Ionrock Dot Org

So, I was just taking a quick break from work and was reading some GNOME mailing lists and it hit me. I am a little burned out. I am definitely enjoying coding and working but little details regarding organization are just getting me down. It is tough to explain but there are some things that are really just a waste of time at the moment. There was a discussion regarding putting two administration dialogs together. Now I totally agree the devil is in the details and that taking time with all these sorts of things does push people to make an argument regarding these kinds of decisions. The problem is that there are some overarching issues that don't seem to be addressed.

The largest is how can we make GNOME the desktop that everyone wants to use. It is important to make GNOME usable. We want users to enjoy working on their computers and if they can get things done faster or with more precision then this is good. The problem I see here is that there seems to be less of a push to make people want to try GNOME in the first place. Where is the slick eye candy? Where are the innovative apps? I know we have some great things in the wings and this is not meant as a bash at any developer. My point here is that we waste time by dealing with silly administration capplets instead of just going with the competition. These are mundane details that people usually never truly understand in the first place. At least by copying Windows, we get a bunch of pseudo gurus who are able to troubleshoot their family members computers because it is an identical interface. All the while we change the way people think about their information and what they use a computer for. I know of no person who switched to OS X because of the truly awesome means of changing the screen resolution. It was the stupid dock or expose that made them drool. Linux and specifically GNOME has an opportunity to make clear it is not what it looks like but what it does that makes it special.

My primary example is Beagle. I have seen some amazing things here at Novell and one of them is Beagle. I had used it before but the possibilities of what Beagle offers the desktop is just amazing. What Beagle needs is an interface that organizes the data. I don't think people realize that half the time they are one their computer they are merely looking at lists of things. Whether is it music, documents, pictures, spreadsheets, emails, etc., it is all just lists of things. We can sort and in some cases search but the problem is the aggregation is weak. Beagle allows a fast way to search and organize that when coupled good decisions a regarding unexplored paradigms and models, offers a new experience for users that doesn't need flashy graphics or animations. If a user can learn new things from his or her data then that is exciting. If a user can conceptualize new ideas because the data makes it clear then we are on to something.

My main point here is lets leave the copying to the mundane. Lets offer the user innovation where they need it. The more people learn to use computers the more they produce. Whether it is simple documents or playlists to works art, the fact is they are still creating. The desktop of the future is not OpenGL or 3D graphics but a dewey decimal system for your life.