Simply GNUstep Delivers UNIX, Simply

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday January 10, 2002 @06:09AM from the stuff-to-play-with dept.

Eugenia writes "A new, Linux-based operating system released recently, called Simply GNUstep and it is based on the GNUstep architecture, originally built by NeXT (OpenSTEP) and is now also used by MacOSX (Cocoa). The alpha version of the x86-based OS is available for download and boots off the 110 MB bootable CD. The cool thing about Simply GNUstep is its partial source compatibility with MacOSX programs (further compatibility is still worked on) and its clean infrastructure, as it only includes GnuSTEP graphical applications like WindowMaker, Mail.app etc. You can read an introduction article of the OS at OSNews."

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Re:GNUstep *is* more user friendly--by Fitts' Law by Waffle+Iron · 2002-01-10 08:50 · Score: 3, Flamebait

Large anything in the UI sucks because it takes space away from the actual information that I'm trying to work on. I always shrink all buttons, window frames, etc. to the smallest possible size. I enlarge all fonts to be nice and readable (because the text contains the information I'm trying to work on). I assign keyboard shortcuts to the most frequently clicked things, so a few milliseconds of mouse time on obscure buttons is irrelevant.
Sure, maybe you can ship the OS with huge child-like controls for newbies, but it is essential that grown-ups be able to shrink them down to an unobtrusive size.