[GTALUG] Favorite desktop manager?

[o1bigtenor]

On Thu, Jul 27, 2023 at 5:07 PM BCLUG via talk <talk at gtalug.org> wrote:
>
> o1bigtenor wrote on 2023-07-27 14:23:
>
> >>>> In my view computers should change to suit humans, not the
> >>>> other way around.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>> So thankful that I'm not the only one who thinks this way. Is
> >>> there any way to make this louder
> >>
> >> Sounds like you guys hate CLI environments and probably use Siri /
> >> Google Assistant / Alexa / *voice*  as a near ideal human-like
> >> user interface then?
> >
> > Hmmmmmm - - - - I remember the advertisements early on in
> > microcomputers - - - - you know - - - - "computing your way"
> > implying that an IT department wasn't going to force you to do things
> > the way they wanted. That was considered a great idea - - - - until
> > those same IT departments - - - - now responsible for fleets of
> > microcomputers - - - well - - - they decided that they're the only
> > ones who understand how a computer should be used.
>
> Those IT departments weren't wrong.

Snickering (its the only possible response!).
>
> You may have noticed that the world has changed, and for example,
> letting users store all their documents all over their PCs is a disaster
> when it comes to backing up business documents.
>
> So, IT removed some options from users, because typical users don't
> "understand how a computer should be used".

Nope IT removed almost all options from users because they think that they're
the only ones that understand how to use a computer.

Its something like the debate between gnome and kde. The debate boils down
to how one processes things - - - - ergo - - - how one thinks.
>
> Do what you want on your own computers, but at work you cannot store
> critical documents in C:\WINDOWS\VERYIMPORTANTFINANCIALS\THISMUSTBESAVED.doc
>
Interesting example - - - - seems like the staff at the company you work for
really have no clue about how to do business. Rescue yourself from such
tedium - - - find a better job!
>
>
> > You know  - - - - where you only have a gui environment - - - or
> > where you only have a cli environment - - - - or where your cli
> > environment stifles flexibility - - - - (shall I go on ?).
>
> Again, do what you want with *your own* computers.
>
>
> And what's with - - - - the - - - - writing - - - - "style" - - - - ? Is
> there - - - - a - - - - reason?

Yes there is - - - have you ever noticed how in speech there is a rhythm
to it? Or perhaps you interact seldom with mouth breathers? Its an attempt
at massaging written language into a shape closer to that of speech.
>
>
>
>
> >> Desktop environments take their name and derive the concept from
> >> offices in the pre-electronic age. Window managers sound like
> >> something only pertinent to computers. Like terminals.
> >
> > As such the technology makes it easier to work with for most of us.
> > (Except for the idea of 0 being an actual counter as it is in only
> > the computing world.)
>
> I'm confused as to what point you're trying to make now.
>
>
> >> Sounds quite un-Linuxy.
> >
> > What - - - - you're not going to regale us on how you use VT-100
> > terminals for so very many years as you perfected your use of
> > assembly language?
>
> No, that would be stupid.
>
> I'm just pointing out "computers that work like humans" (or "change to
> suit humans") and "command line interfaces" seem rather mutually exclusive.
>
> Humans communicate verbally for the most part until we all learned to
> type - we changed to work in a more computer-centric manner.
>
>
> And I love working in a CLI. But I'm working in the computer's way,
> it's not working in a human way.
>
> It's highly efficient to know bash, etc., yet shells are rather unlike
> any human to human communication techniques.

Hmmmmmmmmmm - - - mathematics, motion control are two areas that
come to mind where one can use either a cli or a much more natural language.
Whatever it takes to get the job done.
>
>
> Hence my semi-jesting message about how much we really want computers to
> suit humans, as the computer interfaces that most suit typical humans
> are anathema to computer geeks and LUG members.

It might come down to a very different way of looking at things.
I suffer from being multi-lingual - - - it is fascinating to me that
the first computer
that I used was easiest to use along with the widest capabilities - - - - some
almost 40 years ago. Even today I find trying to use multiple languages in a
document is a right royal pita. Supposedly I can use special characters but I
find the still remembered character groupings from the Mac far more intuitive
than anything that I've seen in linux - - - - even though linux is available in
far more languages than any other system that I know about. But then it
seems that programmers don't find it too important to communicate with
people - - - - its just more fun to communicate with a computer, and
therein lies the rub.

Regards