[plug] Good GUI Interface Design

[Ben New]

Onno Benschop wrote:

>User interface consistency can only be achieved if there is one source
>of that interface, this is why Apple was so successful with their
>interface.
>
>The equivalent for Linux would be to have the kernel team do the UI
>toolbox, thus making it a wasted effort for other developers to
>"re-invent" something that is then already implemented.
>
>*HOWEVER*, while this on the surface of this discussion *might* address
>some issues, there are a large number of things that are broken in this
>idea:
>      * Who would trust Linus to come up with a GUI ;-)
>      * Just because there is a toolbox, doesn't mean everyone uses it -
>        see OpenOffice.org, Mozilla and others.
>      * Apple achieved their uniformity because they provided all the
>        tools - the development environment, the manuals, the hardware,
>        the roms and the OS. It was just simpler for a Macintosh
>        developer to use what was there.
>
>I'm not seriously proposing to include a GUI toolbox into the kernel.
>I'm attempting to highlight that your discussion is all wrong.
>
>The way we're currently developing OSS, this will never be solved. The
>only solution is to find a solution that encourages everyone (at least
>the majority of developers) to toss their own GUI effort in favour of a
>better solution.
>
>Given that OSS is written mostly by geeks with an itch to scratch, it is
>in my opinion unlikely that such a thing will come to pass.
>
>It isn't a bad thing if you think about it though.
>
>While I agree that the UI has a lot to be desired, the lack of
>uniformity is as much a strength as a weakness.
>
>Why do you ask?
>
>Because if I don't like one developer's effort, I can go elsewhere. I
>can select another application written by another person with a
>different idea of how it's supposed to be.
>
>While it bugs me that Copy and Paste is severely broken on my Desktop,
>I'm really glad that I'm not in a Windows environment that forces me to
>have a close box in one specific place on the title-bar,  and does not
>allow me to tweak a little text file and change my user interface on the
>spot, or have as many desktops as I feel I need today.
>
>I suppose some enterprising individual could come up with the following
>strategy:
>
>Write for example a save-dialog box thing, and have the window manager
>tell it every time a new window comes up. The user could in very little
>time identify which windows were application save-dialogs and have them
>replaced by the new one - sort of like how my window manager will put
>all Evolution windows on Desktop #1, and all LinCVS on #8.
>
>Another approach to this would be to get the source code for all the
>applications you like and replace the save dialog call to one of your
>own. Since we've got the source, we can do what ever we like.
>
>We could even roll our own distro with the resulting applications!
>
>Hey, who knows, we could even fix Copy/Paste ;-)
>
>
>Onno Benschop 
>
>Connected via Optus B3 at S34°43'17" - E150°34'56" (Kangaroo Valley, NSW)
>  
>

Words of wisdom!

-- 
Ben New
ben at leftclick.com.au

Leftclick Software Development
http://www.leftclick.com.au/