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Usability Testing Hardy Heron With a Girlfriend

Posted by kdawson on from the sleeping-on-the-couch-tonight dept.

toomin writes "Reviews of the latest Ubuntu version, 8.04 Hardy Heron, are everywhere, but most of them are undertaken by geeks familiar with Linux. This guy sits his girlfriend down at a brand-new Ubuntu installation and asks her to perform some basic tasks. Some of them are surprisingly easy, others frustrate and annoy. There are lots of little usability tweaks he stumbles upon just by seeing the desktop experience from the point of view of the mainstream user."

42 of 846 comments (clear)

  1. I call Shenanigans!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    A Linux geek with a girlfriend?? Yeah right!

    1. Re:I call Shenanigans!! by iminplaya · · Score: 3, Funny

      I wonder if his wife knows about this...

      --
      What?
    2. Re:I call Shenanigans!! by MBGMorden · · Score: 4, Funny

      Particularly suspicious is that the only picture shown in the article of the alleged "girlfriend" is an admitted photoshop (that she apparently did herself) :).

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    3. Re:I call Shenanigans!! by Dystopian+Rebel · · Score: 4, Funny

      A Linux geek with a girlfriend?? Yeah right! If the geek is ambidextrous, the "girlfriend" could be the right, or could be the left.
      --
      Rich And Stupid is not so bad as Working For Rich And Stupid.
    4. Re:I call Shenanigans!! by AikonMGB · · Score: 4, Funny

      This is one of the problems with GIMP.. Who wants to show someone a picture that they edited and say "I GIMPed her in this picture"?

      Aikon-

    5. Re:I call Shenanigans!! by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 3, Funny

      Usability testing? With an OPEN SOURCE product?!

      This article is pure fiction. After all, usability testing is one of those things that evil proprietary software companies like Microsoft do!

      --
      Comment of the year
    6. Re:I call Shenanigans!! by spun · · Score: 3, Funny

      My girlfriend finds my hairy hardon perfectly usable since it came out of beta. Isn't a beta a type of fish?
      --
      - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
    7. Re:I call Shenanigans!! by cloakable · · Score: 5, Funny

      Not even Microsoft does usability testing - look at Vista!

      --
      No tyrant thrives when every subject says no.
    8. Re:I call Shenanigans!! by syousef · · Score: 2, Funny

      This is one of the problems with GIMP.. Who wants to show someone a picture that they edited and say "I GIMPed her in this picture"?

      I don't know what it is about open source software and attrocious names. Ubuntu is no better. Fiesty Fawn? Gutsy Gibbon? Hardy Herron? I mean it's hard to come up with sillier names (but I'll try). I don't think I'll be using Ubuntu until I can casually say my wife got upset at me spending my weekend with Slutty Sow, Homo-erotic Horse, Randy Rhino and Lewd Lama.

      --
      These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
  2. He does what with his girlfriend ? by BattleCat · · Score: 5, Funny

    Something is surely wrong, when instead of fscking her right proper he sits her down with Ubuntu...

    1. Re:He does what with his girlfriend ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'm pretty sure running fsck was task number 13. No, task number 13 is to explore the oriface suite.
    2. Re:He does what with his girlfriend ? by tgd · · Score: 5, Funny

      Woh, I swear I thought you said fscking her right pooper and I wondered what kind of girl this is that has a right and left pooper.

    3. Re:He does what with his girlfriend ? by kevingolding2001 · · Score: 3, Funny

      This would be the deluxe model multi-user inflatable girlfriend.

    4. Re:He does what with his girlfriend ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      That's really not very funny. I would think that the geeks here would appreciate women as more than just something to gratify their desires.

    5. Re:He does what with his girlfriend ? by Wiseman1024 · · Score: 5, Funny

      While task number 14 would be to try backports. I'd love backporting her to the current version of my hardy hardon.

      --
      I was about to say 13256278887989457651018865901401704640, but it appears this number is private property.
    6. Re:He does what with his girlfriend ? by Provocateur · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, what's your definition of foreplay?

      Guy uses remote to start the Barry White

      GF: What's it called again?
      BF: Hardy Heron...
      GF: What er distro is this?
      BF: Ubuntu, baby, which is African for Jungle Love...

      (cue fireplace shot)

      --
      WARNING: Smartphones have side effects--most of them undocumented.
    7. Re:He does what with his girlfriend ? by mrscorpio · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, what's your definition of foreplay?


      I put on my robe and wizard hat....
  3. Usability Testing Hardon With a Girlfriend ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is Slashdot, not PenthouseDot or PlayboyDot.
    We don't have girlfriends to test the usability of our hardon's with.

    Oh... Hardy Herron, who's that ?

  4. Yeah, right. by Aaron+Isotton · · Score: 4, Funny

    In other news, man tests usability of Duke Nukem Forever running on GNU Hurd by making his GIRLFRIEND play it.

  5. Puts a whole new spin on the term... by csoto · · Score: 2, Funny

    "backporting." Ahem. Thank you. I'm here all week. Try the prime rib!

