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Debian Desktop Subproject Launched

Posted by Hemos on from the go-apt-get-go dept.

MrOutlander writes "The Debian Project is now officially addressing its usability on the desktop with the launch of the Debian Desktop subproject. Great to see usability being recognized as a very important part of debian. Other than the sometimes daunting install process, Debian is one of the best linux distributions."

7 of 384 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Required Reading... by Bonker · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Personally, I would pay more attention to the OS8 guidelines that the Aqua guidelines. IMHO, Aqua is a little broke. (Quicktime, anybody?) There's way too much emphasis on making computer controls look like real-life objects and not like computer controls.

    As someone who's used OS8, OS9, Linux, and all the video variants, let me tell you that OS8 comes pretty damn close to being *golden*. Apple spent a lot of time making OS7-9 pleasant and easy to use and it shows.

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  2. Great! by e8johan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is exactly what is missing if Linux is going to make it to the mainstream desktop.
    As soon as Linux is recognized as a userfriendly, easy-to-use desktop with lots of free (as in beer) software by the average user Windows will get into real problems. Such an opening would generate a *huge* increase in the number of users and thus in the interest in supporting Linux from different companies.

    Two points to avoid flaming: 1) I know that Linux is only the kernel, simply sed 's/Linux/Gnu\\Linux/' and be happy, 2) "as in beer" is how the average user will see it, my mother don't care for open source, she wants to use it as a tool!

  3. Ximian Setup Tools by SmileyBen · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Slightly off-topic, but bear with me: they mention using Ximian Setup Tools, but all mention of this project appears to have dissappeared from Ximian's website. Does anyone know what's happened to it? Are the tools orphaned, abandoned, or just moved (and hidden somewhere)? They were looking very promising, and in terms of achieving what this Debian desktop project is trying to, they seem to fit the bill very well...

    Anyone...?

  4. Re:Required Reading... by FooBarWidget · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What about the GNOME Human Interface Guide?

  5. Re:Maybe it's too much to ask, but . . . by Stephen+Williams · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How much of a performance increase is gained by optimizing the "average"[1] application? I don't mean stuff that bangs the CPU, like bzip2, or an MP3 encoder, or whatnot; I mean something interactive like a mail client, which spends most of its time in an idle state, waiting for the user to press a key or click the mouse.

    Optimizing the kernel for a particular CPU model is almost certainly a win (I'm not a kernel hacker and don't know how much of a win); but it seems to me that the costs of producing and storing multiple optimized versions of an "average" app probably outweigh the benefits. And since i386 is the lowest common denominator, Debian may as well just continue building for that.

    -Stephen

    [1]: if indeed there is such a thing as an "average" app.

  6. Menus by PeterClark · · Score: 4, Interesting

    One thing I hope that they will do is have better integrated menus for GNOME and KDE programs. I ran KDE in Debian and always hated that by default, there was a "Debian" submenu for non-KDE programs. Ditto under GNOME. Programs ought to be grouped by task, not by desktop.
    :Peter

  7. WHY the Graphical Debian installer focus? by 3t3rn4l · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I just successfully installed Debian on my notebook about a week ago. For the most part, my installation experience was uneventful, but one of the first things I was surprised by is the lack of a graphical installer. ( I flashed back to installing Minix on my A500 and my first install of Slackware back in 1995! :)

    SO WHAT!?! It installed fine.

    Some of my minor complaints include:

    Ease of install of Xwindows

    X installation has always been a bitch for me irregardless of the distribution Linux or BSD. It seems that it's something that always needs tinkering. I did get this going fairly quick after some help from my BSD admin guru--thank the Gods for buddies!

    Ease of install of sound

    I still don't have sound working, but I haven't given it the one two punch!

    Ease of install of APM support

    I probably haven't looked in the right place or good documentation doesn't exist. And I'm lazy? :S

    Up to date install documentation

    Let's face it, I think that once most people get their configuration working they don't think about giving back to the community. Something that should definately be reconsidered.

    Package Manager selection at end of install

    Aggravating. I don't want to sit and select then download and install 200M of software after I get it installed, but I DO want an easy way to get back to package management once I hastily exit out if it. I want my cake and I want to eat it too.

    Overall though, my Debian install was a pleasant experience.

    If I didn't have ~10 years of XP working with *NIX as a user and ~20 years of XP working with computers I certainly wouldn't know where to begin. That's why I think better documentation is certainly in order.

    OVERALL, Debian is everything that I would expect it to be for what I consider to be a non-commercial distribution of Linux.

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