I wouldn't exactly call Asperger's an illness. However, since you're a geek on the spectrum, take a look at my current project: http://www.quinncoincorporated.org/ I'm making a custom Ubuntu distro for young kids, specifically kids with special needs, like Asperger's.
It's crude, but a wonderfully accurate analogy. These conversations are like arguing over which condom gives you the best protection when screwing hookers, when the right answer is to just stop screwing hookers.
It used to be that Java would have to load the entire 42MB rt.jar file into memory on startup. I know at one point they changed it to just mmap the file, but you're still dealing with the whole thing. In the much anticipated update 10, it's supposed to be broken apart.
I think the JIT is pretty fast these days, in fact most of the Java guys seem to be blaming cold start time on disk seek+read time more than anything. Warm starts are noticeably faster that cold starts mostly because the files Java needs are in disk cache.
Leave it up to the marketing guys to figure out better names than what I came up with.
Um, when we did that we got "Intrepid Ibex".
And I think we just went full-circle. My original bitch was that retards constantly use the codename in the forums even after the f*cking thing has been released. Just get rid of the dumb codenames--then you can't have some dumb website or forum post using the term 'warty'.
Now that I agree with. I think that the repository names should be changed to the release number instead of the code name on the official releases.
Yeah--but how do I know if you're running Intrepid with updates from this morning verses the Alpha 3 CD?
You can't, but it still gives you a much better idea that "ubuntu-unstable".
So if they want to give the impression of mobility, they could pick any number of codenames. Ubuntu Mobile, Ubuntu Roaming, etc.
I think you misunderstand. The 8.10 release is focused on improving mobility and connectivity in the standard Ubuntu desktop, it is not separate product designed for mobility of mobile devices.
.I just think 'cute animal names' isn't very corporate.
Which is why the release names are date-based numbers, only the code names are attribute-animal.
No, I mean like 6.06, 6.10, 7.04, 7.10, 8.04, and 'ubuntu-unstable'.
Then, when it comes time to release, rename 'ubuntu-unstable' to 8.10, and start a new 'unstable' branch.
But again you have a problem. If I told you I was running "ubuntu-unstable" you would have no idea if it was the current unstable, or the unstable from 3 years ago. At least if I said I was running "Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex" you would know what I had.
My opinion is that if they are trying to pick stupid 'cute' animal names, why not pick something equally as stupid like 'Ubuntu fuzzy lovie bunny' which is scheduled for 8.10?
Think that codename is retarded? What makes it any more or less retarded than Gutsy Gibbon?
They don't try to pick "cute" animal names. They pick animals names and attributes (hardy, gutsy, intrepid) that give an indication of their goals for that release. The goal of 8.10 isn't to have the latest and greatest packages, it's mobility, for which an "Intrepid Ibex" seems well suited. The goal of 8.04 was stability and reliability for an LTS release, so "Hardy" also seemed appropriate. 7.10 was to test experimental things like Compiz, so "Gutsy" was chosen.
So call it 'ubuntu-pre', 'ubuntu-dev', 'ubuntu-head', or whatever. Those are all decent codenames.
You mean like 'debian-stable', 'debian-unstable' and 'debian-testing'? Well that doesn't tell you much either, because if I installed 'debian-unstable' 3 years ago and never upgraded, then what am I using today?
As for date-based, Microsoft really hit the nail on the head naming their OS Windows 95 and Windows 98 with software called Office 2000
Yes, date-based release numbers are helpful, we've already covered that. They kind of confused the issue by having both Windows 2000 and Windows Millennium, though. However, even Microsoft uses code names during development, like Whistler and Longhorn. It sure would have sucked for Microsoft if they had called Longhorn "Windows 2003" from the start.
Stick with a date-based numbering scheme. As an added benefit, clients will realize it's based on the year and want to upgrade when that number starts to get too old.
And Ubuntu does this, and also uses code names to avoid premature commitment to a release date. This seems to provide the best of both worlds.
Except now in my head if someone says they are running gutsy, I have to think to myself: Ok--Dapper was 6.06, E comes after D...WTF was it again? Oh yeah, Edgy, so that was 6.10 unless they released late...which release was late again? Oh well, doesn't matter. F was feisty...uh..7.04, and G was Gutsy...7.10. Ok--So you're running a version release about a year ago.
