[Edu-sig] Learn to Program in Ten Years

[Kirby Urner]

> Huge factor:  we think Gnome is _really_ _really_ _ugly_.  Now why either
> a) you don't or b) you don't care  is one of those _really hard_ questions
> about cultural differences, that is very hard to answer.
> 

I just booted Ubuntu (demo CD) for the first time.  Picked up a free copy at
Free Geek on Xmas Eve.  The demo failed on TMU for some reason, but fired up
on 2nd try (fail safe mode) on the Compaq (laptop Presario).

I don't have any problem with the basic look and feel.  The graphics are
pleasing enough.  What I find is:  once I get acclimated to a system, what's
important is functionality.  Cosmetics matter, but eventually take a back
seat to getting work done -- unless the work itself runs up against the
desktop aesthetics in some way, I'm not hugely likely to complain.  Variety
is the spice of life.

I have no really strong prejudice in favor of either KDE or Gnome.  For
HomeStreet (a client getting an xtreme makeover -- going from Windows to
Linux), we went with KDE (we being Free Geek, a local Debian shop).  But at
the police station, it's RedHat 9 running Gnome on Fedora.  I don't have
much problem with that.

I think Gnome is ahead of KDE in some ways and vice versa.  What USAers tend
to consider optimal is:  competition.  We *want* alternative desktops to
compete for hearts and minds, because as would-be users, we stand to gain
from the rivalry.  That may sound primitive, but from experience we know
that monopolies breed laziness and lousy service, which in operating systems
translates to all kinds of problems, potentially serious ones (not just
cosmetic).

Kirby