Greg Kroah Hartman

[its_jon]

Im new to Linux and selected Ubuntu

Just seen this man talking to Google people on You tube.
In the video he appears to paint Canonical in a bad light.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=L2SED6sewRw&NR=1

I know the Novell/Microsoft deal is old news.... But its new to me :)

Reading between the lines it looks as though Greg Kroah Hartman has a commercial interest in the success of the Novell/Microsoft partnership which is unfortunate as he appears to be a key man in the development of the Linux Kernel central to the Ubuntu OS.

Could it really come to the point where Microsoft take control of Linux through a back door ?

Although im new to Linux and not a very rich man I would be happy to donate to any legal fund that may help to beat back any such advance.

Whats happening at the moment ?

Thanks
John
Scotland

[artir]

The GPL would avoid that :P
Even if Ubuntu goes evil, we can always create Otherbuntus.

[Vadi]

Don't worry about it for now. The most support Ubuntu needs right now is trianging the thousands of bug reports on Launchpad :)

[its_jon]

The man in this Video appears to be much more palatable
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=JiIl123dz50&feature=related
He appears to be talking for the right team by comparison.

I used to bugtrack for deliplayer.
got quite involved in its ui development at one point... unfortunately a lot of my ui concepts were shelved in favor for retro window ideas.
Opening info 'in windows' should have been one of 30 to 40 concepts on the table... I find it utterly bizarre that so much effort has gone into making the windows linux and microsoft appear with so much animation. When resources were low ie atari TOS it was perfect. That was 20 YEARS ago. Why are we still using dragbars with so much processing power at hand ??

I know a window is a uniformed way to present data.... but I argue it is not intuitive at all for any complete newb .. and not the best way to present absolutely everything.
Cour the desktop UI team present template interfaces for program developers to take advantage of ?

EG.... When I write a letter in the physical world it is placed in a container that has the recipient on the outside. The type of container is also particular to content in a lot of cases. So I write the letter (odly not on a window) Select a container (envelope) then direct that container to a target....
Why don't we adopt this process in software ??? why is everything WINDOW obsessed.

Too many programmers
Not enough thinkers

If Linux looked at this at the highest level THINK how quickly the Linux OS would truly flower from the bulbs beneath if a UI hierarchy plan was conceived with some dedicated guidelines.
Im not talking Vista2 or TurboCompiz because both rely almost 100% on 'stuff' been presented in a window all the time weather or not it NEEDS to be contained within a frame or not for that particular task.

erm....

Sorry... had to get that out of my brain
:)

[Vadi]

jon, one error you're making, you think that 1 project represents the millions of others.

that isn't true. yes, some of them won't get far, dislike proper uis and whatnot. you just move onto the one you like then, simple. there are tons that would need this help.

[its_jon]

No.... Im not having a dig at Linux or Microsoft.

As I understand it the GUI even without more than 16 colours is only the very tip of a huge undertaking of code.

However it is this tip that is most used.

"dislike proper uis" - a 'proper ui' ?? There is no proper... only widely accepted to be better or worse.

Its as if all this work was done then the final decision is to simply pop everything into a window to present or allow access to. Just as we used to do 20 year ago.

I think its about time we rethunk our expectations of interface presentation and workings. This time banning the use of what we know as a window unless it makes sense to use one.

[Vadi]

haha.

you're saying we should ditch the wheel in the car for something completely new.

well, sorry to tell you, but millions of people are already used to that. good luck making them adapt to the new thing.

[its_jon]

Try switching from XP to Linux - very much a new learning curve.

I did it because I thought Linux offered new features microsoft were unable to offer.

Im not using Ubuntu because it is the same as I am used to.
Im using Ubuntu because I believe it to be better. and possibly will overtake MS in new features and usability.

What I am suggesting is something even more intuitive.

start the project off in edubuntu ! .... nice, fresh minds.

Keeping with the car theme.:-
Im not suggesting reinventing the wheel or the engine.... The dashboard - yes ! The Gearbox ? - yes !
It will be simple for a driver trained to use a stick shift to jump into an automatic car..... However someone trained to use an automatic will struggle to use a stick.
I offer the analogy that a windowed OS is akin to a stick shift.

I missed out on the DOS years having earlier programmed in basic. I re-entered with win95.
As a result I HATE to type in dos like commands.... why can't it all be automatic ?

One day we will look back on old fashioned window operating systems and giggle..... Did we really work in such an environment we will ask ?

Why can't that day be 6 months away ??????

DO IT ! before someone else does.

Why emulate when you can create