Edubuntu GUI

[Jonathan Carter]

Hi Jane

Jane Weideman wrote:
>>I have expressed my opinion of the new GUI (
>>http://wiki.edubuntu.org/EdubuntuScreenShots ) quite
>>forcefully (
>>http://www.eschoolnews.com/eti/2005/10/001200.php ) - and
>>am looking for some civilised debate on this topic.
> 
> I am curious to find out if this is an isolated opinion or a valid and
> general concern, because apart from feedback that it was a bit too young
> looking, and not diversity-conscious enough we have had all poitive
> feedback so far.
> 
> Comment anyone?

Yes. I think he's opinions are valid, although perhaps slightly
misguided. The biggest issues seemed to be that Squeak wasn't included,
and that it's visually very distracting. Squeak we know presented a
technical challenge. Ogra will probably be able to give us more info on
whether it will be included in the next Edubuntu. Will there even be
enough disc space?

On the theme issues, we use even a brighter, noisier, louder theme in
tuXlabs. We've had some of our volunteers, who said that it's too
colourful, and that they think it should be scaled down. From the
primary and the high schools, from both the learners and the educators,
we've had very positive feedback. They feel that the colours make the
computer lab a friendly, "warmer" environment for the learners. The
first release of Edubuntu is also mainly aimed at primary schools, so
the icon set will reflect that.

I think the important lesson in this, though, is that people have
different preferences, and that it's important to have options. This
December I'd like to put together a gartoon theme for OpenOffice.org. It
already has a crystal theme, which is colder, and cleaner, and probably
more suitable for grade 12's and university students. So perhaps we
should look at having a complete crystal theme as well. Even without
that, there's always the brown Ubuntu theme that everyone loves :)

About the default wallpaper, I wonder how much work it would be to
modify the GNOME desktop chooser to modify the symlink to where the
default wallpaper is, then you could have a default wallpaper changer
admin tool to allow the administrator to change the default wallpaper.
That way admin can have some nice control over the default appearance of
the desktop.

Having said that, theming is important, because it's the first
impression a user will get from a system, on the other side, it's also
incredibly easy to change and adjust, even by the most novice user.

I think opinions such like Tom has posted is important, because it
stimulates discussion around the subject, and it will help us to put
together more ideas and make Edubuntu better, faster. I also think that
Edubuntu will mature drastically with each new version, and there will
be many options to get the aesthetics just right.

-Jonathan