[hoary] initial usability reactions

[David Feldman]

I suspect, based on your message, that you're not a typical computer 
user, and certainly not an inexperienced user. My understanding is that 
a goal of Ubuntu is to make it a usable distro, i.e. usable for 
novices. While some users probably don't use their desktops much, 
others certainly do. I'd rather see the icons visible by default with 
the option to disable them than the other way around, because (a) it 
makes clear the fact that they can be displayed in the first place, and 
(b) it may be helpful to many users and shouldn't get in the way of 
most others. While I'd hate to see Linux pick up Windows' applications 
unfortunate practice of dumping icons on the desktop with every 
install, a few well-placed icons representing things like disks and 
home folders seems like a good idea to me.

--Dave

On Nov 16, 2004, at 23:04, Daniel Robitaille wrote:

>> - Particularly for those switching from Windows or Mac, the desktop
>> itself is a bit bare. I'd like to see the various options that put
>> Trash,  Computer, and Home icons on the desktop enabled by default, to
>> increase familiarity and provide a few extra "oh, I can click on 
>> that!"
>> sorts of things. They would also serve as a handy indication to new
>> users that everything has loaded up properly. It would be cool to have
>> a Network icon as well.
>
> personally I prefer that bare desktop.  Even under Windows the less
> icons I had on the desktop, the better I liked it.  And in most case I
> really try to work from the command line, so that trash can or
> "computer" icon on the desktop doesn't get used that often when
> present on a machine I use.
>
> As for these new users, they are only a click away (via "Computer")
> from all these icons you proposed (and more).  I personally think
> that's similar while different enough from Windows that they are not
> going to get lost.
>
> After installing Ubuntu I decided to give Nautilus another try since I
> hadn't played with Gnome since v2.4,  and I gave up after a couple of
> days; I find these graphical interface more a nuisance than anything
> else, and is often easier faster and more flexible to work from a
> shell prompt.
>
> -- 
> ubuntu-users mailing list
> ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
> http://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users
>