Instead if they just said "I'm running 7.10", I can think to myself: 7.10, that was about a year ago.
Yes, if you're interested in the age of a release the code name is not very helpful. Then again, sequential numbering wouldn't be helpful either: when was OSX 10.2 released? Nor would cool-sounding names: when was XP released? In this example, it's not the animal names that make it difficult, it's any naming scheme that is not date-based.
There is NO point to the stupid codenames. It doesn't actually change anything. The software still runs the same. Get rid of 'em.
They're useful as code names, especially when you are using a date-based numbering scheme.
Dapper was originally supposed to be 6.04, but it's release was delayed so that extra work could be put into making it the first LTS release, so it became version 6.06. If it had been officially called 6.04 during development, then they would have either had to change it, or kept the inaccurate date-based version number.
Now--think fast, and put these in the order of release and tell me the version number: "intrepid, hoard, gutsy, warty, vista"
warty, gutsy, hardy, intrepid. Ubuntu names went in alphabetical order starting with Dapper Drake (6.06). If you memorize the fact that warty and hoary were used before alphabetical ordering, you're mostly fine.
SSH Security issues, for instance running SSH through a firewall with no VPN; for businesses, the inability to monitor a user's activites because of encrypted traffic; port-forwarding capabilities that could open a wide open tunnel to the server and network from a compromised client; to name a few of the major concerns.
Um, what? I'm going to have to take that one piece at a time. What is the issue with running SSH through a firewall with no VPN? Businesses monitor user activity on the systems they use, not by scanning packets on the network. Once a machine is compromised, of course there's a security issue, that's true even without SSH.
In reality, I don't mess with these services enough for it to really be an issue. Once I have the system set up the way I want it, I rarely even touch those services.
Okay, I'm probably an edge case here, but it was a specific example that was relevant to me. I'm constantly starting and stopping mysql and tomcat as part of day to day development.
The whole point really boils down not to whether or not it's easier to accomplish things from the command line, but to whether you are unable to do it easily or at all via the GUI. That is where Gnome lacks IMO at the moment.
The "Server" service? That's the name of the file sharing service, or does it handle more than just file sharing? Ubuntu calls it "Folder Sharing Service", much more accurate I would think.
And, let see. Windows remote management (Vista/2008 Server only of course, MS didn't want the security issues it posed in Unix I guess...
I'm sorry, security issues? WTF are you talking about?
Joe average user wouldn't know that command line syntax let alone the service names.
Even if he didn't know the first time, he'd see their name when he used the Services GUI to manage them.
I tried that while at work, I had a directory with 5 MP3 files under it (not even sub-directories), and right-clicking the directory gave me no such options.
Selecting all the MP3 files in the directory gave me the option, and if I created a sub-directory then I could play them all if I selected some MP3 files plus the sub directory and right-clicked on one of the selected MP3 files (not the sub directory).
For added fun I put a JPG image in the music directory, did the same as above, and the JPG file was added to my play list.
Make a design that in 80% perfect, then start coding and hack the rest. No design will ever be 100% perfect, and if you wait to code until you can figure out the remaining 20%, you'll never get anything done. Honestly, even if you have 99% of the design figured out, you'll still probably end up hacking as much as 20% of the code.
Flexibility is good, but your code will never be flexible enough to handle everything, so don't even try. Again, get 80% coverage then add hacks to cover the fringe cases (unless you can ignore the fringe cases, in which case do that).
Beware of pattern creep, patterns are good but that doesn't mean you have to use them all. If you find yourself using more than 2 patterns on a given code path, you probably want to re-think how much you actually need them. Sometimes you will need them all, but more often than not you're just using one of them because it can be used there, not because you actually benefit from it.
Don't get so carried away with how you are accomplishing something that you forget what you are trying to accomplish in the first place. The best process ever written is useless if it doesn't actually get you where you wanted to go.
3. Window management I have never had trouble with in Windows. I've never had trouble in Gnome. I'm used to the upper left corner double-click to close a window in Windows, but Gnome doesn't let me do that (or maybe I just haven't found the setting for it). Can you explain further how Gnome manages windows better?
Gnome (and KDE and XFCE) allow you to make a window "sticky" or always on top. Certain Windows apps let you do this too, but it has to be provided by the app, it's not provided by the window manager. Compiz, of course, takes things to a whole new level with window-opacity, scale (expose), shelf (shrinks your window), grouping, and several others I'm sure I'm forgetting about.
