While Ubuntu is a great distro, it's installation is really intimidating and geekish especially for beginners. I don't see any major change on its installer. It still has a text-based interface. Mandrake's installer is light years away in terms of usability and design and it was implemented years ago.
Here in our university(UP), we've been using LTSP to create thin clients. We run a powerful server (2ghz, 1gb ram) and it can host up to 20 Pentium computers.
What's nice about the thin client setup is that once an application is loaded, it boots really fast on all the clients. For instance, we start OpenOffice on the server and it boots with a second on a client.
Another advantage with this setup is control. Since all the clients run on the server, we can restrict access and prioritize security.
I'm still using my old P2 333 with 384 MB RAM, 32 MB video. It runs fedora core 2 fine.I develop in Java, PHP and C++. I'm happy with it and don't have plans to upgrade in the near future.
People tend to jump into the latest technologies without asking their selves, "Do I need this?". Most of the time, they don't. They just want to buy it because it's the "in" thing. Technophobes tend to go to this kind of mentality so that explains why computer manufacturers get high volume of sales. Blame it to the marketing people.
I read his book "Designing Web Usability". While he has good points regarding the minimalist style of web design, I don't think minimalism is not applicable in today's web sites. Websites today need a certain degree of aesthetic appeal and good layout. With millions of web sites in the web, a web site designed for both aesthetic and usability is the key because it stands out from the crowd.
As a web site tends to be more simple and "usable", aesthetic appeal goes down. People remember to web sites which has the "cool" factor. For instance, while his website useit.com is accessible to all browsers, it is ugly. We can clearly see the trade-of between aesthetic and usability.
His minimalist approach does not apply to all kinds of web sites. Our company develops web sites and we have an actress client. Of course, she wants all her web sites with all the eye-candy. If we apply Nielsen's advocacy of minimalist design, I don't think she would buy the idea. If the client is developing a simple hobby site or portal, maybe we can apply minimalist approach.
Minimalist design does not apply to all kinds of web sites. It may have its uses but we live on the new of the internet: broadband, flash and fancy graphics. Minimalist design is more applicable in the early days of the web.
Flash 7 for Linux Released
I almost jumped in joy thinking that Flash will be released natively for Linux. Flash is the application itself, Flash player is the standalone player and web browser plugin.
Oh well.
End users always say that Linux's desktops are complicated. They expect stuff to work at the same as Windows: icons at the right position, menus, etc. When they try out new desktops such as KDE, they don't have the motivation to learn since it's too "complicated". However, end users' base user interface complexity on Windows. If it doesn't work like Windows, it's too complex.
XPde may be a short term solution for Linux migration. End users need a little bit of training and exposure for new desktop environments such as KDE. In my university, we train end users: old office staff, encoders, etc. They don't have much time for training. Imagine if they come to work and surprised that their computer changed to a weird environment with a K instead of the Start button. Now, if they are rushing stuff and meeting a deadline, they will have a hard time getting used to a new environment. That's where XPde may kick in. Fool the users that they are using Windows and explain to them gradually why the sudden shift to Linux/KDE.
I don't think desktops like XPde is beneficial for Linux. Why go back to Windows' bloated interface when you have KDE? Linux applications should foster creativity and ingenuity. If we continue copying stuff from Windows, we are just trying hard copy cats.
Hardware will never be free unless someone invented a "matter duplicator". You put in a CPU, resistor, whatever to the device and voila! a duplicate will pop out.
Reproducing or duplicating software costs nothing. Reproducing or duplicating hardware needs materials and money.
Slashdot Mirror
WTF. At first glance, I thought O'Reilly slashed Steve Jobs.
Since the batch of 30GB Zunes are being affected, they are committing a GENOCIDE!
With the advent of Ubuntu, does anyone have any reason to use Debian?
I think the idea of mouse gestures was implemented years ago. From what I remembered, it was called "glicks".
While Ubuntu is a great distro, it's installation is really intimidating and geekish especially for beginners. I don't see any major change on its installer. It still has a text-based interface. Mandrake's installer is light years away in terms of usability and design and it was implemented years ago.
MyCrosoft - My = Crosoft?
Hmmm...I don't see the use of this device since most hard core geeks can type 80-100 WPM withlooking at a normal QWERTY keyboard.
Here in our university(UP), we've been using LTSP to create thin clients. We run a powerful server (2ghz, 1gb ram) and it can host up to 20 Pentium computers.
What's nice about the thin client setup is that once an application is loaded, it boots really fast on all the clients. For instance, we start OpenOffice on the server and it boots with a second on a client.
Another advantage with this setup is control. Since all the clients run on the server, we can restrict access and prioritize security.
I'm still using my old P2 333 with 384 MB RAM, 32 MB video. It runs fedora core 2 fine.I develop in Java, PHP and C++. I'm happy with it and don't have plans to upgrade in the near future. People tend to jump into the latest technologies without asking their selves, "Do I need this?". Most of the time, they don't. They just want to buy it because it's the "in" thing. Technophobes tend to go to this kind of mentality so that explains why computer manufacturers get high volume of sales. Blame it to the marketing people.
I read his book "Designing Web Usability". While he has good points regarding the minimalist style of web design, I don't think minimalism is not applicable in today's web sites. Websites today need a certain degree of aesthetic appeal and good layout. With millions of web sites in the web, a web site designed for both aesthetic and usability is the key because it stands out from the crowd.
As a web site tends to be more simple and "usable", aesthetic appeal goes down. People remember to web sites which has the "cool" factor. For instance, while his website useit.com is accessible to all browsers, it is ugly. We can clearly see the trade-of between aesthetic and usability.
His minimalist approach does not apply to all kinds of web sites. Our company develops web sites and we have an actress client. Of course, she wants all her web sites with all the eye-candy. If we apply Nielsen's advocacy of minimalist design, I don't think she would buy the idea. If the client is developing a simple hobby site or portal, maybe we can apply minimalist approach.
Minimalist design does not apply to all kinds of web sites. It may have its uses but we live on the new of the internet: broadband, flash and fancy graphics. Minimalist design is more applicable in the early days of the web.
Flash 7 for Linux Released I almost jumped in joy thinking that Flash will be released natively for Linux. Flash is the application itself, Flash player is the standalone player and web browser plugin. Oh well.
End users always say that Linux's desktops are complicated. They expect stuff to work at the same as Windows: icons at the right position, menus, etc. When they try out new desktops such as KDE, they don't have the motivation to learn since it's too "complicated". However, end users' base user interface complexity on Windows. If it doesn't work like Windows, it's too complex.
XPde may be a short term solution for Linux migration. End users need a little bit of training and exposure for new desktop environments such as KDE. In my university, we train end users: old office staff, encoders, etc. They don't have much time for training. Imagine if they come to work and surprised that their computer changed to a weird environment with a K instead of the Start button. Now, if they are rushing stuff and meeting a deadline, they will have a hard time getting used to a new environment. That's where XPde may kick in. Fool the users that they are using Windows and explain to them gradually why the sudden shift to Linux/KDE.
I don't think desktops like XPde is beneficial for Linux. Why go back to Windows' bloated interface when you have KDE? Linux applications should foster creativity and ingenuity. If we continue copying stuff from Windows, we are just trying hard copy cats.
Hardware will never be free unless someone invented a "matter duplicator". You put in a CPU, resistor, whatever to the device and voila! a duplicate will pop out. Reproducing or duplicating software costs nothing. Reproducing or duplicating hardware needs materials and money.