
GNOME-Designer Jon McCann about the future of GNOME3 - darkduck
http://derstandard.at/1313024283546/Interview-GNOME-Designer-Jon-McCann-about-the-future-of-GNOME3
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hapless
McCann on criticism of Gnome 3:

 _Unfortunately on the internet - and in free software in particular - we have
a lot of people whose voices aren't heard very loudly, and we have to take
their needs into accounts as well as those who are vocal. And that's very
challenging to do and very tricky to know what the less vocal people are
looking for. So we have to remain sensitive to both sides._

So McCann doesn't have to listen to complaints from actual users -- he has a
silent majority that understands Gnome.org's design choices. How very Nixon-
esque.

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jonfk
I think he makes some valid points. At first I was a bit ticked off that he is
redefining what operating system means somewhat. But he is right in many ways
and what really counts is the user experience(End user and developer). What
mainly defines the user experience is the environment and GNOME is one. He
touches on more than that and he does not leave out what is lower on the
software stack. His confidence in the vision they have reassures me a bit that
the linux desktop is still on the right way.

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onli
Well, I'm not convinced that it's mainly the environment. You noted yourself
that he also talks about lower stuff like suspend not working. And
suspend/hibernate not working is not the fault of Gnome. It's because of Linux
itself. If he on the one hand redefines the Operating System as being the
whole experience, he should not forget that the technical base defines the
user experience even more than the GUI (The GUI s only important if the base
is working). I doubt that with his vision of what an OS is, with his what i
see as negleting the technical base, this would be better. I don't think that
Gnome itself "has the talent to do almost anything". They won't improve the
kernel that much when a base-function don't work, or fix graphic-drivers when
their compositor won't work cause of a glitch in them. The DE is a part of the
use of an OS, an important part of the daily work, but not the whole OS.

PS: Using Linux for years, I never had a system with working
suspend/hibernate. And I still have not, using the newest Ubuntu on my laptop.
Which really is disturbing when reading about a GUI almost forcing you to use
that broken function.

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divtxt
At this point, it's the "lower" level issues - suspend, graphics, sound - that
are ruining the Linux desktop, even for us geeks.

They were the reason I gave up on Linux desktop two years ago and forked over
the extra money for a Mac. Closing your laptop and knowing it will work when
you open it later!

BTW, we got new Dell laptops at work last year and found they would degrade
with every suspend/resume (e.g. audio glitches). Did I mention this was
Windows 7?

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mancombseepgood
Wow, that's an extensive interview. Looking forward to Gnome 3.2.

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dman
Indeed - interviews with good questions and substantial answers are so rare
these days that this was really enjoyable to read. It also helped that this
was not spread over 23 pages with a paragraph on each page.

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mariuolo
I wonder if Gnome 3 will end up like The Gimp, UI-wise.