5. If you have a middle click button on your mouse, the driver for that mouse will allow you to assign a multitude of different functions. My logitech mouse has 7 buttons, and a scroll wheel that clicks down and side to side. Every movement of those buttons can be assigned a function. It's marvelous!
Good for you, I don't have a super Logitech mouse, I have a basic 3-button mouse that doesn't have specialty drivers. At home, I have a laptop with a touch-pad, that emulates the 3rd button by clicking both left and right buttons at the same time. Still I can have this functionality, and it's consistent across mouse hardware.
6. Deskbar applett. Well MS decided to implement this as Active desktop, starting with IE 4 on Window 95. Crappy implementation, but notable in that they at least tried to follow Apple's lead.:)
Active Desktop? I'm not sure how that is anything like Deskbar. If I recall correctly, Active Desktop just allowed you to use some web content on your desktop, that's not at all what Deskbar does.
7. User filesystem layout. Not sure what you mean by this. I've found Gnomes file system layout to be limited compared to Windows 98 and forward. Hopefully v2.6 will help this out.
On Linux, all my user files are under/home/mhall119/, while on Windows they're under c:\Documents and Settings\mhall119\, except that some are under c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\, and sometimes my programs store their settings under c:\Program Files\AppFolder\ or, God help me, in the Registry. But the strangest thing is if I select "My Documents" (C:\Documents and Settings\mhall119\My Documents\)from the Start menu, and then to up a directory, I get to "Desktop" (C:\Documents and Settings mhall119\Desktop), from which I have to go down two levels ("My Computer" then "Local Drive (C)") to get to root of the file system (C:\).
11. Panels? your link in 12 helped clarify this. I just expand my taskbar, have my quick launch toolbar on one line, open app buttons on the other, and notification area icons split between both which minimized the width used on the taskbar. Perfect!
Perfect for you maybe. Personally I hate the start menu, prefer my taskbar at the bottom and my launchers at the top, and I really do like having a system monitor running where I can see it. On my kid's computer the bottom panel has nothing but launchers, is 48 pixels high, is only as wide as it needs to be to hold the launchers, and stays centered. I can't do that with Windows.
UI consistency works better in Windows Vista. Actually, it worked better in Windows 98 than Gnome does. When I arrange something in one of those, it stays that way.
Either you're lucky, or I'm unlucky. Windows XP regularly changes the order of the icons on my desktop. Installing a new application may put the application's folder at the end of the "All Programs" menu, but it may also put a launcher for the app itself somewhere in the middle (mixing files and folder? really?) And the most annoying of all is that the taskbar randomly forgets about an open window, I have to alt-tab over to it for it's button to reappear in the taskbar.
Virtual Desktops have been around in Windows for quite a while. My current desktop has 4. This has been provided free of charge from Microsoft for years now as part of the PowerToys collection.
I used the Microsoft one a few years back, it was slow and the usability was god-awful. Recently I've been using VirtuaWin which still falls far short of true virtual desktops, but seems to be less bulky. Still it's slow when I have a bunch of windows open.
Copy/Paste? Really, is that what we are reduced to? Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V is too hard?
This is probably the single most missed feature when I'm on Windows. Not because Ctrl-C Ctrl-V is hard, but because highlight middle-click becomes second nature because it's so easy. I am constantly trying to middle click when I'm on Windows, only to be disappointed.
Menu layout and panel consistency are a complete and total joke. See my previous comment on how much they change on just logging out sometimes. Seriously. This is so basic. Why is it not working after years and years of being buggy.
The only time I've ever had this problem is when I change screen resolution to something too low, otherwise all my applets stay in my panels exactly where I put them. I'm guessing this isn't something that effects a majority of Gnome users, so maybe you're doing something that's an edge case?
Have you never used one? They are all listed there with descriptions.
Again, what good is a description of something when you don't know what something you're looking for.
So if someone told you to restart all your SQL server services, would you know them by name?
Um, yeah. It's "mysql", as in "sudo/etc/init.d/mysql restart". You seriously don't know what SQL server you're running?
I'd just look in the services applett and find them and restart them.
