ubuntu and kubuntu

[marc]

Eamonn Sullivan said...
> On 9/2/06, marc <gmane at auxbuss.com> wrote:
>
> > I would say that KDE supports user interaction with their apps a lot
> > better than Gnome.
> 
> Now, user
> interfaces rank up there with toe-nail clipping on the interest scale.

:-) But one notices when one can't do what one wants to do.

> I regularly switch between Windows (at work), Mac, Gnome and KDE and
> barely notice the difference. I use mostly Web apps and emacs (another
> religious war-starter), anyway. What's under the app window is
> irrelevant.

I would agree that the name is irrelevant, but the functionality - or 
lack of it - is not irrelevant when it hampers use.

Anyway, gvim (since v7) beats emacs hands down :-)

> If I designed an ideal user interface, it would probably resemble Mac
> OS X (God intended application menus to be on the top of the screen,
> in my opinion)

Well, if we're bringing mythical beings into then I guess all bets are 
off. That aside, my menus are at the top in Windows, KDE and Gnome, so 
that's hardly a distinguishing feature.

> but with no icons on the desk at all. Completely blank. 

Yup, all three. That's where keyboard commands come in very handy, in 
particular. I can do away with the task bar in KDE too due to desktop 
rotation with the mouse wheel - there are other ways too, of course.

> And then I'd use something very similar to Quicksilver to
> launch applications. Type one keystroke and then start typing the name
> of the application and hit enter once recognized. But it would run on
> Linux, not locked down with Apple's proprietary formats and DRM. I
> haven't found it yet.

katapult? I don't use it, but it's loaded by default in Kubuntu. Btw, it 
has no docs worth a fig, so you need to know that [Alt+space] starts the 
process.

Also, in case you haven't come across it, I can recommend yakuake  -
works great on gnome. It's very clean :-)

In KDE, as with Windows, I assign the Win-key+letter to numerous apps - 
on Windows I use AutoHotKey (as superb, and very clever, open source 
tool) to do this. So, win+f is Firefox on all platforms; win+a is 
add/remove progs = Synaptic; win+c is computer management = KControl; 
and so on. Unfortunately, under gnome, I have to use xbindkeys - I think 
the absence of keyboard shortcuts in gnome is criminal, personally.

And why do I have to hack gnome's registry to active suspend?
 
> It just occurred to me today that I actually should let my wife and
> kids decide for themselves too, so I put kubuntu-desktop on both of
> our Ubuntu computer and told them how to change the session in gdm.
> It'll be interesting to see which wins.

Well, I'm not sure that winning is the right word. Also, it takes a lot 
of effort to change something like a desktop. It's much easier when you 
have a knowledgeable user take you through all the wow-features. Left to 
their own devices, most folk wouldn't switch to Linux, but sit down with 
them for a few hours and then work alongside them for a few more, and 
the transformation is often complete. Pain is an excellent barrier to 
entry.

-- 
Best,
Marc