That is beautiful. It looks a lot like a non-black NeXT cube. Even the little logo is reminiscent of a Linux-styled version of the NeXT logo.
It's a shame it'll have a nst of hideous PC cables coming out the back and connecting to a butt-ugly monitor and keyboard. The peripherals are half the battle =)
I know--I use an Apple Extended Keyboard and a Mac trackball. They work well, but they look crappy in front of a nice, sleek black monitor.
Oh, yea, and those cases the earlier poster linked to are some of the more tasteless things I've seen in a while. I can't imagine someone would prefer those to the cube that the guy built.
The attentive reader will note that I didn't dismiss the distro. If i was installing Linux for a hapless friend/colleague, I might consider it.
And the basically-functional reader will note that my point wasn't that the look 'n' feel was sinful (I don't really care what it looks like,) it was that the functionality was that of Linux. If it works like Linux and looks like Windows, it'll be confusing. My point, if accepted, refutes your response. An interface that looks like something familiar better work in a familiar fashion, because when the comfortable look works strangely or unfamiliarly, it's a user experience disaster. Especially for the people who want things to be made painless.
I agree with your sentiment, but this thing doesn't look at all like windows. The default desktop background looks like windows, after that, it's just another distribution with one of the Linux desktops on it. Nothing new, nothing startlingly "like-MS."
Judging from the review, the best feature is that it works. The reviewer seems accustomed to Linux distros that fall apart when they're used. Printing sucking, no spell checkers available, difficult-to-install tarballs (I'm not clear on how he found that simpler, but, whatever.)
Making something simpler to use and less broken out of the box is a worthy goal Making things look like things that they are not is not a worthy goal. As I've found myself posting several times over the past couple of days, making something look like something whose functionality it poorly copies is a worse sin than making it look completely alien. If a user sees something, he brings a large set of expectations of behavior with that. When the look-alike doesn't function like he expects it to, he becomes frustrated and rejects it more completely than he would reject something that looked new. I've seen it happen plenty, and it's a foolhardy path down which we travel if this becomes the custom.
That's because the libraries are thin, compared to the bulk of the OS. The joy of Cocoa is that the libraries are what have all of the richness. Because much of the OS uses those libraries, all of the richness comes for free. In Windows, the programmer is on his own for much of the work. That's why Windows programs (and Linux ones even more so) are such a hit-or-miss situation.
Yea, it's polished. I've been using a beta version for some time now, and it really kicks ass. I can't find anything in the beta that would distinguish it from a release product.
Every time I use the GIMP, I run into an odd quirk that invariable becomes a giant pain in the ass. The handling of layers is one such thing. As is selection handling. One of my big pet peeves is when things work and look closely like others, but don't do so consistently. If a UI or functionality looks or works a little like something already established, it better works a lot like it. Or it will be frustrating, make me angry, and will cause me to reject the whole thing (no matter how worthy it is.)
That's one of the things I really miss from NEXTSTEP. NeXT licensed Pantone for the syste-wide color picker. For those who don't know, NeXT machines (and operating systems) had a unified color system with a system-wide color picker and tools. I could pick Pantone colors by name/number in any app and know that the colors I was getting would be standardized and output properly. _That_ was a good idea, and it was just one of countless little details that make NEXTSTEP the most user-conscious OS I have ever used. Everywhere you turn, there is a little convenience (where you would expect, but not think of) that makes life just slightly easier for the user. Amazing, really.
I use a browser written in Cocoa (OmniWeb.) Since it uses the Cocoa text objects, I get ten years of work on interoperability (including a modular spell-checking system) for free. It's convenient, automatic, and gets the job done without me worrying about it.
I don't see major newspapers or magazines doing their work in Gimp and, uhh, right, there is no OS page layout program.
Gimp is not Photoshop. Gimp is a mess. Gimp has a dumb UI. Gimp won't be Photoshop for a long time.
Sure, it's nice to sit around and jerk off while struggling to make layer and alpha channels, but cooing over the open source-ness of it all. Meanwhile, real people are doing real work on real programs.
