The KDE project saw the writing on the wall. They saw that they had reached a certain limit when it came to what could be done with the KDE 3.x series - they named it the "big friggin' wall", and decided that in order to get over that wall, incremental updates wouldn't do - they needed massive changes, a big jump, and they went for it. It's been a rough road, but it seems as if KDE 4.1 is showing signs of the vision becoming a reality. And it now seems as if several people within the GNOME community are seeing the writing on the wall too: GNOME 2.x has reached its goal - now what?
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Member since:2005-06-29
Because excitement is about so much more than just flashy effects or whatever it is that you're thinking of. Go read Wingo's entries and you'll realise: excitement can also be looked at from a developer's perspective, for instance. What's more fun for most devs, being in maintenance mode, or working on new ideas, new features?
And what delivers better code, an excited developer, or a not-so-excited developer?
Member since:2006-01-03
Member since:2005-11-12
Like your work place should be fun and nice to work with and for, people use their desktop not just for work. People say that a nice environment makes them more productive, i'm a very visual person and thats important to me when working.
I think GNOME needs to modernize, what they have does the job for now but thats about it.
Member since:2006-01-03
Your personal likes and dislikes and being a visual person or not has nothing to do with the Gnome lifecycle.
Do you enjoy in vocalizing words or feeling the sensation of punching your fingers into the keyboard? Or you do it on an unrelated purpose?
The ideal interface is invisible.
Member since:2006-03-08
Ditto Ditto Ditto! The fact the article argues against the HIG(as though exciting-ness somehow trumps usability), made me roll my eyes.
I love gnome just the way it is, and I love the incremental improvements. The fact it gets the job done and gets the heck out of my way is it's greatest testament.
I don't do much programming lately, but if I understand gtk to be difficult to program for, and has a too limited toolkit, then I'd love to see a gtk 3, if nothing more than to potentially increase the number and quality of gnome applications. But I don't want my desktop radically changed around just because the old way isn't flashy enough. In my opinion, the HIG isn't broken and doesn't need fixed.
Member since:2007-09-23
I've said it before and I am saying it again: incremental releases are not enough for ever. You need to brake API sometime. As I feel it, GTK+ has one big limitation from growing: it's API. It needs a break.
I love Gnome for it's beauty and elegance, something that made me switch from KDE to Gnome not so long ago. But the problem when developing for Gnome and GTK is the limitations in the old API. When working with QT4 you feel that Trolltech knows what you want and gives you the tools. Just look at Qt 4.4 and how we finally get widgets inside the Graphics View, something that was much needed when working with Plasma for KDE4.
There are stuff that you CANNOT implement if you stay by the old API. Just plain simple. So I vote for a break, soon.
Member since:2005-07-12
Member since:2008-03-25
Excitment is important to keep things going sometimes for a normal person. When you're in touch and see so many "looking good/fancy" desktop managers or more fancy look in mobile devices, and then look back at the relatively boring GNOME or Windows 98 look and feel, you'd just feel... bored.
At work, may be it's ok because work may be bored for many people anyway, or they may be too busy for any "excitment" that're not related to work. But when you're back home and relax, some stimulation and fun by look and feel is never bad.
Besides, some "excitment" that seems to be useless at first may turn into something useful later on, just like many seemingly useless mathematical theories, which ultimately turned into the foudnation stone of some exciting and useful new technology. GNOME can't always stay in its ancient look when everyone's moving on in look and feel.
Edited 2008-06-11 17:18 UTC
Member since:2006-05-09
Member since:
2005-11-11
Why should GNOME, or any desktop, be "exciting"? A computer is a tool to get work done. A desktop is supposed to be usable, productive and friendly, not "exciting". If you want excitement, go play games.