4 ms·

I don't think most people want to customize their software based on how many years of the Linux desktop there has been.

EvanAnderson 2y ago
I don't think most people know customizing software is even a thing. I think it just doesn't occur to people. I once heard an anecdote that being a welder makes you look at metal objects differently than non-welders. What a non-welder sees as rigid and inflexible a welder sees as able to be changed. I think the view of software for programmers vs. non-programmers is similar. Having said that, just as most people don't see the benefit to being a welder, most people aren't going to suddenly see the benefit of being a programmer.
- teddyh 2y ago
  > I once heard an anecdote that being a welder makes you look at metal objects differently than non-welders. What a non-welder sees as rigid and inflexible a welder sees as able to be changed. Was it this one? “One of the unexpected things about watching the steel guys work is how the solidity of metal means nothing to them. Most people think of metal as something hard and inflexible, but welders don't. Which should be obvious in hindsight, I guess. But, for example, they have these saw-horses that are made of tube steel. And I can see how that came about: they needed some saw-horses; they had some steel. It took them 30 seconds to make them. And, an example with the stairs: the legs of the stairs' landing platform have big threaded bolts for feet, to fine-tune the height of the legs for levelling. And there are these steel tube sleeves that go around the legs, that drop down and cover the bolts. So when they were moving this platform in, they had to flip it over, and they didn't want the sleeves to fall off while they did this. Now to me, that job calls for duct tape. To them: they welded the sleeves in place, then de-welded them when they needed them to move again.” — <https://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/log/2001/04/13.html https://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/log/2001/04/13.html>
  - EvanAnderson 2y ago
    > Was it this one? Absolutely. I tried to search-engine it when I posted and couldn't come up with it. Your search-engine skills are superior!
    - teddyh 2y ago
      I used the superior search engine called “remembering where I read it”.
      - EvanAnderson 2y ago
        Ha. You have a superior brain! This is a case where I wish for a personal archiving tool to scoop-up and index everything I read on the web (and everything write, for that matter). I know there are projects out there to do that. I really should look into one. I always get hung-up in perfect being the enemy of the good and don't do anything. The Microsoft Recall product sounded vaguely interesting, albeit I'd want a local-only version. I've also wondered if accessibility interfaces for screen readers could be used for bulk capture of on-screen data for scraping into this mythical index. That would make the index application independent, since the text is being captured at a different "layer".
        teddyh 2y ago
        It is a very old idea: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memex>
gessha 2y ago
Let's just say that Linux is not a bastion of good user experience
- criddell 2y ago
  For a certain class of users it is.
- snow_mac 2y ago
  Bad UX? Maybe a bad UI but the UX is fantastic. I prefer the keyboard magic I can do. Just look at MARSHA (For Marriott hotels), a terrible UI but major in the keyboard warriors that have been using it for two decades.
hirako2000 2y ago
Most people don't even know Linux exists.

I don't think most people know customizing software is even a thing. I think it just doesn't occur to people. I once heard an anecdote that being a welder makes you look at metal objects differently than non-welders. What a non-welder sees as rigid and inflexible a welder sees as able to be changed. I think the view of software for programmers vs. non-programmers is similar. Having said that, just as most people don't see the benefit to being a welder, most people aren't going to suddenly see the benefit of being a programmer.

teddyh 2y ago
> I once heard an anecdote that being a welder makes you look at metal objects differently than non-welders. What a non-welder sees as rigid and inflexible a welder sees as able to be changed. Was it this one? “One of the unexpected things about watching the steel guys work is how the solidity of metal means nothing to them. Most people think of metal as something hard and inflexible, but welders don't. Which should be obvious in hindsight, I guess. But, for example, they have these saw-horses that are made of tube steel. And I can see how that came about: they needed some saw-horses; they had some steel. It took them 30 seconds to make them. And, an example with the stairs: the legs of the stairs' landing platform have big threaded bolts for feet, to fine-tune the height of the legs for levelling. And there are these steel tube sleeves that go around the legs, that drop down and cover the bolts. So when they were moving this platform in, they had to flip it over, and they didn't want the sleeves to fall off while they did this. Now to me, that job calls for duct tape. To them: they welded the sleeves in place, then de-welded them when they needed them to move again.” — <https://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/log/2001/04/13.html https://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/log/2001/04/13.html>
- EvanAnderson 2y ago
  > Was it this one? Absolutely. I tried to search-engine it when I posted and couldn't come up with it. Your search-engine skills are superior!
  - teddyh 2y ago
    I used the superior search engine called “remembering where I read it”.
    - EvanAnderson 2y ago
      Ha. You have a superior brain! This is a case where I wish for a personal archiving tool to scoop-up and index everything I read on the web (and everything write, for that matter). I know there are projects out there to do that. I really should look into one. I always get hung-up in perfect being the enemy of the good and don't do anything. The Microsoft Recall product sounded vaguely interesting, albeit I'd want a local-only version. I've also wondered if accessibility interfaces for screen readers could be used for bulk capture of on-screen data for scraping into this mythical index. That would make the index application independent, since the text is being captured at a different "layer".
      - teddyh 2y ago
        It is a very old idea: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memex>

gessha 2y ago

Let's just say that Linux is not a bastion of good user experience

criddell 2y ago
For a certain class of users it is.
snow_mac 2y ago
Bad UX? Maybe a bad UI but the UX is fantastic. I prefer the keyboard magic I can do. Just look at MARSHA (For Marriott hotels), a terrible UI but major in the keyboard warriors that have been using it for two decades.

hirako2000 2y ago

Most people don't even know Linux exists.