apps choice for Ubuntu and installation choices [Was: cross-platform virus]

[Alan McKinnon]

On Thursday 13 April 2006 17:41, Alexander Jacob Tsykin wrote:
> On Thursday 13 April 2006 00:55, Alan McKinnon wrote:
> > On Wednesday 12 April 2006 13:41, Alexander Jacob Tsykin wrote:
> > > On Wednesday 12 April 2006 20:33, Alan McKinnon wrote:
> > > > So we come back to my original statement. What are these apps
> > > > that these people do and don't need? Please provide a list.
> > > > And when you do, please make sure it is a researched list
> > > > that accurately reflects the needs and wishes of the actual
> > > > user base, as opposed to your own personal opinion.
> > >
> > > I will do that, but here are a few simple ones to start (if
> > > anybody disagrees, please let me know):
> >
> > I don't think you are getting what I'm saying. I asked for a
> > *researched* list and I have very good reasons for asking that.
> > By researched I mean statistically analysed answers from a
> > representative large group of users. As a wild guess I'd say this
> > would be 10,000 of them minimum but intuition tells me 100,000 is
> > more like it.
>
> I don't think you read my response. I will research it, but to ask
> for 10,000 or 100,000 is to ask the impossible.

I did read your response and I saw that you dodged the question and 
answered a different one instead. Everything I'm saying in this 
thread is stock standard market research stuff. Industry has been 
doing it for years. And 10,000 to 100,000 users properly surveyed is 
a reasonable amount of data to need to fix Bug #1.

But why are you saying it's impossible? It's not. Ask one person the 
survey questions, repeat another 99,999 times. I am aware that the 
cost of that is enormous and a clever interim solution will be needed 
meanwhile. 

> > > A home user most definitely does not need the Gimp. It is
> > > overkill, it has far too many features, is hard to learn, and
> > > difficult to use.
> >
> > No, you think those things about The Gimp. You might not be
> > representative.
>
> Like I said, these are my thoughts. I do plan to do research.

OK

> > > A desktop choice for kids would be good.
> > > It could include mainly games, some educational and some not.
> >
> > Isn't there a spin off distro that specifically targets that
> > market?
>
> edubuntu does not. It includes only educational programs. I had
> envisioned somethign more tailored for home use.

I think something like that has potential (kids being the next 
generation of users), but it's a deeper change than just a new 
selection of apps. To do it justice you'd need new artwork, icons, 
fonts, cursors and the apps themselves. A separate distro would be 
the easiest way to implement it but that might conflict with the 
needs of adult user in the same house. So maybe it's best treated as 
if it were a separate window manager, selected at login time. In any 
event I don't know enough of the internals of Gnome to decide.

> > > These are just a few which rapidly come to mind. Please add
> > > more or correct me as you see fit. I think this is a good idea,
> > > so I would love to discuss it.
> >
> > But you are making a classic error, of assuming that your own
> > viewpoint represents something other than you. And you are doing
> > it in many threads lately. This isn't a flame, but you need to
> > get this point:
>
> I said if you disagree with me, I welcome a discussion. I repeat,
> as you seem to not understand (or not read properly) THIS IS MY
> OPINION, I WILL GET FIGURES, BUT THIS IS JUST WHAT I THINK AT THE
> MOMENT.

Slow down fella, slow down. I'm perfectly aware that's what you think, 
and I did read that part and understand it. Reread my posts and ask 
yourself what was my intention in writing them.

You have recently in more than one thread presented your own opinion 
on matters, and worded it as if it were a proven fact. Then in this 
thread (which *has* to deal with facts) you don't go and get some 
facts, but state more opinions instead, this time labeling them as 
such. I'm not saying your opinions are cr at p or worthless, I'm saying 
you need to get the difference. Which you do now appear to get, so 
thank you very much.

I don't expect you to do the market research either, that's a huge job 
for one person. Let some more appropriate body do that and the rest 
of us can use the results they find out.


-- 
If only you and dead people understand hex, 
how many people understand hex?

Alan McKinnon
alan at linuxholdings dot co dot za
+27 82, double three seven, one nine three five