Re: [Usability]User Object Simplification?

[Per Cederberg <per percederberg net>]

Sean Middleditch wrote:
> On Mon, 2003-02-17 at 15:52, Per Cederberg wrote:
>
> > Reinout van Schouwen wrote:
> >
> > > On section 3.2, Links versus Real Objects:
> > >
> > > Association of object deletion with the removal of programs will require
> > > interaction with the tools the distro vendor supplies for that purpose. Of
> > > course, we could think about an approach where dragging a launcher to the
> > > Trash opens $GNORPM and trashing a data file just does the usual thing...
> > > not sure if this inconsistency offsets the usability gain though.
> >
> > It doesn't necessarily have to be complex to remove an
> > application. A simple solution (i.e. how Windows used to
> > work), would be to register a "uninstall command" when
> > the application is installed. Each distro would then be
> > free to register its own commands. An uninstall would
> > only be a question of su-ing and exec-ing.
>
>
> This is really get out of scope for GNOME, I think, and into "vendor
> land."  Application installation/removal for most Linux/UNIX's using
> packages doesn't make this at all something GNOME can expect to do and
> do right.  Independent vendor tools are an absolute must (since each OS
> packages things differently - breaking a single app across several
> packages, like Debian tends to do, or bundling multiple apps into one
> packages, like source-based distros will).

You clearly have a point here, I agree. Maybe uninstalls
should be ignored for now.

On the other hand, I think we ought to have the ultimate goal
of creating a consistent and simple interface for all commonly
performed tasks. Leaving out installation and deinstallation
of programs, although hard to get right, seems like a pretty
big omission to me. (Especially as Ximian has proven it to be
possible to do well with Red Carpet.)

Or is the fully integrated system just another lost cause?

/Per