5 ms·

You mean http://www.gnu.org/software/guix/ http://www.gnu.org/software/guix/? Looks ugly as sin to me...this new Guile site though. It looks more like an Apple

by jolux 11y ago

You mean http://www.gnu.org/software/guix/ http://www.gnu.org/software/guix/? Looks ugly as sin to me...this new Guile site though. It looks more like an Apple product than a GNU project ;) (in a good way)

jordigh 11y ago
What about the GNU Octave site? Ugly as sin or uglier? http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/ http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/
- walrus 11y ago
  A few suggestions: - The front page needs some short code samples and their output. Also, maybe showcase some libraries or projects the Octave community has created. - Make 'Documentation' a top-level menu entry. - Provide some 'Getting Started' documentation. I know there's a section in the manual for that, but I don't dive into the manual when I'm just trying to get a feel for what something is. - The download page should have distro-specific installation instructions (e.g., apt-get install octave, pacman -S octave). For Windows, link directly to the exe. For OS X, link directly to the dmg. Other than that I think it's fine. The design on the navigation menu looks a little dated, but it's not a big deal.
  - jordigh 11y ago
    > For OS X, link directly to the dmg. Heh, as soon as we can find someone who can create one...
    - stergios 11y ago
      How about "brew install octave" .
      - jordigh 11y ago
        Slow, error-prone, obscure. Remember that Octave is used by people who regularly call themselves "not a programmer".
  - opk 11y ago
    Isn't it really rather pointless to show distro-specific installation instructions. Someone who can program in scheme or octave really doesn't need help on using apt-get. There's many options if you want to cover a good range of distributions. Someone that clueless will probably not realise the commands need running as root, either. It only makes sense for Windows and OS X.
    - Retra 11y ago
      Someone who is learning scheme or octave may not know these things. This may be their first time installing something like this.
    - walrus 11y ago
      I disagree. As someone who knows how to use my system's package manager, it saves me from having to figure out the name of the package and whether or not I need to enable a 3rd party repository. Also, I know at least two people who use Octave that aren't comfortable with their system's package manager. Both of them use Ubuntu for their research because it's easier to get compilers (Fortran and C++) working properly, but they use Windows for general (non-research) computing. One of them is a biophysics graduate student and the other is a chemistry undergraduate.
- chadzawistowski 11y ago
  In terms of site design, I prefer Guile > Octave > Guix.
- jolux 11y ago
  No, it looks much better. The drop-shadows are a bit cringey but again, the colors make sense and for what it's worth it's an honest design. This is clearly the homepage of a free software project.
- Maken 11y ago
  Probably most Octave users (including me) prefer to use the command line client, but I don't think the new GUI is so terrible to not show it in the front page.
- Nadya 11y ago
  Minor UX issue: Your side nav `buttons` should be able to be clicked from the sides. Not just the text. Similar to the `continue` button in the donate section. http://i.imgur.com/WgWwuRG.png http://i.imgur.com/WgWwuRG.png
agumonkey 11y ago
I said 'fresh', as opposed to vanilla vintage gnu layout (http://www.gnu.org/software/screen/ http://www.gnu.org/software/screen/), not beautiful or good :)
- jolux 11y ago
  Honestly I think that the "vintage" GNU site looks better than that one. Clean typography, sensible colors, it's even flat-design and it's not even trying! It's honest about what it is. Designers aren't going to be downloading Guix or probably GNU Screen. The older page is much more aligned with the FSF's brand, which is utilitarian and emphasizes freedom above all else. Guix's site looks very corporate, like a dead startup from the late aughts.
  - talideon 11y ago
    It looks more 'corporate' because they paid more attention to the site's information architecture[1]: rather than presenting you with a wall of text like old sites do, you're presented with what it is, why you should care, what it's like, and all in straightforward terms. That's easier to consume than the dense paragraph of material you get in the likes of the GNU Screen page. If you squint, you'll see things clearly: the page is broken up with whitespace into distinct sections, and there are no gigantic blobs of text. In contrast, the GNU Screen page is basically one big black blob of text between a header and a footer. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_architecture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_architecture
    - denniskane 11y ago
      Maybe. But at least the information on the Screen page is the god's honest truth... This site, however, is a load of pure propaganda. > With Guile you can create applications and games for the desktop, the Web, the command-line, and more. You can create applications on the web with Lisp? Really?!? And tell me about all of those wonderful command-line games! But then there is always the "more". Whatever the hell that is. Holy shit, the world has just gone completely insane.

