unity-design team mailing list archive

[Thorsten Wilms <t_w_@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On 09/06/2011 06:59 PM, Jonathan Meek wrote:
> Seek and you shall find. I'm not aiming this at you in particular, but
> the kind of mentality that your statement is indicative of.  We need not
> base design decisions on how the community is going to react. That isn't
> a valid argument for or against something. So what if some people think
> it is too close to Apple? So what if some people think it's Ubuntu
> throwing it's weight around.
>
> Ubuntu has gone through the whole "oh you stole that from Apple" thing
> and come out fine before. People are going to complain no matter what.
> Don't worry about it. Just listen and if they say something
> constructive, use it to improve. Don't stop before you've started just
> because someone is going to complain.
>
> As for a potential to widen a wedge in the community. I see no wedge. I
> see some heated words and design decisions some people may not agree on,
> but we carry on or step aside.

Sounds like looking away on purpose ;)

I agree, if that is what you are saying, that design decisions are 
often, but of course not exclusively, met with at best half-informed, 
poorly constructed criticism. Opinions thrown out by people who usually 
will not get involved beyond that point. A lot of noise best treated as 
such.

But when it comes to defining what an "Ubuntu App" shall be, and to 
creating a custom HIG, the question is:
What will developers make out of it?

Will it seem like Ubuntu is asking for extra work? May it be asking for 
things that would be good in the context of any other distribution, 
anyway? Does it further needless fragmentation? Or is it about 
adjustments to make one single chosen platform really shine?

Developers might prefer to think of themselves as Linux developers, not 
Ubuntu developers (to just skip over entirely OS-independent).


--
Thorsten Wilms

thorwil's design for free software:
http://thorwil.wordpress.com/