Re: [Usability] Some things that I dislike about gnome, and some things that I like seeing changed.

[Jeff Waugh <jdub perkypants org>]

<quote who="Kenneth Christiansen">

> Here is a little list I wrote about some of the things that I dislike
> about gnome, and some things that I like seeing changed.

Just a quick response to report some of the items that have already been
done. :)

> - fix startup of nautilus with regard to background. 

Done, grab from CVS.

> - fix panel, it is too confusing and the power of the applet is not always good
> - add shadow under top macbar
> - applet menu is awful, needs a fix
> - integrate nautilus and panel.

Some work is being done to use .desktop files everywhere, etc.

> - make apps add menus to the macbar

You're under the impression that the menu panel is meant to be a macbar. :)

> - make a gtk-engine that is extremely cool, like for instance apple aqua is, 
>   but also make it so it's not one you get tired of immediately. Make it 
>   look fresh like fruits/water. add it to doorman as option for fast 
>   computers

Is this really useful? Try Crux, IceGradient, etc.

> - replace x-chat with a simple and nice program.

Jimbob is working on "GnomeChat", which will be a usable IRC client.

> - integrate news into evolution and get rid of pan - it doesnt fit in

Evolution supports NNTP, but please don't say "get rid of" about any GNOME
software. Pan is probably the best client for hardcore usenet users, whilst
Evolution will have a simple one for casual users.

> - make the java bindings rock, and make it have a nice class library, not 
>   entirely reflecting how gtk/gnome works.

New version of the bindings out this week, might want to suggest it to them.
Remember that everything underpinning GNOME 2.0 can make this easier.

> - multimedia app, like iTunes with cool graphics, but it has to feel 
>   integrated like itunes does with aqua

There's some work being done on a couple of these. "With cool graphics"
sounds like a recipe for disaster. :)

> -  make nautilus work nice with tar.gz files, just like winzip does with windows

Use gTar or something like that for the moment. There are some licensing
issues between gnome-vfs (LGPL) and things like tar, samba, etc.

> - make a getright feature for getting files, let nautilus etc use it
> - integrate galeon more with gnome

That depends entirely on the Galeon hackers.

> - decide on how preferences boxes should look, the galeon way, the nautilus 
>   way, or what?
> - make many simple but nice looking backgrounds. maybe just some colored 
>   ones as apple does
> - make gdm rock...make the login window look like winXp or macOSx

Some work is being done on this already. Themeable, etc.

> - make a keybindings central, where you can control keybindings for 
>   everything, incl the window manager

Tough to do well.

> - make new and nice looking scoreboard for games, and maybe a program, so 
>   you can look at all scores in the differently games
> - make new graphics for games - make them rock
> - fix gedit - noone really uses it. A program needed instead is a simple 
>   editor for text files, small code files, like nedit. We need something 
>   like moleskine instead.

Oi! Lots of people use gedit. :)

> - We need a developer site like the apple one...it's just rocks
> - the freecell game should be removed - aisleriot also includes that
> - glade should look at the new apple interface designer
> - dia should maybe try not to use the gimp ui, and look at dia and integrate 
>   with gnumeric and abiword instead
> - gphoto should look more gnomish
> - you should be able to change volume easily.. maybe on the right click 
>   nautilus menu, or something - sounds should seem integrated

There are a number of volume applets. We really need to sit back and look at
great ways of using the panel, etc., once we've got past the current
usability focus on GNOME 2.0.

> - mozilla should get a releight theme
> - gftp should be removed and ftp support should be improved in nautilus

Please don't say things like "removed".

> - maybe gftp can stay if the ui is changed to a more gnome one
> - add hex view and code view (maybe with scientilla) to nautilus
> - make a console tool called "view", so if I run "view textdoc" then if 
>   checks what mime type textdoc is and runs the right graphical viewer
> - make the alt-tab gui in sawfish actually look nice, aswell as the 
>   tooltips. Make sure that you can view both the last and next window in 
>   the cycle
> - Make the face-browser in GDM very easy to switch to.
> - Make it easier and more integrated to add your own face to the 
>   GDM-face-browser.
> - Make sure that the browsers run a nice dialup-app if they cannot find an 
>   open connection. Also make sure that a hang-up interface appears when 
>   closing the last browser-window.
> - Integrate Sawfish more thoroughly with GNOME. Sawfish->Appearance should be
>   "Window Decorations" or something like that. Regular people should not 
>   have to know what Sawfish or a Window Manager is.
> - Merge "File Types and Programs" and "Mime Types".
> - Make the Macbar have less functionality. It is a special panel, and it 
>   is very easy to use it for things that it is not made for (I hope :) 
>   maybe there should be some limitations on what applets you can add 
>   there. TAskbar for instance looks very weird there. 
> - Add task menu to macbar

There's has always been a task menu on the MENU bar. ;)

> - Integrate "Floppy"-formatting with Nautilus. "Right click" and format on 
>   a floppy-drive should open it.
> - Make sure that Nautilus respons to "open" when selecting multiple files 
>   like this:
>   "application %d %d %d %d..." instead of this: "application %d 
>   application %d ...". That is, multiple files should open in the same instance.

There is an option to do this.

> - Easier installation of packages. Integrate with Red Carpet so that if a 
>   manual installation have unmet dependencies, Red Carpet tries to satisfy 
>   them. Make this a very simple and quick Druid-like app.

Not everyone uses Red Carpet.

> - A graphical frontend for creating another X-instance. This should function
>   so that users can lock their session and start a new login. GDM should 
>   show what sessions are locked, and allow people to reactivate their old 
>   sessions.

The functionality is in the most recent GDM, and there are people working on
a WinXP-style multiple graphical logins system.

> - Make sure that the Nautilus-preferences in the Control Center.
> - Make sure that there is a system-option for letting users control their 
>   own menus, merge in menu-options that are required by the sysadm.

See the menu proposal.

> - less black color. Gnome-terminal is black, x-chat uses black bg - as 
>   default this it, but most people doesn't change it. This makes ou feel 
>   tired, and personally it makes me feel less happy. White is also not 
>   good. So there has to be made experiments with this. Maybe it shouldn't 
>   just be a color, but maybe a simple background.
> - too many options, we need to simplify
> - More and better artwork everywhere
> - sawfish indeed has too many options

A lot of your requests are better off as bug reports; heaps of them are not
necessarily usability issues, and should be taken up with the maintainers of
the relevant packages.

[ This does bring up questions about cooperation within a large project such
as this, and working on things maintainers may not be interested in. At the
end of the day, a patch is worth a thousand bug reports (which may be taken
either way!) ]

- Jeff

-- 
  "Anyway - I need something more James Bond than Banana Man, if you know   
                       what I mean..." - Tom Gilbert