On 11/11/2009 08:41 AM, David C. Rankin wrote:
On Monday 26 October 2009 13:34:43 and regarding:
I disagree. The problems (at least from my perspective) stems from the
KDE devs' decision to "start fresh" with all their apps in order to
"simplify" them and/or apply their new philosophy/approach of desktop
GUI design to them.
That decision resulted in them dumping loads of features from out of
their apps - features that many KDE3 users liked and relied on. The
result has been a less-useful and less-productive GUI.
So really more of a problem with fundamental design decisions, IMO, than
with their programming framework.
From that perspective I completely agree. Konqueror is the perfect example. An
elegant, very functional file manager (wannabe browser) that was packed with
tons of advanced features with a -->very<-- efficient UI (from a minimal
mouse-click/keystroke standpoint) with proper focus control that was
completely thrown out and redone based on the new untried and untested dolphin
engine. That has been a complete fiasco and left kde with a substandard file
manager that has no ability to place focus without using a 2-part ctrl+click
(with the cutsie green plus markers turned off)
Huh. I wasn't aware of the issues with Dolphin ... because I'm still
using Konqueror for my file manager! :-)
It's funny too - even though I'd say I'm now a very happy Xfce user, I
still don't use Thunar. Konqueror - with all the KIO network file
system plugins - is just such an incredibly useful and productive tool
that no other file manager even comes close IMO. The power of being
able to do things like transparently copy a file from one network box
(using SSH/fish) to another network box (using SAMBA/smb) - all from the
same file manager app, and without having to issue any mount commands -
is just incredible. These capabilities have pretty much raised the bar
on what I expect from a file manager nowadays, and Thunar unfortunately
pales in comparison as a result.
So I guess when you take a working desktop and throw it out the window and
then start over with an overly complex framework -- you have probably just
signed up to shoot yourself in the foot :p
That's how I see it. And - although I often disagree with him - "Joel
on Software" wrote a great (and correct, IMO) essay espousing this same
view a while back too:
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000069.html
DR
