(formerly)tangentmind.org

I'm not up to date on my GUI terminology, but you know those menus that roll out like the Windows start menu? Well, most of those menus have sub menus that have sub menus etc...I just thought of a good way to improve them. The sub menus should all have a double click feature where you can assign a default link in that submenu to that submenu. For example, instead of opening up the mozilla firefox directory and clicking on "mozilla firefox" you can simply double click the mozilla firefox sub menu and it automatically opens the mozilla firefox link. I think that would be neat and helpful.

Also, as long as I'm on User Interfaces. I think that the real issue with Linux not overtaking the desktop world is simple. It seems like most linux programmers believe that everyone should read the manual before knowing how to use the software. However, simply graphical user interfaces shold never really need a manual. I mean, all the simple configurations and actions should be easily accessible by searching through a couple of menus or options. No one should ever have to touch a console. Furthermore, half the time, or more, the manual is the problem itself. Not all linux programs are well documented. Sometimes it takes an hour of reading just to find some simple mundane option. All simple mundane tasks should be have a simple interface, like a light switch. Imagine if you had to open up a console on your wall every time you wanted to turn the light off and on. What a huge waste of time and energy. Furthermore, many people want an interface that doesn't require a manual simply because they don't really have the time to read manuals or they simpley would rather do something more productive like...I dunno cure cancer or make a living or love their wife and kids. That's a large portion of the working world. As long as Open Source user interfaces cannot accomplish the simplicity of the light switch for simple tasks, then open source software will never be right for a large portion of the working world.


Note to self:
Next time in Gentoo try out audio software(hydrogen, ardour, wired, and rosegarden)
and fix that damned ALSA channel problem - might require a kernel update/recompile
or install Ubuntu and hope it doesn't have the problem