what I'd like to see

Beginner

Location: Nova Scotia, Canada

Occupation: woodworking supervisor in a sheltered workshop for intellectually-challenged adults- THE BEST job I've ever had :-)

1

Thursday, June 21st 2007, 2:53am

I was (probably might still be) a fairly adept Windows user / accidental techie / troubleshooter. Now on my third or fourth release of Kubuntu / KDE 3.5.7. I attempt to use as a 'normal' Windows user would- ie: using command line as little as possible- as ALL those I'm trying to convert are terrified of using it. I can't blame them- a 'normal' user 'should' be able to effectively manage their system from within the gui. Yes, a more advanced user can vastly better do so from the command line (I find it far easier to apt-get all updates, for instance, as the process is far superior imho) but Norma and Norman Newbie should not be required to obtain a minimum Masters certification in Computer Science to achieve common base-level requirements

I'd like to see two aspects of KDE improved: made more <gasp> 98SE-ish </gasp>

# Networking / File Sharing
Windows: right-click a drive/folder icon, click Sharing, Share As > done
Kubuntu / KDE: three years later, I still haven't managed it

I have a desktop and a laptop sitting in front of me, both running Fawn, and I can't see either from either in gui-land. I can ssh back and forth no problem, but not being able to do backups from one to the other etc is a pita.

# Printer Installation / Sharing
I have an HP 4+ paralleled to my desktop
Windows: Start > Settings > Printers > Add New Printer > Local >Make and Model > driver is installed > sharing as above > done
Kubuntu / KDE: I found at least three places to install an HP Printer, choices made in one had no effect on the others, five driver choices, of which two are 'recommended', but the only one that works is not recommended. It works, but only by accident, and I have no idea what I did to make it work. I did manage to share it with my laptop, but again, only by endless experimenting. I did also manage to share it with several XP boxes on my home network using <https://help.ubuntu.com/community/NetworkPrintingFromWinXP>
I don't mind several gui routes to accomplish a task, but if one makes the changes, why are those changes not reflected in the others? I can see no reason for that. I can see no reason why the tasks noted in the help.ubuntu.com resource above can't all be accomplished through the gui interface.

why make things so complex? KISSweetheart it better, please!

all else in, I love my Kubuntu, and look forward to the next instalment in the adventure- including KDE4
:-)

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old_salt

Beginner

Posts: 2

Location: NC - USA

Occupation: I.T. Profession

2

Friday, June 22nd 2007, 3:42pm

RE: what I'd like to see

I want to convey my appreciation and thanks to the KDE Project team. If it weren't for this project, I can't be sure I would be using Linux.

Now to my thoughts....

1. Branding - I understand distro branding however I would like to see an agreement between this project and all the distro's that offer KDE to not customize KDE with their own flavor or taste. I would prefer all distro's to have the same full KDE interface across the board vice removing or tweaking. KDE on Fedora should be the same as Kubuntu or Suse however it isn't.

2. KDE PIM, KMAIL or whatever it's called today.
A. I would like to see everything (settings, configs, email etc) all contained under a single directory. It's a pain to have to lookup the 3 seperate locations to get everything backed up.
B. Bring back the "Bounce" feature you once had. An awesome tool for when a message did slip past the spam filters.
C. Maybe offer 2 flavors such as just an email client and the full piece. It's a bear and overwhelming for just desktop home use as is.

3. Dependencies
A. Allow for individualized installation of say the graphics area. I don't mind ksnapshot but I don't want nor need 3 image viewers, color picker etc. Another example is the KDE Utils. I among many would prefer only a few items and not everything else.
B. If you opt not to use Kmail or KDEPIM, it wants to rip out the guts of KDE. Your forced to install dead apps that don't get used and eat up disk space.

4. System Settings
There should be a better way or a working one for that matter method to choose your default apps. I use Evolution for email for reasons stated above on one system and Thunderbird on my laptop. I also use Firefox web browser. Problem is when you setup your default apps for Firefox and Evolution etc, not every KDE app recognizes these settings and you get Konqueror or kmail opened instead.

Any feedback would be appreciated and once again I appreciate the effort of this project however I believe by allowing user's to pick and choose in these areas would lend even more credibility and adoption of the KDE interface.

Thanks
Tony

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Shabakthanai

Beginner

Posts: 6

Location: Ohio

Occupation: Retired

3

Friday, June 22nd 2007, 5:50pm

RE: what I'd like to see

Old Salt,

That sounds Navy to me. I lived in San Diego for almost 40 years. I agree with much you have said, however, I will have to think about it a while. I am new with Linux; I don't want to burden with things that everyone would have to say ' any idiot would say that'. I am not 'any idiot', I am a unique idiot that would like to make useful suggestions. Anyway, if the post is still up when I get both my electrons spinning together and making contact every once in a while, so I can actually have a thought, I will reply.

My first Computer Identity was Saltydog, until someone registered it away from me. I remember some referring to me as Salty those years. Mine wasn't from being an Old Sea Dog, it was from something I read in the Bible, about words meaning something. I have always said what I mean and mean what I said, so like Popeye, so I guess I am a little navy.

To me, I would like to have all the choices for use included. It would be a little overwhelming, however, if all the logically useful and necessary choices were included and another folder contained the plethera of other possibilities, a person could glean the ones he favors,install them and discard the rest, thus freeing up his computer. But, the things that make the program work, should be very basic so that those who want to run lean can do so without a lot of work. Then the wealth of benefit provided by all the creators could be available for the use of each individual and individuals could let their imagination go wild in how to make a system perfect for them. I am sure that I have now exposed my intellectual weaknesses, so I will stop and think a while before I try to get my size 11's back into my mouth.

Steven Vollom, fine-artist

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old_salt

Beginner

Posts: 2

Location: NC - USA

Occupation: I.T. Profession

4

Friday, June 22nd 2007, 9:24pm

Shabakthanai - yes Navy, 9yr Electronic Warfare all east coast.

The point I was trying to make (Hopefully) is 3-fold.

1. I believe Winblows and Linux already offer too many choices for users up front which is probably what scares & confuses more users away from Linux than anything but Winblows has been around a while.

2. I don't like having to install KDEPIM when I don't use it and attempts to remove it causes KDE to die a slow death. I believe apps like Gimp, K3b & Evolution among just a few should be Interface Neutral. I know you can run them on either however it's tough and requires even more libraries and disk space to do so. I believe all Interfaces have benefits however "my choice" is KDE because of the quantity and quality of available apps, tools and resources for development it possesses over the rest. I just think Kmail is overkill for a home user and if anyone wants to use another client then they should without the rest of the KDE apps forcing you to use kmail. I would use it if everything was contained in 1 folder like the rest of the email clients do to simplify backups.

3. The fact that KDE is different depending on what distro you run gives the impression by many that there's inconsistencies in the Linux platform which leads to instability of the platform itself which is not true. However, Linux is not mainstream, not a majority in any case wherever you look and the current Linux movement now is to promote awareness which creates interest which will eventually result in acceptance and adoption thereby making it and the communities voice on equal ground with Microscrewed-U.

It's just my viewpoint and an angle which I've not seen voiced anywhere else and thought I might post it here in hopes that anyone with an open mind might read and at least see my viewpoint is all.

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