Comments on: Who gets top billing? GNOME or KDE?

By: AlphaKen

AlphaKen — Thu, 01 May 2008 06:45:37 +0000

Sorry, I don’t agree. Look at what happened with Ubuntu. They put GNOME as default and although switching to kubuntu is one simple apt-get command, I don’t think there have been many switches to Kubuntu (or Xubuntu for that matter.)

By: za3tar

za3tar — Thu, 01 May 2008 03:05:08 +0000

I am personally a KDE fan. GNOME is fine too, but KDE seems to offer a better overall experience for me (specially that it is much easier to assign keyboard shortcuts in it than in GNOME).

As for arranging the selections, i think alphabetical order with description is best. I think that the circular ordering is rather confusing (specially for new users).

By: Stefan Majewsky

Stefan Majewsky — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:45:46 +0000

I have seen and used openSUSE 11.0 Beta 1 with KDE 4.0.3. This whole instability thing is just not true. The only two issues that installation had wer that the Delete key was not working, and KMix crashes on logout (KCrash disappears too fast because of X terminating that I can’t figure out the reason). Besides that KDE 4.0.3 is running _very_ smooth and looks just great.

By: Dreamy

Dreamy — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 04:41:24 +0000

Why has Novell caught onto my idea before openSUSE? Novell only supports Gnome in SLED. And why is KDE misspelled on my Gnome desktop? Shame on you Gnome people. Sorry if I caused an exertion effort.

And go away Ubuntu people. Stop getting lost, as you have a reputation of doing, and finding you way onto the SUSE forums. I know it’s attractive, but resist if you must. Or convert, as you inevitably will!

By: Willem Meens

Willem Meens — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 14:17:51 +0000

So if I understand correctly you mean to say that it’s crap?

As far as the gOpenSUSE, kOpenSUSE, you already have the CD installers… so the option is already there.

The thing here is what to do with the DVD installer. There are many ideas here posted that should keep things clear as well as leave users the choice. Just as we like it!

Cheers,
Wj

By: Stephen

Stephen — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:35:12 +0000

Just release a gOpenSUSE and a kOpenSUSE, remove the install choice, improve the clarity. Circular GUI items are crap and not HIG compliant for that matter, but mostly it’s crap.

By: superppl

superppl — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:12:24 +0000

More than just screen shots, I think there should be a small video clip demonstrating the differences between the desktop environments. It could be a 5-10 second clip of the desktop starting up, showing the menu, opening the file browser, and basically showing the distinctions between the environments to make it apparent which is which for someone who is unsure.
I don’t think checkboxes should be included at this point, but it should make a note that one can choose to install more desktop environments later on in the installation.
I also think openSUSE should theme and include XFCE as an option later on in the future, because that is one nice and light environment.

By: Dreamy

Dreamy — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:11:45 +0000

Arranging the desktop choices in a circular fashion may be confusing to someone who doesn’t know anything about the different desktops. And the idea of putting checkboxes in place of the bullets may be a bad idea. First of all, most people don’t use all of it, and much of the miscellaneous software that comes on the side isn’t fully developed. That may give first time users, who don’t know what they’re doing, a bad impression. Secondly, the install was like that at one time. And when I installed everything it created a problem. Doing that is not keeping it simple.

By: Dreamy

Dreamy — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 23:17:06 +0000

Ah, better yet!

How about an installation screen that tells the user what the program is with a warning that it will install an operating system with a next button. Then it would request Regional and Language settings, along with the User Name, Password, and Product ID (if applicable), and a next button. And at the bottom of the screen, it would say “Press F7 for Custom Installation (Advanced Users Only).” The next screen would be an installation summery screen with the option to change partitioning, or the destination of the installation, and an “Install” button at the bottom. The install program would do the rest for the user, and any other configuration changes would be made in a window that launches on the desktop after the OS is loaded.

That would be just about perfect!

By: Dreamy

Dreamy — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:39:57 +0000

If you did this, you could then create an extremely simplified installation program that only gets information like the user’s name and password and does the rest. Then on initial screen, where the user types that information in, there could be a “Custom Installation” button that would take you into the current installation program, which would enable you to change the file system ext2, or whatever.

Just a thought.