12 Feb
2012
12 Feb
'12
7:40 p.m.
My second choice after KDE3 would be XFCE4, but there
are a
bunch of problems with it:
Thanks for reminding me of many reasons why I get frustrated with Xfce/GTK. In summary,
every time I have to edit a gtkrc file my initial reaction is always WTF. That data format
must have been designed by a deranged person. And that is one of the points I raised about
GTK: are the GTK developers so consumed with NIH (Not Invented Here) that they need to
introduce convoluted ideas like gtkrc?
I give the Microsoft people (or whoever introduced the idea) credit for the simplicity of
the INI file, which KDE/Trinity uses.
And technical considerations aside, the KDE4
community seems unable
to accept criticism gracefully. Their product is
simply not good enough for me
to put up with that attitude.
I understand and appreciate the psychology and emotion of people rejecting my ideas. Been
there done that many times. Yet to turn hostile toward criticisms is unhealthy and does
not produce a quality project. In my own programming projects for other people I have had
to throw away chunks of code because the customer did not like the approach I took. In the
end they were right because they had to use the software, not me. A challenge with
free/libre projects is the developers use the software too. But the appropriate approach
is not to turn hostile but to support both options. Yes, more sweat equity is required to
support both types of users, but a high quality product is the result. Keep the cool geek
code but allow other users the option not to be cool geeks.
Generally, the KDE developers are good at providing options. Yet from the beginning of
KDE4 many users have rejected the three backend technologies of Akonadi, Nepomuk, and
Strigi. With those three technologies the developers have refused to budge and accommodate
those who do not want or need those backend services.
Darrell