Re: Installation Report for Sarge
Michael Banck <mbanck@debian.org> writes:
>> Why would you remove the terminal starter? It's very useful.
>
> It's also very confusing when you've never seen one.
Just exactly what is this "confusing"? If there were _lots_ of weird
system icons on the taskbar (as you facetiously suggest below), _that_
could be a problem, because it would obscure more basic functions; but
that's not what I'm arguing for, I'm arguing for _one_, the terminal.
If you don't know what it is, and you accidentally launch it or launch
it from curiosity, there's no harm done -- you can just close the window
(something this sort of person probably can do).
>> We should encourage people to become familiar with all aspects of
>> their system --
>
> So that means we should add Icons for all aspects of the system to the
> top panel?
Oh please. The command line is _important_ in debian, far more so than
lots of other random features. The ratio of usefulness to
complexity/danger is far higher for it than for most other "aspects of
the system".
I've dealt with people that are used to windows and don't know what the
command line is, and they're typically quite thrilled with some of the
things you can do by typing some simple command in a terminal. Not that
they're constructing complicated pipelines off the bat, but the basic
concept simply doesn't seem to be a problem.
A typical example is: If you want to install some package you heard
about, type "aptitude install FOO" -- they _love_ that.
>> and the command line is very empowering in debian.
>
> Of course. But if you just want to browse the web, read/write mail or
> listen to music, you don't need it.
... and the presence of a single button on taskbar doesn't hurt you
either.
>> Did the "3rd party usability study" actually recommend that? Did they
>> give reasons? Who was the study by, and what sort of users did they
>> look at?
>
> http://www.userinstinct.com/viewpost.php?postid=gnome26review
They make the "recommendation" you cite, but give no justification for
it, and the user surveys they give don't note any problems related to
the terminal (other than "user XX discovered the terminal, and didn't
know what it was" -- doesn't exactly sound like a big deal!).
-Miles
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