Re: Ubuntu Idea Storm?
Originally Posted by
maynoth
Well everyone seems to share your attitude.. which is why linux is going to take 30+ years to become mainstream.. end users (who cannot program) are left out of the R & D loop.
The operating systems that are mainstream today did not become mainstream by caring passionately for the end user's every demand, let alone letting them in the R&D loop. Actually, you have far more of a chance of making a difference in the FOSS paradigm, if you're willing to learn how the social mechanisms work, adapt to them, and utilize them, instead of expecting them to bend to suit you. You stand next to zero chance of making any difference in the mainstream proprietary paradigm.
Originally Posted by
maynoth
The things which should take top priority are never addressed, and instead we focus on things like beta 3D gui's. I would rather have a default gui to edit xorg, and fstabs... a device manager that actually manages not a device viewer. I could care less about eyecandy.
(emphasis mine)
Your repeating of this often refuted way of argumentation is another symptom that points to your poor understanding of how things work. There's no single, unified "we" that develops the software you're using; it's all coming from an extremely decentralized workforce, and being put back together by the core Ubuntu developers. The people who work on the "beta 3D GUI"s cannot, and/or do not want to work on what you think are the top priorities. Your line of thinking is flawed in multiple ways:
- You can't expect a low level graphics programmer to hack filesystems, or work on usability. You should regard it as a blessing that people who work on Beryl aren't working on filesystems in their spare time; they'd make such a mess. You wouldn't be able to clear it up yourself, and you would end up with an unusable OS, and indeed, it would delay the long awaited, glorious, irreversible overtake of the mainstream market by Linux by thirty years. There's a reason things work the way they do.
- You can't expect a developer to work on something they aren't interested in. Would you put thirty hours of seriously dedicated work a week into something you have no interest in, without payment?
- Completely beside the point, but just since it illustrates another common misunderstanding you share: the "beta 3D GUIs" in your wording aren't just meant as eye candy; the underlying structure they utilize is meant to let your GPU do the dirty work that's on the shoulders of your CPU at the moment. In the long run, this endeavor isn't so worthless as to be dismissed as "useless eye candy that I'd gladly forfeit in place of [insert popular feature / fix]".
And there are multiple technical reasons why the graphical device manager is just a device viewer, which have to do with how the kernel works, so on. In short, since you're new to the FOSS paradigm, you lack a thorough understanding of why certain things work the way they do, or fail the way they do, and it's to be expected, it's nothing abnormal. Those who know the system inside out started just like you; they weren't born with knowledge of how to do good bug reporting and how particular system components interact. They looked around, asked questions, read documentation, made workable, consistent demands, and got them implemented. They didn't need a Digg-like interface with a million visitors a week to make things what they are today.
Originally Posted by
maynoth
Don't get me wrong I mean ubuntu is wonderful, the advances it has made in a few short years is nothing short of amazing. I think out of all flavors of linux ubuntu is the best and easiest to use free distro. But there is a big disconnect between end users and developers, and the apathy isn't going to bridge that divide. It is getting there, but the priorities are way out of whack, and just about every end user I have talked to has made the same observation.
Expecting results from a purely democratic survey in the vein of Idea Storm to have a binding bearing on development is completely unrealistic, and if it did happen, it would be a shortcut to catastrophe. Schemes such as the forum ambassadors idea are much better ways of dealing with the gap between the developers and end users.
Some of the above may sound harsh, but it's the only way I can put things, and none of it is meant as an offense to you. I don't regard lack of knowledge as something to be ashamed of, and I don't regard having a slight bit further awareness of how things work as a means to snobbery, so take what I say as not as a belittling of your position, but a neutral take on your points.
Last edited by 23meg; March 22nd, 2007 at 03:41 PM.
Previously known as 23meg
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Re: Ubuntu Idea Storm?
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