of "I know where I put= <br> it", which is like a desktop, to "I can search for it" which= is like a<br> filing cabinet.=C2=A0 I think that is promoting "language people"= over<br> "post-verbal" people.=C2=A0 I yearn for the applets on the top ba= r, the easy<br> to access menus and the launchers/files lying on my desktop.<br> <br> Yes I could assemble a software stack myself but I have a *lot* of<br> things to do.<br></blockquote><div>=C2=A0</div></span><div>When you say Ubu= ntu here do you mean Unity (referring to the desktop environment) because, = as I'm sure has been said before on this list, Ubuntu isn't just Un= ity and is a collection of software.</div><div>If you're interested in = a different desktop experience it's as easy as: apt-get install windowm= aker (or xfwm4 or blackbox or any number of different desktops).</div><div>= <br></div><div>Personally I don't think this takes very long and I semi= -regularly try out different ones to see how I like them (currently on i3 m= ight try out windowmaker for a 'retro' MacOS feel).</div><div><br><= /div><div>My point is, the joy of an open system is the amount of alternati= ve software that achieves the same thing (hopefully one to your liking) and= =C2=A0with nice package management available makes it easy and quick to ex= periment to find something you like.</div></div><br></div><div class=3D"gma= il_extra"><br></div><div class=3D"gmail_extra">Chris</div></div> <br>_______________________________________________<br> DunLUG mailing list<br> <a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a><= br> <a href=3D"http://lists.ethernal.org/listinfo/dunlug" rel=3D"noreferrer" ta= rget=3D"_blank">http://lists.ethernal.org/listinfo/dunlug</a><br> DunLUG Wiki - <a href=3D"http://dunlug.kallisti.net.nz/" rel=3D"noreferrer"= target=3D"_blank">http://dunlug.kallisti.net.nz/</a><br></blockquote></div= ><br></div> --047d7b2e0cc77ff409052fc4aceb-- --===============5604310374937993131== Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64 Content-Disposition: inline X19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX19fX18KRHVuTFVHIG1h aWxpbmcgbGlzdApEdW5MVUdAbGlzdHMuZXRoZXJuYWwub3JnCmh0dHA6Ly9saXN0cy5ldGhlcm5h bC5vcmcvbGlzdGluZm8vZHVubHVnCkR1bkxVRyBXaWtpIC0gaHR0cDovL2R1bmx1Zy5rYWxsaXN0 aS5uZXQubnov --===============5604310374937993131==--