Fwd: Is disabling ctrl-alt-backspace really such a good idea? - no.

[Vincenzo Ciancia]

Scott Kitterman ha scritto:
> On Sat, 14 Feb 2009 09:24:32 +0100 Vincenzo Ciancia <ciancia at di.unipi.it> 
> wrote:
>> I typically am the guy that persuades friends using linux that the new 
>> *DEFAULT* choices ubuntu makes in every release are good even though 
>> they look like evil. But this time I don't really have a justification.
>>
> Vincenzo,
> 
> You will recall that we've discussed excessive hostility on this list 
> before.  Perhaps it is because English is not your first language, but evil 
> is a very strong term.  If you will consult a dictionary and consider it, I 
> think you will agree the term is excessive in this context.  
> 

Scott, I don't think this is the case for a killfile (YMMV of course). 
What I tried to summarise here is two opposite moods when defaults 
change radically: the one from the ubuntu users, who start saying "hey, 
we are getting like windows", "another one from ubuntu..." and so on, 
the one from the ubuntu enthusiast, like I am (but this is also valid 
for other operating system, see e.g. vista enthusiasts or macusers) who 
try to explain them the reasons for the change.

Now this time I don't really have an answer for two extremely important 
questions that these persons may ask: 1) how am I supposed to unlock a 
stuck compiz? and 2) how can I protect myself from fake login screens.

Question 2) is of vital importance because one may find himself as an 
user of a network of ubuntu-desktop-edition computers. The system 
administrator may be ignorant and not know about the change, but a 
default choice MUST NOT prevent an experienced user to protect himself 
from a script-kiddie in a GUI mood.

Why not getting constructive and do two things: 1) reply to question 2) 
and 2) reply to quest... ehm, no, post a rationale of the Good that this 
change will bring in. So that I will have an answer this time too?

For those who think I made the S/N ratio of the list worse: just post a 
reply to these two things and the signal will go up :)

> I think this thread has far outlived whatever usefullness it might have had 
> and I'd suggest everyone just stop.  It's a few days before feature freeze 
> and the plan for Jaunty isn't going to change.

I see, but did I miss the thread or why such big changes are not 
publicized in early stages? Announces of the planned changes or 
something like that? Is there some web page I should monitor that will 
explain the planned changes for jaunty+1? I may be just ignorant here, 
but would appreciate if big changes that may bring complaints were at 
least announced and discussed a bit in this list. If you just implement 
those, there will be complaints, which by a simple statistical argument 
will be concentrated in the very last phases of the testing process.

Regarding the change to intrepid I requested, and you even more kindly 
implemented: I spent some time writing the e-mail and testing (it was 
few, but I would have spent more time on that if needed as I did for 
many other issues). That was not for me, but for the community, and in 
particular because windows is being more and more used in environments 
such as the academia that were tipically tied to linux because e.g. 
superior tex-ing capabilities. If we get worse and worse in the fields 
where we are traditionally strong we will end like the Italian 
university (yes I am about to escape). Tex users are people we should 
not lose, and it's already difficult enough to fight against 
pre-installed windows, and the good tex editors and environments that 
are nowadays available on the platform.

I don't know why, but (not necessarily in your case) whenever an user 
takes time to convince a developer of a bad choice, and the developer 
gets convinced and improves the distribution, it looks like the latter 
did a favour to the former. I tend to think about this as cooperation.

Vincenzo