by jolux 11y ago

jordigh 11y ago

What about the GNU Octave site? Ugly as sin or uglier? http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/ http://www.gnu.org/software/octave/

walrus 11y ago
A few suggestions: - The front page needs some short code samples and their output. Also, maybe showcase some libraries or projects the Octave community has created. - Make 'Documentation' a top-level menu entry. - Provide some 'Getting Started' documentation. I know there's a section in the manual for that, but I don't dive into the manual when I'm just trying to get a feel for what something is. - The download page should have distro-specific installation instructions (e.g., apt-get install octave, pacman -S octave). For Windows, link directly to the exe. For OS X, link directly to the dmg. Other than that I think it's fine. The design on the navigation menu looks a little dated, but it's not a big deal.
- jordigh 11y ago
  > For OS X, link directly to the dmg. Heh, as soon as we can find someone who can create one...
  - stergios 11y ago
    How about "brew install octave" .
    - jordigh 11y ago
      Slow, error-prone, obscure. Remember that Octave is used by people who regularly call themselves "not a programmer".
- opk 11y ago
  Isn't it really rather pointless to show distro-specific installation instructions. Someone who can program in scheme or octave really doesn't need help on using apt-get. There's many options if you want to cover a good range of distributions. Someone that clueless will probably not realise the commands need running as root, either. It only makes sense for Windows and OS X.
  - Retra 11y ago
    Someone who is learning scheme or octave may not know these things. This may be their first time installing something like this.
  - walrus 11y ago
    I disagree. As someone who knows how to use my system's package manager, it saves me from having to figure out the name of the package and whether or not I need to enable a 3rd party repository. Also, I know at least two people who use Octave that aren't comfortable with their system's package manager. Both of them use Ubuntu for their research because it's easier to get compilers (Fortran and C++) working properly, but they use Windows for general (non-research) computing. One of them is a biophysics graduate student and the other is a chemistry undergraduate.
chadzawistowski 11y ago
In terms of site design, I prefer Guile > Octave > Guix.
jolux 11y ago
No, it looks much better. The drop-shadows are a bit cringey but again, the colors make sense and for what it's worth it's an honest design. This is clearly the homepage of a free software project.
Maken 11y ago
Probably most Octave users (including me) prefer to use the command line client, but I don't think the new GUI is so terrible to not show it in the front page.
Nadya 11y ago
Minor UX issue: Your side nav `buttons` should be able to be clicked from the sides. Not just the text. Similar to the `continue` button in the donate section. http://i.imgur.com/WgWwuRG.png http://i.imgur.com/WgWwuRG.png

agumonkey 11y ago

I said 'fresh', as opposed to vanilla vintage gnu layout (http://www.gnu.org/software/screen/ http://www.gnu.org/software/screen/), not beautiful or good :)

jolux 11y ago
Honestly I think that the "vintage" GNU site looks better than that one. Clean typography, sensible colors, it's even flat-design and it's not even trying! It's honest about what it is. Designers aren't going to be downloading Guix or probably GNU Screen. The older page is much more aligned with the FSF's brand, which is utilitarian and emphasizes freedom above all else. Guix's site looks very corporate, like a dead startup from the late aughts.
- talideon 11y ago
  It looks more 'corporate' because they paid more attention to the site's information architecture[1]: rather than presenting you with a wall of text like old sites do, you're presented with what it is, why you should care, what it's like, and all in straightforward terms. That's easier to consume than the dense paragraph of material you get in the likes of the GNU Screen page. If you squint, you'll see things clearly: the page is broken up with whitespace into distinct sections, and there are no gigantic blobs of text. In contrast, the GNU Screen page is basically one big black blob of text between a header and a footer. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_architecture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_architecture
  - denniskane 11y ago
    Maybe. But at least the information on the Screen page is the god's honest truth... This site, however, is a load of pure propaganda. > With Guile you can create applications and games for the desktop, the Web, the command-line, and more. You can create applications on the web with Lisp? Really?!? And tell me about all of those wonderful command-line games! But then there is always the "more". Whatever the hell that is. Holy shit, the world has just gone completely insane.