Okay, say you want to disable network file sharing and remote shell execution (rcmd) in Windows, what services do you stop? On my box, its "sudo/etc/init.d/samba stop" and "sudo/etc/init.d/ssh stop".
And what if your choices are a short and simple command line, or a series of windows and dialog to get to check boxes on various tabs? For example, say you want to re-start a service in Windows, do you right click My Computer, select Manage, wait for the MMC to open, select Services, find the service you want, and finally restart it, or do you run "net stop/start ${servicename}" from the command line?
Can I view thumbnails in my file dialogs at least now?
You can see thumbnail previews in the file chooser, but only on selected files, it still uses a simple list view as far as I can tell.
Ideally it would use Nautilus to render the files in the file selector, so that it can show thumbnails on any file Nautilus can.
The problem, I think, is that the file chooser is a GTK component, not a Gnome component, and GTK doesn't do thumbnails itself, rather Gnome components handle that. Even the "preview pane" offered by the file chooser is implemented by the application itself, not GTK code.
There was some discussion about adding support for the FreeDesktop.org thumbnail spec into GTK, but I'm not sure what the status is on that.
The behavior of menu expansion mentioned several posts up would fall under Gnome, I'd think.
It does, and I think they have a bug being tracked for that. It's especially bad when you are using vector graphic icons because it has to re-calculate them whenever the cache is invalidated. I only ever experience this when I change icon themes, or add/remove menu entries, which cause Gnome to re-build it's icon cache. Windows has a similar issue. If you'd rather not have icons at all, you can disable them (can I do that in Windows?).
You're confusing the graphical subsystem with the UI. Every system has (1) a graphical subsystem, (2)a widget toolkit and (3)a window/desktop manager.
In Windows you have: 1) GDI/WDM 2) MFC/WinForms 3) Explorer/Aero
In Linux you have: 1) Varieties of X11 2) GTK, QT, XLib, Tk, WX, and several others 3) Gnome, KDE, XFCE, Enlightenment and several others
I don't know what the equivalent OSX layers are.
What the GP was saying is that X11 handles the multi-monitor setup on Linux, not Gnome or KDE.
Re:I thought they were skipping this release?
on
GNOME 2.24 Released
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· Score: 1
I'm working on a Fx/Tb extension for importing Photos to F-Spot. Comments/Testing appreciated.
You know, not two days ago I was thinking that it would be nice to import an image from a website directly into F-Spot. I just installed your extension, and it's fantastic!
Slashdot Mirror
I wouldn't exactly call Asperger's an illness. However, since you're a geek on the spectrum, take a look at my current project: http://www.quinncoincorporated.org/
I'm making a custom Ubuntu distro for young kids, specifically kids with special needs, like Asperger's.
It's crude, but a wonderfully accurate analogy. These conversations are like arguing over which condom gives you the best protection when screwing hookers, when the right answer is to just stop screwing hookers.
Common knowledge generally doesn't require a citation.
It used to be that Java would have to load the entire 42MB rt.jar file into memory on startup. I know at one point they changed it to just mmap the file, but you're still dealing with the whole thing. In the much anticipated update 10, it's supposed to be broken apart.
I think the JIT is pretty fast these days, in fact most of the Java guys seem to be blaming cold start time on disk seek+read time more than anything. Warm starts are noticeably faster that cold starts mostly because the files Java needs are in disk cache.
Leave it up to the marketing guys to figure out better names than what I came up with.
Um, when we did that we got "Intrepid Ibex".
And I think we just went full-circle. My original bitch was that retards constantly use the codename in the forums even after the f*cking thing has been released. Just get rid of the dumb codenames--then you can't have some dumb website or forum post using the term 'warty'.
Now that I agree with. I think that the repository names should be changed to the release number instead of the code name on the official releases.
Yeah--but how do I know if you're running Intrepid with updates from this morning verses the Alpha 3 CD?
You can't, but it still gives you a much better idea that "ubuntu-unstable".
So if they want to give the impression of mobility, they could pick any number of codenames. Ubuntu Mobile, Ubuntu Roaming, etc.
I think you misunderstand. The 8.10 release is focused on improving mobility and connectivity in the standard Ubuntu desktop, it is not separate product designed for mobility of mobile devices.
.I just think 'cute animal names' isn't very corporate.
Which is why the release names are date-based numbers, only the code names are attribute-animal.
