Consumer perspective of KDE and my intro

[Aveem Ashfaq Shaik]

Dear all,

*My intro:*
I started my linux journey in 2014 in college when I bought my first
laptop. This was a cheap non-windows machine (cheaper due to no licensing).
I didn't want to use pirated windows and I've already heard about Ubuntu
when I was a kid (from all the Chip and digit magazines that came bundled
with CDs and DVDs). So I dived into the Linux world, explored, made
mistakes, learnt and grew. I'm a mechanical engineering graduate and MBA
post-graduate working as a Business Analyst in a software company.

*My Observations using KDE and how to fix it. Let us kick off discussion
here and if we agree, please suggest how I can help contribute towards
realizing them*

*- KDE uses funky names to Applications. *When I first started
distro-hopping, it took me a while to use KDE more than a day. The desktop
UI looked good but as soon as I opened the Application Menu, I was freaked
out with all the new names. Gvenview, Okular, Dolphin, Kate felt like
copy-cat sub-standard products for me (no offense to anyone) and so I used
to have brain freeze and I immediately used to shift away. *We need to make
sure that the Application Menu list name is a standard(boring) name and we
can still have project names mentioned in package name and in the About
section*

*- Too many Options or too few visible options.* Let me elaborate with the
example of Dolphin. In the new Dolphin UI, you have the different layout
types openly visible. But this is something a more seasoned user would use
and need not be in the face. Create a new folder, Folder properties, add to
favorites/Remove from favorites are frequently used and make sense to be in
the top panel. The second layer i.e. hamburger menu can contain layout
types, zoom level, etc. *The correct way of layering options is that the
frequently used needs to be visible in the first layer. There should be a
second layer (hamburger menu) with the options used by the more seasoned
users. Inside the settings popup, we can go crazy. *Hoping to get a
direction on how to get involved in those discussions (because I feel that
a universal layout needs to be first made, guidelines should be drafted on
what is essential and then the individual apps can have their changes)

- *You can break things easily and there is no quick reset button. *A
recent example is that I started using KMail application and I saw the
local folder show separately. I thought I don't need this folder when my
GMail is synced perfectly fine. I right-clicked and deleted it and my KMail
crashed. It took me a lot of digging and deleting config folders etc to
somehow restore full functionality. *Things that break an application
should be in the third layer somewhere and there should be a way of
resetting an application to factory defaults. *Again, I feel that a larger
layout design guidelines needs to be agreed upon/revamped and then progress
on apps should begin.

*- There are non-programs in the Application Menu. *I'm not sure this is
KDE exclusive but in general, QT Assistant, Cuttlefish and certain apps are
installed by default in KDE installations (part of Arch which I just
installed fresh and part of KDE Neon as well, I think). *Programs installed
should create only one new Application menu entry. *Additions like
ImageMagick or QT Assistant shouldn't be added to Application Menu as part
of consumer level applications

*My suggestions for "10,000 ft view" vision*

*- Make KDE enterprise ready. *Chromebooks have exploded in popularity and
people are open to embrace non-windows OSes. I feel that schools,
government bodies and Companies will be eager to switch if there were a
system-wide first party control system. My company uses Windows with Active
Directory based login and where settings can be enabled/disabled/locked by
the administrator. If we can achieve this, we can make a strong use case
for KDE. I know that this is easier said than done but we can discuss if
the community agrees.

*- Phone/Tab/Laptop systems/Applications shouldn't be separate. *I own a
pinephone (which I use rarely) and I can see that different set of apps are
used in phone. I feel that apps should/can scale down according to screen
size. And things can be properly sorted out. For example, tap to press
power button to suspend and long press to reveal power options can work on
laptops (as long as there is option to change it (according to the user)

Looking forward to having fruitful discussions and seeking guidance.

- Aveem Ashfaq Shaik
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