[OT] A couple of links about Gnome and usability

[Peter Alcibiades]

The first link is to a comprehensive review of Gnome 3, the whole thing being worth reading, but which culminates in the following:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fedora-16-gnome-3-review,3155-16.html

The implications for the Gnome-Ubuntu usability project are quite devastating.  Basically this justifies all of Torvald's rants about interface authoritarianism

Then we have Carla Shroder's review of Bodhi.  Note in particular Hooglund's comments on the core issue:  one size does not fit all people or all devices.

https://www.linux.com/learn/tutorials/556594-bodhi-linux-the-beautiful-configurable-lightweight-linux

The debate has turned from whether we like or dislike Gnome3 or KDE4, and has turned towards the core question:  is there one thing we should be imposing on people at all?

Finally, check out Linux Mint

http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/linux-mint-12-offers-traditional-gnome-feel

Finally, we have the ongoing revolt over the interface vandalism that KDE4 represented, and the forking of the Trinity environment as a response.

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/trinity-kde.html

Basically, the Linux desktop world in the last few years has been testing an hypothesis to destruction.  This hypothesis was that there is such a thing as usability, with rules that can be discovered and implemented, and that if you do this, people will be grateful.  This hypothesis has been decisively falsified, particularly the part about gratitude.

In the course of testing this hypothesis what happened was that 'usability' ceased to have any relation to what real people actually do and want while using their machines, because actually the greatest usability feature is familiarity.  Never mind if other people find it politically correct, if I am used to doing it a certain way, its usable for me.

The predictable result was users are walking with their feet, first away from KDE4, and now away from Gnome3 and Unity, often towards xfce.  The less predictable result has been that the whole question of whether usability is a useful concept at all has started to be debated.  As Hooglund's remarks illustrate.

Me, I have moved to Fluxbox, because it gets out of the way and stays out.  Everyone I support will be moving to xfce over the next few months.  With any luck, they will not notice its not Gnome2....!

Peter