Re: [As-users] AfterStep 2.0 beta4 release

Steve Cooke (stephen.cooke@dpiwe.tas.gov.au)
Thu, 25 Mar 2004 11:05:13 +1100 

Albert 'Tigr' Dorofeev wrote:
> Again, that's a completely different audience we are
> talking about here. I think people that use AS as their
> WM of choice are rather more technical than you describe.
> They do not get scared of recompiling the WM or (gasp)
> the kernel. The new users do not have to be the users
> of other systems. It is quite normal that after some time
> with another WM someone may get tired of all the useless
> features and hardcoded configuration and want to try
> somethign else. Those users are not new in the sense
> of using Unix, they are new only to AS, they are quite
> familiar with configuration, compilation and so on...
> So a threatening interface to some may not be as threatening
> to others. Or, it may be actually rather inviting...
> 

I think the assumption that users are technically savvy is erroneous. 
However, for the sake of argument, lets assume the case. There is still 
no reason why an application should not be fully configurable etc, *and* 
still offer a non-technical interface.

Someone else on the list has misunderstood my meaning so I'll be 
explicit in what I mean by "interface." In this context interface is the 
overall experience a user will have with the application - not simply 
the "look and feel." Please remember that I am talking generally, about 
the philosophy behind the design of the human-computer interface.

Certainly I'll continue to use Afterstep. I like it for the same reasons 
you have expressed. My initial rant was not about Afterstep - it was 
aimed at the notion that Linux applications have taken on a "bash 
Microsoft" approach.

The original concept of the Open Source community was to offer a better 
paradigm for software development than that offered by proprietry 
software vendors. If that included bashing Microsoft well and good. It 
was not, however, the initial aim. And it should not be now. The Open 
Source community has matured to the extent that traditional MS territory 
is being erroded. Anything that acts as a deterrent to that is 
unhelpful, in my view.

Cheers,

Steve Cooke
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