No, I mean like 6.06, 6.10, 7.04, 7.10, 8.04, and 'ubuntu-unstable'.
Then, when it comes time to release, rename 'ubuntu-unstable' to 8.10, and start a new 'unstable' branch.
But again you have a problem. If I told you I was running "ubuntu-unstable" you would have no idea if it was the current unstable, or the unstable from 3 years ago. At least if I said I was running "Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex" you would know what I had.
My opinion is that if they are trying to pick stupid 'cute' animal names, why not pick something equally as stupid like 'Ubuntu fuzzy lovie bunny' which is scheduled for 8.10?
Think that codename is retarded? What makes it any more or less retarded than Gutsy Gibbon?
They don't try to pick "cute" animal names. They pick animals names and attributes (hardy, gutsy, intrepid) that give an indication of their goals for that release. The goal of 8.10 isn't to have the latest and greatest packages, it's mobility, for which an "Intrepid Ibex" seems well suited. The goal of 8.04 was stability and reliability for an LTS release, so "Hardy" also seemed appropriate. 7.10 was to test experimental things like Compiz, so "Gutsy" was chosen.
So call it 'ubuntu-pre', 'ubuntu-dev', 'ubuntu-head', or whatever. Those are all decent codenames.
You mean like 'debian-stable', 'debian-unstable' and 'debian-testing'? Well that doesn't tell you much either, because if I installed 'debian-unstable' 3 years ago and never upgraded, then what am I using today?
As for date-based, Microsoft really hit the nail on the head naming their OS Windows 95 and Windows 98 with software called Office 2000
Yes, date-based release numbers are helpful, we've already covered that. They kind of confused the issue by having both Windows 2000 and Windows Millennium, though. However, even Microsoft uses code names during development, like Whistler and Longhorn. It sure would have sucked for Microsoft if they had called Longhorn "Windows 2003" from the start.
Stick with a date-based numbering scheme. As an added benefit, clients will realize it's based on the year and want to upgrade when that number starts to get too old.
And Ubuntu does this, and also uses code names to avoid premature commitment to a release date. This seems to provide the best of both worlds.
Except now in my head if someone says they are running gutsy, I have to think to myself: Ok--Dapper was 6.06, E comes after D...WTF was it again? Oh yeah, Edgy, so that was 6.10 unless they released late...which release was late again? Oh well, doesn't matter. F was feisty...uh..7.04, and G was Gutsy...7.10. Ok--So you're running a version release about a year ago.
Instead if they just said "I'm running 7.10", I can think to myself: 7.10, that was about a year ago.
Yes, if you're interested in the age of a release the code name is not very helpful. Then again, sequential numbering wouldn't be helpful either: when was OSX 10.2 released? Nor would cool-sounding names: when was XP released? In this example, it's not the animal names that make it difficult, it's any naming scheme that is not date-based.
There is NO point to the stupid codenames. It doesn't actually change anything. The software still runs the same. Get rid of 'em.
They're useful as code names, especially when you are using a date-based numbering scheme.
Dapper was originally supposed to be 6.04, but it's release was delayed so that extra work could be put into making it the first LTS release, so it became version 6.06. If it had been officially called 6.04 during development, then they would have either had to change it, or kept the inaccurate date-based version number.
Now--think fast, and put these in the order of release and tell me the version number: "intrepid, hoard, gutsy, warty, vista"
warty, gutsy, hardy, intrepid. Ubuntu names went in alphabetical order starting with Dapper Drake (6.06). If you memorize the fact that warty and hoary were used before alphabetical ordering, you're mostly fine.
SSH Security issues, for instance running SSH through a firewall with no VPN; for businesses, the inability to monitor a user's activites because of encrypted traffic; port-forwarding capabilities that could open a wide open tunnel to the server and network from a compromised client; to name a few of the major concerns.
Um, what? I'm going to have to take that one piece at a time. What is the issue with running SSH through a firewall with no VPN? Businesses monitor user activity on the systems they use, not by scanning packets on the network. Once a machine is compromised, of course there's a security issue, that's true even without SSH.
In reality, I don't mess with these services enough for it to really be an issue. Once I have the system set up the way I want it, I rarely even touch those services.
Okay, I'm probably an edge case here, but it was a specific example that was relevant to me. I'm constantly starting and stopping mysql and tomcat as part of day to day development.
