Comments about Linux/Ubuntu from a former MS-programmer

[John]

Alan McKinnon wrote:
> On Tuesday 11 April 2006 01:55, John wrote:
> 
>>It makes good sense to follow Windows UI until we have good reason
>>not to. It seems to me that many of the differences are present
>>just to be different, and that results in Linux being harder to
>>learn than it needs to be, it results in shared applications (eg
>>Mozilla*, OOo) being different from everything else etc.
> 
> 
> I contend that that viewpoint is unnecessarily broad in it's scope. 
> Just because Windows is prevalent doesn't mean that it's methods must 
> be cloned. If you want to tackle Windows head-on on it's own turf, 
> then following Windows style is probably a good idea. For a system 
> that is not trying to compete with Windows it is a bad idea. 

It is competing with Windows. Almost everyone here is a former or 
current Windows user.

Businesses changing their desktops to Linux are faced with retraining 
costs and (temporary) loss of productivity.

Some differences (such as where's my floppy) are unavoidable, they they 
can be masked in the GUI.

The more the differences, the more difficult the task of retraining the 
workforce, and the more difficult the task of retraining the workforce 
the list likely the organisations to make the move.

Staff where I work want to do their jobs, and their job descriptions 
don't include lots of "learning new computer technology."


It is important that a Linux GUI be similar to Windows, good or bad, 
becase that makes it easier for prospective Linux users to learn how to 
use it when the do make the change.

Remember the lesson of the keyboard. The qwerty keybard layout was 
designed to slow people down. For today's use it is the worst possible 
design.

There have been efforts to produce a better keyboard inline with 
todays's needs, the Dvorak keyboard is quite a famous flop in this 
regard. I have no doubt that it's a better layout, but almost nobody 
wants to make the effort to retrain.

People don't want the best possible design, they want the design that 
works best for them, and the design that works best for them is the one 
they already use, and the reason it works best for them is that, having 
used it for some time, they know how to use it.

It's the same problem Apple must overcome.