A rant on desktop evolution worth reading

[chimak111]

I came across this link at the Linux Mint forum: Make. It. Simple. Linux Desktop Usability — Part 1

KDE Plasma gets a few unflattering mentions

The author is the guy behind AppImages.

[GreyGeek]

I love the AppImages and, IMO, they are the correct way to run apps without having to install ANYTHING or use a continually running service which eats CPU cycles. That said, I'll have to disagree with his Plasma criticisms. IMO, the KDE 1.0 --> KDE 2.0 --> KDE 3.0 --> Plasma 4 --> Plasma 5 progression has been a progression that has only gotten more beautiful, more powerful and easier to use. I'm currently on Plasma 5.13.1. Awesome!

IF I would make changes to KDE it would be to put ALL user configuration files (for KDE and all installed apps the user uses) under a SINGLE location, not scattered among various hidden and visible folders the way it is now. Systemd is doing that, slowly, for Ubuntu and other distros. It may, in the distant future, take over control of all config files no matter where they are.

[TWPonKubuntu]

...
IF I would make changes to KDE it would be to put ALL user configuration files (for KDE and all installed apps the user uses) under a SINGLE location, not scattered among various hidden and visible folders the way it is now.
...

Here Here! I totally agree. And not just for KDE, but other desktops too.

[dibl]

Assuming modern and sufficient hardware, I don't believe the plasma desktop can be beat for user friendliness and productivity. That said, on a crappy old Dell Inspiron, with the hdd replaced by an SSD, I'm getting a very responsive and fully functional experience with LXQt. So there's a place for alternative "light" desktops on old laptops that refuse to die.

[kenj70]

I came across this link at the Linux Mint forum: Make. It. Simple. Linux Desktop Usability — Part 1

KDE Plasma gets a few unflattering mentions

The author is the guy behind AppImages.

I finally read the article series. Apparently, a developer can get away with publishing articles like that. I agree with most of the author's points. I am enjoying my shiny new and continuously updated Neon system but the configuration through System Settings needs further revision. I end up pawing through the various selections to find the tweak I want. Also, I never did get the Activities feature to work right. I messed some things up and prefer to just keep a reliably running desktop. I tried installing a new set of icons since I don't like the flat ones that are in vogue now and ended up with lots of missing icons in the System Settings - if I hovered over where the icon should be it would give a tool tip - I was able to recover but I am staying put for awhile. The recent introduction of Snaps, Flatpak and AppImages is a welcome development.

-=Ken=-

[jglen490]

UI designers WILL always mess with "success". It's a natural inclination.

But he lost me when he started complaining about the loss of the file - edit - etc. menu in Firefox. Bubba, I hate to tell you, it's still there - and working just like it should - left to right, top to bottom. Me, I prefer my main system menu on the bottom row. So call me irresponsible, call me unreliable, shadows I'm inclined to pursue ... oops sorry, Frank Sinatra was running through my head. Back on track, that same menu could go on top of the screen, and hide, and do all the wonderful things it does, but I choose to "do different". I can slide down, or up, a menu drop down, or drop up, with my mouse button depressed and stop on a selection and when I release the mouse button, it selects what I asked. So that works.

Now about that "iconized" menu button in Firefox on the right side. Well guess what, that's primarily for configuring stuff. Chances are, that configuring stuff isn't what you do all day, so it's on the right side in its proper space in the grand scheme of left to right.

Now about totally self-contained packages. I get it, and with cheap and abundant hard drive space, it makes sense to have everything supporting a piece of software in place with its program. It's a poor configuration management process, however. You're free to go that way, and I remember there were some (Linux, or BSD) distros that were set up that way from long ago (PCLinuxOS ). But it's poor practice, and unnecessary. A program is compiled against its OS and the OS's supporting libraries to prevent chaos. And I'm pretty sure you don't want chaos in distro installation that already has thousands of files and directories already. If you want to install a package in your own place and execute it only in the place, go for it. Otherwise, you need to expand the PATH variable to include more locations and - possibly - introduce library object incompatibilities or conflicts. Call me a nattering nabob of negativity, but there's a really good reason why things are where they are in the file structure.

An AppImage or two probably won't hurt, plus maybe a Snap or Flatpak in for kicks, just be careful.

I'm not saying the guy is stupid, obviously not, but think through the consequences that are possible with the specific business plan, and how similar yet different business plans can introduce incompatibilities in YOUR platform. And remember, this showed up on a Linux Mint forum, where KDE and Plasma will become a thing of the past very soon. I have one AppImage, I should say had, because after the initial download of etcher, an offered updated product on their website turned it into something quite useless. It's gone, won't return, and unetbootin did a perfect job of writing 18.04.1 to a thumb drive under - then - Xenial.

[kubicle]

IF I would make changes to KDE it would be to put ALL user configuration files (for KDE and all installed apps the user uses) under a SINGLE location, not scattered among various hidden and visible folders the way it is now.

Plasma 5 and KDE Applications follow the Freedesktop XDG base directory spec ( https://standards.freedesktop.org/ba...ec-latest.html ), and put all user configuration files under $XDG_CONFIG_HOME (defaults to $HOME/.config). Of course, non-kde software is not under the control of KDE, so they may not follow the spec (although many of them do).

So KDE already puts all user configuration under a single location.

[kc1di]

I had read that quite some time ago. And find it's conclusions quite right, except in regard to KDE as I think KDE has done it right and kept the desktop clean and neat while advancing the computing needs. I have to agree that gnome in particular has become a night mare for me so I don't use it any more. Will stick with KDE or other DE for the future. In fact I left Mint because they dropped their KDE DE. Was using Mint for many years. And it's still a good distro. But just like KDE too much to abandon it to GTK DE. jmho.

[woodsmoke]

Nice discussion
I'll take another tack.
Fitts law is exactly what the people who created Kwrite now Calligra were working toward which is the "efficiency" of movement of "limbs" etc.
What is curious is that the "libre suite" now has an optional, and one might say, bastadized, version of the wonderfully efficient Calligra configuration.

The point behing Fitts is that instead of "moving the mouse up here and over there and clicking that thing and this..." notice MO VING the mouse up here and over there, with the Calligra suite (writer) one merely "sweeps right"...

now yes...one kind of 'sweeps right" in libre suite but there are other movements involved which differentiate the ergonomic approach of Calligra from Libre...

as to the microshaft ribbon...what an ab)$%!)M no WORDS when it is mainly used by "literate" people unless one purposely enables them...

it was a way to "bide time" while they were working on other stuff..

but at least the article was well organized.

woodsmoke