"Platform of the Future": Shuttleworth's Comments

[ninjatux]

http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/shuttleworth-oscon-keynote.ars/2

"We have to make software that is profoundly usable," he said. "I think the great task ahead of us over the next two years is to lift the experience of the Linux desktop from something that is stable and robust and not so pretty, to something which is art. Not emulate, but blow right past Apple in the user experience we deliver to our end users. [...] We will start investing in making the desktop beautiful and functional."

What do you make of this and the rest of the article?

Why does a desktop have to be "beautiful"? What constitutes "beautiful"? How does anyone define "functionality"? Sometimes, I think the statement that "Linux is for people who hate Windows..." is quite true, especially when you see Linux leaders embarrassing themselves.

[ocicat]

Why does a desktop have to be "beautiful"?
You may be reading the word "beautiful" too literally.
What constitutes "beautiful"? How does anyone define "functionality"?
These are two good questions, & unfortunately, different camps will focus on different aspects. Personally, I don't believe that Apple is the epitome of usability. They aren't always consistent, & the morphing, bouncing, & spinning UI pyrotechnics used do little more than chew up CPU cycles, & play into Apple's branding. Now if these cutesy little gimmicks did something like take out the trash, then I may reconsider... :rolleyes:

Nevertheless, certain segments of society will be entertained by these contrivances, & more importantly, they may give newbies the sense of interaction & accomplishment with their computer while displacing apprehension with enjoyment. This is important to them, & there isn't any reason that I should take it away from them.

...but it isn't so important to me. My needs are different & I hope that there will always be some solution which is more in alignment with the way I work.

Sometimes small is beautiful as is stability, flexibility, & simplicity -- all things that many people off the street will not readily identify. Because of all these factors, I don't believe that one universal operating system will be the answer to all problems. Diversity is just as good for the marketplace as it is to genetics. :)
Sometimes, I think the statement that "Linux is for people who hate Windows..." is quite true, especially when you see Linux leaders embarrassing themselves.
Maybe it is true all of the time... ;)

[18Googol2]

Why does a desktop have to be "beautiful"?

Nothing wrong with beauty. Ours needs are simply different from others. We need functionality, security... but they may need the PC for designing work, entertainment...

[BSDfan666]

The future is OpenBSD, personally I dream of a future where people learn to appreciate the genius and sophistication of a command line interface. :)

Sadly, the 2006 movie Idiocracy is where we're actually heading.. :(

[18Googol2]

personally I dream of a future where people learn to appreciate the genius and sophistication of a command line interface. :)

Well, I believe its present. So far, I havent known anyone overlooking the genius and sophistication of CLI

[scottro]

Sometimes, I do think that Ubuntu is for people who hate Windows. (And also, for some people who, as they age, get tired of spending hours getting the basics working so that they can go ahead and do what they have to do.)

However, that whole Linux is for people who hate Windows strikes me as aiding MS, Apple, and the other doodie head companies.. The whole open source community is too small to fight among themselvs, though they certainly manage.

Ubuntu's stated number one bug is that Windows is on more computers than Ubuntu. It's made to be an easy transition, and is quite successful in that respect, at least on most desktops.

To those to whom a computer is merely a means to an end, it's a good alternative in some cases.

That is the majority. To most of us, the computer is an end in itself, but most people just want something to work. To us, the command line is far more powerful, to most people, it would be one more thing to learn before being able to make their report that is due tomorrow. :)

I think Mr. Shuttleworth is aiming at the desktop market. OpenBSD isn't.

[drhowarddrfine]

Years ago someone told me to always remember that the computer is just a big calculator. He was right and I fought it when someone asked me if they should get a computer. One of my big regrets in raising my kids was giving them a cheap one to play games on. My thought was it would get them interested in programming or electronics. It did but, when they found out how long it took to create anything, they lost interest, sadly.

[roddierod]

I'll have to agree with drhowarddrfine. I started my daughter using a computer at 4 or 5 with KDE. And she caught on quickly. Then I got her her own PC and thought she would soon want to start programming or making web pages. When she did become interested in making a web page and saw on the work she lost interest.

Years later she began playing the Morrowind RPG on the PC. And she ask how do they make these types of games. I attempted to show her the construction set that allows you to create add on modules and such - again to complicated and lost interest.

It's said to say but, I feel with all the point and click GUI stuff is making the younger (and why do I feel old now...ok so i did use punch cards in 9th grade) generations are too lazy to learn anything beyond 3 or 4 clicks. Unless it's totally useless like myspace or facebook. Sometimes I think the unabomber's manifesto was correct.

[ephemera]

there are simply too many distractions on the computer - gaming and the Internet.
an old pentium2/3 without a graphics card and linux might be a better gift. ;)

[scottro]

I think that we're just exhibiting the Aristotle syndrome. The younger generation is always irresponsible and not willing to work, and Aristotle was one of the first to complain about it, at least that I've read. :)

[ocicat]

I think that we're just exhibiting the Aristotle syndrome.
scottro, were you there when he said it? ;)

[ai-danno]

a) not everyone's interested in what we do
b) throwing someone in the "deep end" is a sure way to turn them off
c) youth, by definition, is wasted. If it wasn't, we probably wouldn't be as productive as we are now ;)

Some people take a liking to this naturally no matter what their entrance vector- this is rare. More stumble into it with some surface-level interaction, and think, "This is neat, I'd like to learn more." Most don't want to get into it all... and personally, that's job security for you and me :) , so don't knock it.

Personally I think sticking your "average" kid with a low-grade 10 year old computer is a sure way to turn them off to both programming/system-administration and computers in general. There's too many other "cool" distractions for them to blow their time on.

My whole introduction to this 'world' was Disney World. I was fortunate enough as a kid to live a few miles away, and when it was still relatively inexpensive to go. Seeing all the robotic stuff and fantasy, I thought, "How'd they do it?" Once a kid becomes interested in how it works... watch out!

[ephemera]

> throwing someone in the "deep end" is a sure way to turn them off

i think you are right about that. :)

> that's job security for you and me :)

good point ;)

> Some people take a liking to this naturally no matter what their entrance vector- this is rare.

they are the computer gurus in the making.

[JMJ_coder]

Hello,

With today's Desktop Environments and Window Managers, the desktop can be made to look identical to Windows, Mac OS X, or anything else. There are so many themes, wallpapers, etc. out there that with a few clicks the computer can be made to look however the user wants it to. So, how does the "not as beautiful as ... " even compute today?