The whole point really boils down not to whether or not it's easier to accomplish things from the command line, but to whether you are unable to do it easily or at all via the GUI. That is where Gnome lacks IMO at the moment.
Um, Gnome has a Services GUI.
Oh and I'd just stop the Server service.
The "Server" service? That's the name of the file sharing service, or does it handle more than just file sharing? Ubuntu calls it "Folder Sharing Service", much more accurate I would think.
And, let see. Windows remote management (Vista/2008 Server only of course, MS didn't want the security issues it posed in Unix I guess...
I'm sorry, security issues? WTF are you talking about?
Joe average user wouldn't know that command line syntax let alone the service names.
Even if he didn't know the first time, he'd see their name when he used the Services GUI to manage them.
I tried that while at work, I had a directory with 5 MP3 files under it (not even sub-directories), and right-clicking the directory gave me no such options.
Selecting all the MP3 files in the directory gave me the option, and if I created a sub-directory then I could play them all if I selected some MP3 files plus the sub directory and right-clicked on one of the selected MP3 files (not the sub directory).
For added fun I put a JPG image in the music directory, did the same as above, and the JPG file was added to my play list.
My additions:
3. Window management I have never had trouble with in Windows. I've never had trouble in Gnome. I'm used to the upper left corner double-click to close a window in Windows, but Gnome doesn't let me do that (or maybe I just haven't found the setting for it). Can you explain further how Gnome manages windows better?
Gnome (and KDE and XFCE) allow you to make a window "sticky" or always on top. Certain Windows apps let you do this too, but it has to be provided by the app, it's not provided by the window manager. Compiz, of course, takes things to a whole new level with window-opacity, scale (expose), shelf (shrinks your window), grouping, and several others I'm sure I'm forgetting about.
5. If you have a middle click button on your mouse, the driver for that mouse will allow you to assign a multitude of different functions. My logitech mouse has 7 buttons, and a scroll wheel that clicks down and side to side. Every movement of those buttons can be assigned a function. It's marvelous!
Good for you, I don't have a super Logitech mouse, I have a basic 3-button mouse that doesn't have specialty drivers. At home, I have a laptop with a touch-pad, that emulates the 3rd button by clicking both left and right buttons at the same time. Still I can have this functionality, and it's consistent across mouse hardware.
6. Deskbar applett. Well MS decided to implement this as Active desktop, starting with IE 4 on Window 95. Crappy implementation, but notable in that they at least tried to follow Apple's lead. :)
Active Desktop? I'm not sure how that is anything like Deskbar. If I recall correctly, Active Desktop just allowed you to use some web content on your desktop, that's not at all what Deskbar does.
7. User filesystem layout. Not sure what you mean by this. I've found Gnomes file system layout to be limited compared to Windows 98 and forward. Hopefully v2.6 will help this out.
On Linux, all my user files are under /home/mhall119/, while on Windows they're under c:\Documents and Settings\mhall119\, except that some are under c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\, and sometimes my programs store their settings under c:\Program Files\AppFolder\ or, God help me, in the Registry. But the strangest thing is if I select "My Documents" (C:\Documents and Settings\mhall119\My Documents\)from the Start menu, and then to up a directory, I get to "Desktop" (C:\Documents and Settings mhall119\Desktop), from which I have to go down two levels ("My Computer" then "Local Drive (C)") to get to root of the file system (C:\).
11. Panels? your link in 12 helped clarify this. I just expand my taskbar, have my quick launch toolbar on one line, open app buttons on the other, and notification area icons split between both which minimized the width used on the taskbar. Perfect!
Perfect for you maybe. Personally I hate the start menu, prefer my taskbar at the bottom and my launchers at the top, and I really do like having a system monitor running where I can see it. On my kid's computer the bottom panel has nothing but launchers, is 48 pixels high, is only as wide as it needs to be to hold the launchers, and stays centered. I can't do that with Windows.
UI consistency works better in Windows Vista. Actually, it worked better in Windows 98 than Gnome does. When I arrange something in one of those, it stays that way.
Either you're lucky, or I'm unlucky. Windows XP regularly changes the order of the icons on my desktop. Installing a new application may put the application's folder at the end of the "All Programs" menu, but it may also put a launcher for the app itself somewhere in the middle (mixing files and folder? really?) And the most annoying of all is that the taskbar randomly forgets about an open window, I have to alt-tab over to it for it's button to reappear in the taskbar.
