[Desktop_architects] Printing dialog and GNOME

[Segedunum]

On Thursday 15 February 2007 10:49, Christian F.K. Schaller wrote:
> Maybe you should actually try using GNOME for a Month or so instead of
> keep repeating your often wrong assumptions?

Well, I've never seen any real evidence that what he's pointed out is actually 
wrong. There's just an awful lot of posturing over what is quite clearly a 
really raw nerve.

> But there are many more such add-ons available and of course a lot of
> things a power user can tweak using gconf-editor.

Well, that's pretty much Linus' point really. There is *no such thing* as a 
power user. There is a user of your software, of which there are different 
varying kinds who may use different functionality at different times, and 
that's it. You can't just pigeon-hole them and say "Ahhh, well that would 
just confuse our 'normal' users" or "If you're a power user install this".

For example, bringing back up the subject of the print dialogue (keep it 
relevant), there is an assumption made that an 'ordinary' user would not want 
any kind of functionality within their print dialogue apart from printing it 
out basically. However, those of us who have experienced printing in any 
reasonably large (or small) organisation know that things (and life!) just 
don't work like that. Users, at some point, want access to the functions of 
their printer such as duplexing, they want to print out a handful of copies, 
they want to use economy printing (usually because of some management memo 
about cartridge spending), administrators want scheduling options etc. etc. 
etc. It's when these things are made difficult, or cannot be done, that 
serious questions are asked (and the word usability becomes a joke). In order 
for those functions to be performed, system administrators need to be able to 
quickly and easily set them and help desk people need to be able to walk 
through users on how to get what they want done. Apparently, system 
administrators and help desk people don't exist as users in a Gnome world - 
which is probably a *really* bad idea when trying to get a desktop accepted 
in an organisation ;-). As someone who's tried to get desktop Linux into 
local SMEs in a rational manner (nothing too fancy) that's my experience.

Users should be able to use software that presents them with the ability to 
get an awful lot of what they want done, most of the time, quickly and 
without fuss. Beyond that, it should then grow with them as they feel the 
need to use more features that become useful to them, and allow them to 
configure the environment to themselves and their line of work. The latter 
part is where the *real* usability work is done - and it's hard. You give me 
the name of any decent usability book and I will give you the chapter, page 
number and verse where it describes exactly that.

Now, if the reason for not doing things was "We just haven't got around to 
that yet", "We know people should be able to do that, but we're trying to 
organise it into something usable" or "We haven't got the developer manpower 
or time" then that's fine. Those are real issues relevant to any software 
project, open source or not. We've all been there. However, those are not the 
reasons that are used when functionality is missed within Gnome - and that's 
really sad for everyone.

> If you are up for a challenge why don't you use GNOME for a Month then
> come and do a talk about your experience at this years GUADEC in
> England? Could maybe be a good way to start a constructive dialog
> instead of this useless mudslinging?

Well, would it actually do any good? The same issues would come up, the same 
things would be pointed out, there'd be a nice 1000+ comment Slashdot 
article, people would say that Linus is a crazed lunatic and nothing would 
happen.

This actually has been a constructive dialogue, albeit with Linus being 
typically blunt and giving a straightforward 'solution' and the message 
getting lost in hysteria. It's just that it's a really raw and exposed nerve 
for some people because usability is actually a cover for other, more 
fundamental, problems. Gnome simply has to re-evaluate what usability 
actually means to be a relevant desktop for business and organisational use, 
if indeed it really believes in it.

Alas, such issues have got lost in buzzphrases such as "Just Works" 
or "10x10".

Cheers,

David