xrandr dual-screen usability survery (Was: Dual-head config broke with update to 1.4.2)

[Attila Kinali]

On Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:10:07 -0600
"Jesse W. Hathaway" <jesse at mbuki-mvuki.org> wrote:

> Martin Cracauer:
> > Overall my original impression has been reinforced: you basically
> > dropped what hackers need when getting work done on a desktop Unix
> > machine in favor of what managerish types coming from Windows need
> > when standing in front of a projector and need to get their
> > single-task thing done.
> 
> Have you looked at any of the window managers that are more oriented
> to this type of workflow:
[...]
> Those are all tiling window managers, which is what I prefer, I still
> use ion2, which is not actively being developed.

Are you aware that you are proposing a change in working style?
Ie. someone who has configured his system to behave exactly how
he can work most efficiently has now to switch to a totally new,
unconfortable style of working, just because someone thought that
some feature is not important anymore?

Users are different, users are individuals. Each of them has
his own needs, own ways of working. You cannot force them
to use The One True Window Manager[tm], because it does not
fit the way they are doing things. A tool (and the computer
is nothing more than just a mere tool, a complicated one though)
should adapt to its user. The tool should not force the user to 
adapt to the tool. Otherwise it'll be like forcing everyone to
use a hammer, no matter what he wants to do, even if it's
planting some flowers in his garden.

I advice anyone working on OSS, no matter what field, to read
some books/articles on usability and design. It's the human
that should be in the center of our efforts, not the technical
problem that is so much fun to work on. Of course, working on
these technical problems is what keeps us going, but if we
make it the only thing we live for, then there will be no
user for our nice and shiny solutions.


			Attila Kinali

-- 
Why does it take years to find the answers to
the questions one should have asked long ago?