Comments | yakko: It's usaBULL

yakko

It's usaBULL

Aug 13, 2008 18:36

The problem: the GNOME screensaver needs a way to be disabled because maybe someone wants to run xscreensaver instead.

My question to you: which would you think of first to solve this problem:

1. Go to the preferences for the screen saver and look for a check box that reads, "Enable screensaver" and then uncheck it.
2. gconftool-2 --type boolean ( Read more... )

buggy software, howto, computing, stupid, unix

Comments 5

vakkotaur August 14 2008, 00:24:48 UTC

Because it's GNOME, and the GNOMEs believe that they know what is best for users better than any mere user might. It's annoying, arrogant, and all too familiar.

yakko August 14 2008, 01:10:58 UTC

I haven't been following what the official GNOME policy is on this lack of accessible settings, but at one time, the (somewhat?) official line was, "Less options makes the user experience better; it makes GNOME more usable."

Hence the "usaBULL" in my Subject. I disagree with that mantra. I think that all settings should be made available via the GUI, even if there are "advanced settings" tabs in addition to the usual settings. There are several ways this can be implemented without confusing the novice.

vakkotaur August 14 2008, 01:19:10 UTC

On that I concur. Hide the setting(s) behind an Advanced tab or button, but make them available. My problems with KDE recently have been that things I had had problems with in the past are now working and I wasn't trying the easy way first. At least that's what was happening in KDE 3.5x. I haven't tried KDE 4.x at all yet. Another release or two and maybe I will try it - or decide it's time to go with something lighter. I've already told Konqueror to buzz off since Thunar is much more responsive.

If the Mac would just let me truly control color schemes, I might use it more. As it is, I only dig out the laptop for trips and even then barely use it because it's a pain. Another case of limiting the controls to make things "better."

zorinlynx August 14 2008, 00:49:22 UTC

This is what annoys the crap out of me with regards to Linux. I love Linux so much, but I can't stand half-implemented GUIs, especially after using Macs.

It drives me insane, and is one of the reasons why I have Mac OS X on the desktop and Linux server-side these days.

yakko August 14 2008, 01:06:44 UTC

It annoys the crap out of me, and I say this as a certified CLI junkie. It's the major reason that I was ecstatic to see MacOS X ship. Before MacOS X, I simply had to put up with it if I wanted to run a Linux desktop. KDE may be better about the settings, but I do prefer GNOME.

Despite the gripes, I think the Linux desktop experience is improving in other areas. Removable media, for instance, works the way I expect it to. It wasn't always like that.