    --
    There exists no way of exchanging information without making judgments. --Bene Gesserit Axiom
  6. i'm upgrading! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    i hear that the new beta of girlfriend has built in ubuntu support

  7. Girlfriend? by angryfirelord · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is slashdot! I don't have a girlfriend, you insensitive clod!

    1. Re:Girlfriend? by grm_wnr · · Score: 5, Funny

      Open synaptic and install girlfriend (or just apt-get girlfriend like a true geek). Beware of the dependencies though.

    2. Re:Girlfriend? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      For the love of god don't do it! Girlfriend is extremely buggy.
       
      The feature list might seem very appealing, but it is dwarfed by the incredible amount of bloat that comes with it! E.g. every four weeks or so it performs not only sub-par it will actually crash certain programs you would want to start as long as girlfriend is sitting in the background.
       
      Girlfriend will also - seemingly randomly - and with increasing rate escalate its privileges and delete all sorts of stuff in the background, even though you didn't start it as super user.

      Oh yea, and if you choose to renice girlfriend to a lower priority in order to get some work done girlfriend will actually take your computer and throw it out the window!

    3. Re:Girlfriend? by hedleyroos · · Score: 5, Funny

      Real geeks compile their girlfriends from source.

    4. Re:Girlfriend? by David+Gerard · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's sudo apt-get girlfriend. It typically requires full access and control of your system.

      --
      http://rocknerd.co.uk
    5. Re:Girlfriend? by Centurix · · Score: 4, Funny

      Dependency not found: money

      --
      Task Mangler
  8. Arr matey. by grm_wnr · · Score: 4, Funny

    I laughed heartily at the fact that a common user scenario includes how to torrent a Spice Girls album. Not that I think that's not the case; it was just pretty refreshing to see how blatant this guy is about it.

    1. Re:Arr matey. by jimicus · · Score: 4, Funny

      They chose Spice Girls because not even the RIAA, with their inflated ideas of what each infraction costs, could possibly demand more than about 20 US cents with a striaght face.

  9. ports... by Anoraknid+the+Sartor · · Score: 5, Funny

    Where do I get this "with a girlfriend" release? .. of course with my luck, the "girlfriend" will be the openbsd version, and ship with all ports closed by default.

    --
    Find Japanese addresses in English on Google Maps Japan: http://diddlefinger.com/
    1. Re:ports... by Mastadex · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Most women [...] ship with all ports closed by default."

      I disagree. I believe that there is one port thats constantly open. The sad truth is that the volume knob only has one setting: 10.

      --
      A morning without coffee is like something without something else.
  10. Re:Only on Hardy Heron? Pah, I'm using... by TeknoHog · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm a Hairy Hippie using the Horny Hardon, and I'm pissed off because neither of these codenames were accepted for the current release.

    --
    Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
  11. Re:Exceptionally good. by papna · · Score: 2, Funny

    Kudos to Ubuntu. Why Kudos? Wouldn't it be better to use a native Gnome word of praise?
  12. Re:Smart move by ray-auch · · Score: 5, Funny

    > Again, there is no logical reason why this hasn't been implemented before.

    The word "girlfriend" should be a clue...

  13. Rampant Rabbit by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 2, Funny

    I never thought anything could beat Hungry Hippo, but I think we have a new winner here!

    --
    Summation 2
  14. Re:Smart move by Wiseman1024 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Hmm, sisters... I'd date my sister.

    Oh, wait, were you talking about testing Linux?

    --
    I was about to say 13256278887989457651018865901401704640, but it appears this number is private property.
  15. I can't be the only one... by digitalsolo · · Score: 3, Funny

    I can't be the only one who read this as "Usability testing hardy heroIn with a girlfriend".

    I mean, I'm sure it will work, but that is likely to soon require a replacement girlfriend...

    --
    Just another ignorant American.
  16. Re:Interesting by bmorency · · Score: 5, Funny

    Free IT support when I'm available at home Your wife wants to switch to linux because she will get free support from you? Did you charge her when she was using windows? :-)
  17. A lucky one? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    If one eye goes bad, we have a spare. If one lung goes wrong, we have a spare.

    If one pooper goes bad, we explode.

  18. Re:Wonderful emphasis by jrob323 · · Score: 4, Funny
    As a female computer programmer, should people assume my husband is computer illiterate? No? Then why assume his girlfriend is?

    Your husband is a female computer programmer? And he has a girlfriend? I admire your honesty, ma'am. -golf clap-

  19. Re:Smart move by Random_Goblin · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe a better test would be to have someone who is not familiar with Windows to test it.
    uh huh... and where are you going to find these people? I think you may have better luck specifying virgins or unicorns as testers...
  20. Re:Exceptionally good. by ElleyKitten · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'd love to see someone sit their girlfriend in front of a fresh XP install; "Now, go find drivers for network card, graphics card, divx codecs etc" Yeah right. Some of us girlfriends have been able to do that for longer than out boyfriends. It's not like you need a penis to figure out PCs.
    --
    "What is Internet Explorer 7? Are you saying we can't access the normal internet?" - I love tech support. Really.