Not to be too bitter about it, but all those people who knee-jerk yell "closed source! Evil! Gimp! Who needs anything else!?" get my goat.
Re:Don't complain if you don't like the FREE FOOD!
on
The Future of MREs
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· Score: 1
Uh, are you trying to be funny?
Are you fifteen?
Can you lift your arms higher than your shoulders without panting?
Not to be rude, but sheesh! If it was a joke, it wasn't funny. If you're serious, I really feel badly for you. I'm no hawk, but I have respect for the people who putt their butts on the line for me (and you).
I trust paypal as much as I trust sending a stranger a money order. I know I probably won't see my money again if he decides to be crooked. If I had to send a thousand dollars or more, I'd use something more secure (escrow, etc.) PayPal is useful only as a convenience tool. And it's very convenient. Particularly for small payments.
I can see their desire. It's very erudite and elite to have a subtle word that requires some knowledge of German to pronounce. Of course, when it comes down to Billybob in Best Buy to pronounce it, we're lucky it comes out in any recognizable form.
That was soooo a fuck-up on Sony's pary. They made the 'V' in Vega shadowed, but the shadow 'V' was too far from the actual letter, so it looked like a stylized 'W.'
Re:Gnome or KDE?
on
GNOME 2.0 Beta
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· Score: 0, Offtopic
You effectively said nothing. You said that they can both suck if you make them suck. Well, duh.
My contention is that Windows Explorer is lousy. That has nothing to do with how I configure my machine. I expect to be able to use the interface in the way it was designed and have it work the way it ought to. Is that a lot to ask?
Slashdot Mirror
That is beautiful. It looks a lot like a non-black NeXT cube. Even the little logo is reminiscent of a Linux-styled version of the NeXT logo.
It's a shame it'll have a nst of hideous PC cables coming out the back and connecting to a butt-ugly monitor and keyboard. The peripherals are half the battle =)
I know--I use an Apple Extended Keyboard and a Mac trackball. They work well, but they look crappy in front of a nice, sleek black monitor.
Oh, yea, and those cases the earlier poster linked to are some of the more tasteless things I've seen in a while. I can't imagine someone would prefer those to the cube that the guy built.
I trust that any problems are due to "instability in the underlying operating system software" or some such. Just check the Microsoft documentation!
The attentive reader will note that I didn't dismiss the distro. If i was installing Linux for a hapless friend/colleague, I might consider it.
And the basically-functional reader will note that my point wasn't that the look 'n' feel was sinful (I don't really care what it looks like,) it was that the functionality was that of Linux. If it works like Linux and looks like Windows, it'll be confusing. My point, if accepted, refutes your response. An interface that looks like something familiar better work in a familiar fashion, because when the comfortable look works strangely or unfamiliarly, it's a user experience disaster. Especially for the people who want things to be made painless.
I agree with your sentiment, but this thing doesn't look at all like windows. The default desktop background looks like windows, after that, it's just another distribution with one of the Linux desktops on it. Nothing new, nothing startlingly "like-MS."
Judging from the review, the best feature is that it works. The reviewer seems accustomed to Linux distros that fall apart when they're used. Printing sucking, no spell checkers available, difficult-to-install tarballs (I'm not clear on how he found that simpler, but, whatever.)
Making something simpler to use and less broken out of the box is a worthy goal Making things look like things that they are not is not a worthy goal. As I've found myself posting several times over the past couple of days, making something look like something whose functionality it poorly copies is a worse sin than making it look completely alien. If a user sees something, he brings a large set of expectations of behavior with that. When the look-alike doesn't function like he expects it to, he becomes frustrated and rejects it more completely than he would reject something that looked new. I've seen it happen plenty, and it's a foolhardy path down which we travel if this becomes the custom.
How many women do you know named Max? Okay, dumb question, names these days are bizarre. I'm not female :)
Awooga, awooga! Thermodynamics police here. Please present license, patent, and all plans for all perpetual motion devices at once.
