unity-design team mailing list archive

[Mark Shuttleworth <mark@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On 08/02/12 17:01, svelanka@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
> "I'm trying to coach you to step back and think about the thing you 
> are proposing in the broader context of a complex system that new 
> users have to feel excited and liberated by. You're asking to make one 
> piece of that harder. I'm asking which OTHER piece you propose to make 
> simpler, to retain balance."
>
> I am not quite sure I understand, so at the risk of sounding dumb I'll 
> just ask. Ubuntu is a coherent system with a certain amount of system 
> and user facing choices. Like a racing car say. Now certain subsystems 
> like the engine are more complicated than say the seat cushions. I am 
> assuming by the amount of discussion and the amount of testing done on 
> this issue, window management is complicated subsystem. If the user is 
> a beginner then there isn't a reason that he/she should have access to 
> the complicated subsystems, much in the same way my old Toyota Corolla 
> doesn't let me control the firmness of my suspension. But if the user 
> is more experienced then not having access to subsystems is more than 
> irritating, its surely akin to not having an easy traction control on 
> a powerful car. Isn't Ubuntu a powerful car?

It's not dumb at all.

The great thing about free software, including (proudly) Ubuntu, is how 
much control you can take.

What's not cool, however, is forcing others to assume as much control as 
YOU want to have. When you insist that something become a visible 
option, it's forcing others to have to read that option.

As a super smart racing car driver, you can dive under the hood. Fork 
the code. Derive a distro. You're in control, beautifully. You 
understand all that. But don't confuse your desire for a Nascar ride 
with everyone else's desire.

Now, what I love is that more and more hard-core developers are starting 
to recognise some surprising things:

 * it is HARD, intellectually and emotionally, to produce software that 
feels easy
 * it's a triumph for free software when we grow the base of users, 
because it grows the base of contributors
 * even hard-core kernel programmers like a bit of style and sizzle
 * even multi-tasking hackers like the rest of the system to take care 
of itself so they don't have to

And most interestingly:

 * it's fun to hack on projects with good designers, because the 
results are visibly more exciting, and there's still lots of room for 
beautiful elegance inside

What that means is that we can actually have some really fun 
conversations here. I'm really not interested in all the options someone 
likes. I'm interested in how we make software that feels magical: fast, 
clean, efficient, beautiful. The future, here, and free.

Does that answer your question?

Mark