Re: The rough edges ...

[Gerald Gutierrez <gutier intergate bc ca>]

> Distributions were made for
> that purpose, as it could be conceivably said that gnome will be
> preconfigured for a distribution.

You are very likely correct. That there is no install script is very
minor from certain viewpoints. I fully expect GNOME to be packaged up in
future distributions.

> Windows isn't just thrown at you in its
> various components, its packaged and configured as part of windows install
> process.  

Windows the core package offered little for me. I installed the word
processor, graphics applications, compilers and other utilities myself.
What did I do .. I clicked on an icon, confirmed some defaults and waited.
Is it wrong to have this type of automation when one cannot be bothered
with the details?

> And it took Windows until like what, 3.0 to be usable?  Gnome is usable
> right now at 1.0.

Sorry, I simply cannot agree. GNOME 1.0 is the only thing that, in my
experience, crashes more often than Windows.

There are many other useability issues that something like GNOME will have
to deal with, but they are way beyond what GNOME can do now. This is a
simple one. I can't even remember whether GNOME does this now. Perhaps
you can tell me. Do applications remember wihch directory the user visited
last so that if s/he needs to open multiple files it's unnecessary to
traverse the directory tree multiple times?