unity-design team mailing list archive

[Jo-Erlend Schinstad <joerlend.schinstad@xxxxxxxxx>]

Den 13. nov. 2011 04:40, skrev tommy:
> My few short points:
> - Allow Unity to be extended in Python, C#, Vala, etc. You'll attract 
> a lot more programmers. Extensions is the key to success of Firefox. 
> EVERY mockup could be done by writing an extension (instead of 
> discussing if it's good or not).
Unity is very extensible. You can easily add notifications, indicators 
and lenses. For launcher entries, you can add progress bars, counters, 
static and dynamic quicklists. These things can be done in _any_ 
programming language. What is missing?

> - Make Dash themeable. This will satisfy your needs (the design) and 
> users needs (desktop). If someone won't like the looks of Dash, he'll 
> simply install/make a different theme instead of sending mockups. For 
> example theme could include labels underneath lense icons. This could 
> be far more descriptive.
I think lens icons should have labels that appear on hover, the same way 
as for launcher entries. As for themes... I'm very uncertain. If you 
can't know what things look like, it becomes very difficult to provide 
technical support. Therefore, I think the default lenses should not be 
replaceable or changeable. Other lenses, of course, should be free to 
display data any way they like.

> - Allow people to customize Unity. A lot of people simply don't like 
> the "design" and they're moving away from Ubuntu (like me). I use my 
> desktop for professional work, not Facebook. Newest Ubuntu release is 
> "glossy", not productive (previous releases were of course opposite).
If you move away from Ubuntu because of Unity, then you've misunderstood 
some basic concepts. Unity is an application. You can install different 
applications. If you wouldn't switch to Windows because you like 
notepad.exe better than gedit, you also shouldn't move away from Ubuntu 
because of the default shell. Ubuntu has lots of shells to choose from, 
easily installable and easy to use. I have difficulty believing people 
when they say things like that. Sounds like some sort of threat. "Do as 
I say, or I'll leave". That doesn't work.

> - If you think what needs to be located in configuration tool, look at 
> Launchpad. ~1% of users will file bugs against the system they're 
> using. So if you see more than 100 people commenting on a bug, this 
> (statistically) affects a number of your users. This simply can't be 
> closed as WONTFIX. It needs to be fixed, or if this is a design change 
> request, released as an option for Unity.
Lots of people can be wrong. I don't understand why Unity should focus 
on configurability. All other shells for GNU/Linux focuses on that. Why 
can't we have _one_ that focuses on being recognisable and supportable? 
Adding things like indicators and lenses are good, but completely 
changing how things work, is not. Gnome Shell seems to want extensions 
for everything and that's great. It's good that we have highly 
configurable shells. For Unity, I hope configuration options are added 
slowly, and only when proven to be necessary. You mention web browser 
plugins as an example of why we should have this. What you don't mention 
is that almost all problems users have with their web browsers, is 
because of plugins they have installed. The toolbar insanity in Windows 
is a very good example of why some things shouldn't be easily extensible.

> I realize that this won't be done for Precise Pangolin, but I think 
> this is the way to go. I didn't like GNOME Shell's blacky outfit, but 
> I've installed a different theme and right now I love it. You can't 
> satisfy everyone's needs. But you need to remember that a big number 
> of your users are technical users. These are the people that are 
> recommending Ubuntu to normal, non-technical users. I hope this 
> finally will be taken as constructive criticism, not ranting, fighting 
> or anything else.
You know, I consider myself to be a fairly technical user. What about 
it? Most technical people I know, do not theme their desktops and things 
like that. I personally haven't even changed the default wallpaper for 
years. I have added tools to my launcher entries and indicators for my 
panel. I'm sure I'll add new lenses as they become available. The 
defaults are either good enough or not good enough. If they're good 
enough, then I'm happy and can focus on my technical interests. If 
they're not good enough, then they should be fixed for everyone. We know 
what's possible and we can easily identify bottlenecks since we tend to 
use the systems to the max, being the geeks that we are.

Unity should be efficient and easy to use for Geeks and Grampas. Users 
-- whether they're technical minded or not -- should not have to hack 
their systems with scripts, extensions and plugins. Addons are alright, 
as long as they integrate properly and do not change the behaviour of 
other parts of the system. Unity should certainly not have a 200 page 
configuration manual. If you have lots of stuff to configure, then you 
should use a shell that is designed for that. Those kinds of shells 
aren't suitable to be used by default in Ubuntu.
I'm sure it's fun to some users to have the configuration option to make 
a bird sing whenever you move the mouse pointer in a circle, but that's 
not what most people want.

Finally, Launchpad is not a place where you place orders for software to 
be developed. If you submit a patch and it gets silently ignored, then 
you should complain. Loudly. If your patch gets rejected with an 
explanation you don't accept, then you can fork. But don't expect other 
people to spend their money and time serving a purpose they don't 
believe in. It's free software, and at times, it may seem magical. But 
in reality, it's mostly a matter of doing all the boring work.

Jo-Erlend Schinstad