February 26, 2007 at 02:34Torvalds doesn't like gnome
Linux founding father Linus Torvalds has recently reiterated his views on the GNOME desktop and its developers. And this attitude, apparently, has worsened even more since his last public statements on this subject in 2005. Although even then he directly encouraged users to switch to KDE.
In his recent letters to the Linux Desktop Architects mailing list , which was created for communication and collaboration between developers of various graphical workspaces, Linus described in detail all his arguments against Gnome.
His main idea is this: in their unconditionally noble desire to make working in Linux as simple and convenient for any user as possible, even for someone who is just starting to get acquainted with the computer, the creators of Gnome have achieved great results. But they could not stop and, breaking the wall of common sense at full speed, put the simplicity of the interface above the elementary utility. Now, with Gnome, it’s just physically impossible to do many necessary things.
Example by example, Torvalds proves the inadequacy that in his opinion the authors of Gnome show. Those defend themselves, but noticeably restraining themselves so as not to accidentally be rude to the Founder. It is quite obvious that in the views on, so to speak, the design of the operating system, the debaters hold diametrically opposed views. If Linus wants to give the user the maximum possible freedom in setting up and managing everything and everything, the Dwarves make the main emphasis on usability and stability. And this, in their opinion, means banning access from the GUI to all places critical for the system.
Who is right? At the moment, when the Linux user community is still very narrow, the simplicity of Gnome really seems redundant and even turning into a flaw. But when (let's not say “if”) a free OS will occupy a significant share on the PC, home users of Gnome can be damn useful for beginners.
In his recent letters to the Linux Desktop Architects mailing list , which was created for communication and collaboration between developers of various graphical workspaces, Linus described in detail all his arguments against Gnome.
His main idea is this: in their unconditionally noble desire to make working in Linux as simple and convenient for any user as possible, even for someone who is just starting to get acquainted with the computer, the creators of Gnome have achieved great results. But they could not stop and, breaking the wall of common sense at full speed, put the simplicity of the interface above the elementary utility. Now, with Gnome, it’s just physically impossible to do many necessary things.
Being just easy to use [ for the program ] is bad. Because this means that when the initial learning curve ends, you may be aware of the program, but you cannot do what you want to do. This, in fact, is much worse for starting training than being difficult.
Example by example, Torvalds proves the inadequacy that in his opinion the authors of Gnome show. Those defend themselves, but noticeably restraining themselves so as not to accidentally be rude to the Founder. It is quite obvious that in the views on, so to speak, the design of the operating system, the debaters hold diametrically opposed views. If Linus wants to give the user the maximum possible freedom in setting up and managing everything and everything, the Dwarves make the main emphasis on usability and stability. And this, in their opinion, means banning access from the GUI to all places critical for the system.
Who is right? At the moment, when the Linux user community is still very narrow, the simplicity of Gnome really seems redundant and even turning into a flaw. But when (let's not say “if”) a free OS will occupy a significant share on the PC, home users of Gnome can be damn useful for beginners.