Virtual Desktops have been around in Windows for quite a while. My current desktop has 4. This has been provided free of charge from Microsoft for years now as part of the PowerToys collection.
I used the Microsoft one a few years back, it was slow and the usability was god-awful. Recently I've been using VirtuaWin which still falls far short of true virtual desktops, but seems to be less bulky. Still it's slow when I have a bunch of windows open.
Copy/Paste? Really, is that what we are reduced to? Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V is too hard?
This is probably the single most missed feature when I'm on Windows. Not because Ctrl-C Ctrl-V is hard, but because highlight middle-click becomes second nature because it's so easy. I am constantly trying to middle click when I'm on Windows, only to be disappointed.
Menu layout and panel consistency are a complete and total joke. See my previous comment on how much they change on just logging out sometimes. Seriously. This is so basic. Why is it not working after years and years of being buggy.
The only time I've ever had this problem is when I change screen resolution to something too low, otherwise all my applets stay in my panels exactly where I put them. I'm guessing this isn't something that effects a majority of Gnome users, so maybe you're doing something that's an edge case?
I've never heard of foobar2000, but I'm pretty sure that WMP and Winamp don't make it that easy.
Have you never used one? They are all listed there with descriptions.
Again, what good is a description of something when you don't know what something you're looking for.
So if someone told you to restart all your SQL server services, would you know them by name?
Um, yeah. It's "mysql", as in "sudo /etc/init.d/mysql restart". You seriously don't know what SQL server you're running?
I'd just look in the services applett and find them and restart them.
Okay, say you want to disable network file sharing and remote shell execution (rcmd) in Windows, what services do you stop? On my box, its "sudo /etc/init.d/samba stop" and "sudo /etc/init.d/ssh stop".
How is a GUI going to help you when you don't know what you're looking for?
Yes, running an individual file in it's default program is something easier done in a GUI, and it's perfectly easy to do in Gnome.
But let's say you want to open every music file in a directory and it's sub directories in a music player. That's easier to do on the command line.
And what if your choices are a short and simple command line, or a series of windows and dialog to get to check boxes on various tabs? For example, say you want to re-start a service in Windows, do you right click My Computer, select Manage, wait for the MMC to open, select Services, find the service you want, and finally restart it, or do you run "net stop/start ${servicename}" from the command line?
Can I view thumbnails in my file dialogs at least now?
You can see thumbnail previews in the file chooser, but only on selected files, it still uses a simple list view as far as I can tell.
Ideally it would use Nautilus to render the files in the file selector, so that it can show thumbnails on any file Nautilus can.
The problem, I think, is that the file chooser is a GTK component, not a Gnome component, and GTK doesn't do thumbnails itself, rather Gnome components handle that. Even the "preview pane" offered by the file chooser is implemented by the application itself, not GTK code.
There was some discussion about adding support for the FreeDesktop.org thumbnail spec into GTK, but I'm not sure what the status is on that.
The behavior of menu expansion mentioned several posts up would fall under Gnome, I'd think.
It does, and I think they have a bug being tracked for that. It's especially bad when you are using vector graphic icons because it has to re-calculate them whenever the cache is invalidated. I only ever experience this when I change icon themes, or add/remove menu entries, which cause Gnome to re-build it's icon cache. Windows has a similar issue. If you'd rather not have icons at all, you can disable them (can I do that in Windows?).
You're confusing the graphical subsystem with the UI. Every system has (1) a graphical subsystem, (2)a widget toolkit and (3)a window/desktop manager.
In Windows you have:
1) GDI/WDM
2) MFC/WinForms
3) Explorer/Aero
In Linux you have:
1) Varieties of X11
2) GTK, QT, XLib, Tk, WX, and several others
3) Gnome, KDE, XFCE, Enlightenment and several others
I don't know what the equivalent OSX layers are.
What the GP was saying is that X11 handles the multi-monitor setup on Linux, not Gnome or KDE.
I'm working on a Fx/Tb extension for importing Photos to F-Spot. Comments/Testing appreciated.
You know, not two days ago I was thinking that it would be nice to import an image from a website directly into F-Spot. I just installed your extension, and it's fantastic!