Consumer perspective of KDE and my intro

[Myriam Schweingruber]

Hi there,

This mailing list does only reach a very small subset of KDE developers, if
you want a discussion about the points you raise, you better address the
kde-community@ mailing list instead where most of the people read.

Regards, Myriam

On Sun, 6 Feb 2022 at 14:24, Aveem Ashfaq Shaik <
aveem.ashfaq.shaik at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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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