Steven's hot.
That's because the libraries are thin, compared to the bulk of the OS. The joy of Cocoa is that the libraries are what have all of the richness. Because much of the OS uses those libraries, all of the richness comes for free. In Windows, the programmer is on his own for much of the work. That's why Windows programs (and Linux ones even more so) are such a hit-or-miss situation.
I knew we'd be sorry for that revolution eventually.
Hi John,
The beauty of the OS, though, was that NeXT already did it for us. They did a lot for us, and we could sit back and be very productive.
Don't forget the navigation panel. That's absolutely amazing.
Yea, it's polished. I've been using a beta version for some time now, and it really kicks ass. I can't find anything in the beta that would distinguish it from a release product.
Every time I use the GIMP, I run into an odd quirk that invariable becomes a giant pain in the ass. The handling of layers is one such thing. As is selection handling. One of my big pet peeves is when things work and look closely like others, but don't do so consistently. If a UI or functionality looks or works a little like something already established, it better works a lot like it. Or it will be frustrating, make me angry, and will cause me to reject the whole thing (no matter how worthy it is.)
That's one of the things I really miss from NEXTSTEP. NeXT licensed Pantone for the syste-wide color picker. For those who don't know, NeXT machines (and operating systems) had a unified color system with a system-wide color picker and tools. I could pick Pantone colors by name/number in any app and know that the colors I was getting would be standardized and output properly. _That_ was a good idea, and it was just one of countless little details that make NEXTSTEP the most user-conscious OS I have ever used. Everywhere you turn, there is a little convenience (where you would expect, but not think of) that makes life just slightly easier for the user. Amazing, really.
I use a browser written in Cocoa (OmniWeb.) Since it uses the Cocoa text objects, I get ten years of work on interoperability (including a modular spell-checking system) for free. It's convenient, automatic, and gets the job done without me worrying about it.
How refreshing.
Proprietary apps make the world go 'round...
I don't see major newspapers or magazines doing their work in Gimp and, uhh, right, there is no OS page layout program.
Gimp is not Photoshop. Gimp is a mess. Gimp has a dumb UI. Gimp won't be Photoshop for a long time.
Sure, it's nice to sit around and jerk off while struggling to make layer and alpha channels, but cooing over the open source-ness of it all. Meanwhile, real people are doing real work on real programs.
Not to be too bitter about it, but all those people who knee-jerk yell "closed source! Evil! Gimp! Who needs anything else!?" get my goat.
The Geocities site is slashdotted =)
Uh, are you trying to be funny?
Are you fifteen?
Can you lift your arms higher than your shoulders without panting?
Not to be rude, but sheesh! If it was a joke, it wasn't funny. If you're serious, I really feel badly for you. I'm no hawk, but I have respect for the people who putt their butts on the line for me (and you).
What do they look like? (For the curious...)
I trust paypal as much as I trust sending a stranger a money order. I know I probably won't see my money again if he decides to be crooked. If I had to send a thousand dollars or more, I'd use something more secure (escrow, etc.) PayPal is useful only as a convenience tool. And it's very convenient. Particularly for small payments.
No, I'm Max. But Justin Chitwood is a really cool name.
I can see their desire. It's very erudite and elite to have a subtle word that requires some knowledge of German to pronounce. Of course, when it comes down to Billybob in Best Buy to pronounce it, we're lucky it comes out in any recognizable form.
I bet the clock rate is crazy. How do you deal with heat dissipation? Also, does it crash a lot?
That was soooo a fuck-up on Sony's pary. They made the 'V' in Vega shadowed, but the shadow 'V' was too far from the actual letter, so it looked like a stylized 'W.'
You effectively said nothing. You said that they can both suck if you make them suck. Well, duh.
My contention is that Windows Explorer is lousy. That has nothing to do with how I configure my machine. I expect to be able to use the interface in the way it was designed and have it work the way it ought to. Is that a lot to ask?