5 ms·

Using Arch with GNOME, VIM/NEOVIM. Happy value between usability and resource usage. The programmers on Linux usually care about efficiency. Christian Hegert is

Using Arch with GNOME, VIM/NEOVIM. Happy value between usability and resource usage. The programmers on Linux usually care about efficiency. Christian Hegert is improving recently a lot in GNOME. This allows me to use a ThinkPad X220 which is running circles around some modern laptops with Windows. I understand that people prefer the small footprint of C. I like C. My personal preference is C++ (low- and high-level, more safety and flexibility). The problem is greed - i.e. capitalism. The blog mentions Electron and therefore Chrome and JavaScript. They are awful combination and allow companies to save on programmers. Programmers which handle C, C++, Rust or Python are a small group. Java, C# and JavaScript consume more resources, allow using a lot more stuff quicker (like a drug) and most importantly are forgiving mistakes. So the industry decides to waste the resources on our computers because they don’t need to buy and maintain them. The customer pays twice, for the software and the next computer with more soldered main-memory. The key point is - the software companies don’t pay for hardware or the environmental damage! I’m doing myself a little JavaScript and some Java. Efficiency? Nobody ask for that and I should not spend time on it. There is now law stating that managed languages need to waste resources but a side-effect. Remember Steve Jobs? I don’t appreciate what Apple does. But he banned Flash for a reason. Resources! Okay. Also bugs. And for the same reason they should ban Electron. Apple devices run faster with less resources because Apple saves on hardware. Why build devices with huge batteries, when you can achieve more runtime with less material and take the same money? The EU needs to enforce side-loading on the iPhone. But I also think Apple should be allowed to keep Blink (and therefore Electron) banned from AppStore. I don’t want see my battery dying because some corporate manager decided to drain it. But if you need Blink? Side load.

Karellen 3y ago
What usability features of Gnome do you find indispensable that prevent you from moving to a lighter-weight DE, like LXDE, XFCE or Cinnamon?
- ho_schi 3y ago
  High keyboard focused usage with focus on the application-window. I specifically like to enter just “terminal” and the terminal open, either a new window or already open on. I also Alt+Tab but with many open applications finding is more convenient. Another thing is that it is also easy to use with the mouse and the overview makes that pleasant (good for novice users). They eliminated the unappropriate “desktop metaphor” from Windows 95 and the “system tray”. The negative side is that GNOME often removes options or hides them - which drives away experienced users (the people needed to pull in new users) and some developers to forks. The are right to not support every bewildering option but the needed ones must in place despite the UX people don’t use them itself. https://ometer.com/free-software-ui.html https://ometer.com/free-software-ui.html Some of this is right. Do stuff automatically right and don’t provide unneeded options to avoid complexity. Some not! Also provide required preferences e.g. “Do not suspend on LID close” because some people don’t want that! The GNOME people assumed it was needed as option because of problems with suspend (S3) in the past. Maybe people used it to bypass issues but that isn’t the use case of the preference. Another thing is “When you’ve five clock applets” I want to know what is missing from the first one which made all the others necessary. GNOME learned that people don’t need an “Emacs” as UI-Shell but somewhat went into the other extremes. PS: And GNOME just looks good by default. I don’t need themes because it is fine.
paulryanrogers 3y ago
Jobs also said native apps were unnecessary and we can all just use web apps. (Despite working on an app store at the time.) So even the prophet himself isn't such a great example.
- ho_schi 3y ago
  Yes. Jobs was wrong in many things - we all err permanently.

Karellen 3y ago

What usability features of Gnome do you find indispensable that prevent you from moving to a lighter-weight DE, like LXDE, XFCE or Cinnamon?

ho_schi 3y ago
High keyboard focused usage with focus on the application-window. I specifically like to enter just “terminal” and the terminal open, either a new window or already open on. I also Alt+Tab but with many open applications finding is more convenient. Another thing is that it is also easy to use with the mouse and the overview makes that pleasant (good for novice users). They eliminated the unappropriate “desktop metaphor” from Windows 95 and the “system tray”. The negative side is that GNOME often removes options or hides them - which drives away experienced users (the people needed to pull in new users) and some developers to forks. The are right to not support every bewildering option but the needed ones must in place despite the UX people don’t use them itself. https://ometer.com/free-software-ui.html https://ometer.com/free-software-ui.html Some of this is right. Do stuff automatically right and don’t provide unneeded options to avoid complexity. Some not! Also provide required preferences e.g. “Do not suspend on LID close” because some people don’t want that! The GNOME people assumed it was needed as option because of problems with suspend (S3) in the past. Maybe people used it to bypass issues but that isn’t the use case of the preference. Another thing is “When you’ve five clock applets” I want to know what is missing from the first one which made all the others necessary. GNOME learned that people don’t need an “Emacs” as UI-Shell but somewhat went into the other extremes. PS: And GNOME just looks good by default. I don’t need themes because it is fine.

paulryanrogers 3y ago

Jobs also said native apps were unnecessary and we can all just use web apps. (Despite working on an app store at the time.) So even the prophet himself isn't such a great example.

ho_schi 3y ago
Yes. Jobs was wrong in many things - we all err permanently.