Re: why kde and gnome's menu situation sucks
On Thu, Oct 24, 2002 at 10:06:17PM -0400, Luke Seubert wrote:
> On 10/24/2002 6:58 PM, Michael Cardenas at michaelc@lindows.com wrote:
>
> > On Thu, Oct 24, 2002 at 06:24:54PM -0400, Luke Seubert wrote:
> Does this not qualify as meeting your standard, "Same action should produce
> same results"?
>
Well, I haven't used aethera, but kmail != evolution and I'm fairly
sure that aethera != evolution either. To new users, a menu with a
different name is a big deal.
> Don't get me wrong, I agree with the standard you set forth. I am just
> trying to understand how rigorously you believe it should be applied.
>
> Now, if you truly want to have the same action produce *exactly* the same
> result; then I would politely suggest that you are sort of advocating what
> Red Hat 8.0 does with Bluecurve. We all know what a hullaballoo that
> caused. Do we want Debian Desktop to attempt something similar within the
> Debian community? Ouch :-/
>
Alright, I see that we don't want to go down THAT road.
> > Also, an interface should teach users, so that as they use it, they
> > learn more about what it is they're doing. This approach would not
> > allow them to learn how to start "that other email program I use in
> > kde", since it doesn't present them with its name anywhere.
> >
> I understand what your concern here is. Let me ask you this. How often do
> you think this would be a valid worry? For example, think about the sort of
> user that Debian Desktop is meant to appeal to. How often do you think that
> sort of user will be switching desktop environments? Isn't it safe to say
> that such users are pretty likely to pick just one desktop environment and
> pretty much stick with that. In which case, a menu that does NOT offer BOTH
> the KDE and Gnome email app is not such a problem, yes?
>
I think that the argument that new users won't switch desktop
environments supports the idea of having menus with both kde and gnome
apps, since the likelyhood is that if they never try gnome, they'll
never even see evolution.
> Anyway, please let me know your thoughts on my feedback. Your position in
> contrary to my stated preference, but I am open to alternatives at this
> juncture. This is brainstorming after all.
>
I guess a good compromise would be to have both environments have an
email menu item, and have that item point to the respective platform
specific email client, but have some cues to slightly inform the user
that he will be running a different program, such as an icon and a
tooltip. So, in gnome, the email menu item will have the evolution
icon, and in kde, it will have the aethera icon.
--
michael cardenas | lead software engineer, lindows.com
hyperpoem.net | GNU/Linux software developer
people.debian.org/~mbc | encrypted mail preferred
"I am like powder,
I am like relaxation
I am the snow"
- Chan Marshall
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