[Bug 154535] ability to remove zoom in/out tool like any other applet

[James Spencer]

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http://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=154535         




------- Additional Comments From jamessp gmail com  2008-06-23 18:30 -------
To be blunt, the "Cashew" or "Aaron's Annoy Me Box", and the inability of people to remove it in a sensible way is an poor issue for a 'visionary' to go to the wall over...

So instead of one visible option, that adds one line of text, and probably no more than a couple of dozen lines of code we'll have:
-Distros X, Y, and Z using methods 1, 2, and 3 to let users hide it. Oh, and distros a, b, and c won't patch that. If people get really lucky X, Y, and Z may synchronize their patches at some point, but probably not. So you've just made busy work for distros X, Y, and Z and caused a source of debate for distros a, b, and c.

If your distro doesn't patch it:
-You can change the default containment to the folder view via a hidden config option in 4.1. If you actually want an icon free desktop I suppose you could set the filter to something non-existent or point it at an empty folder. So you've just cost every user 5-10 min of their day in an annoying process. That just "screams sexy".

or

-Wait to download some other containment from GHNS (or whatever it is now). Use the hidden option to set that as the default containment. Great if you love installing binary blobs that's not not in your native package format to the $HOME of each user. On the plus side you've generated a free software itch-- but why you'd want that itch to be a proliferation of desktop containments instead of 'cooler plasmoids' is beyond me.

Moving along to 4.2:
-We'll get a pull-down to choose the containment... Adding strings and widgets to System Settings which really doesn't need it. I am quite sure there would be NO REAL DEMAND to do this via the GUI if the "Cashew" could be made to go away. A hidden option would be more than fine if you could turn off the "Annoy Me Box".

For the lifetime of KDE 4:
-You have consigned your users to explaining this to trolls and their peers.
-On account of this being in the range of 'reasonable people disagreeing' people are going to lob complaints well into the future. Up until very recently it was only the 'early adopters' here. How many paragraphs have you typed? What was the opportunity cost of 'going to the wall' for this issue? So you're just going to stop talking... That just foists it back to 'loyal users'.

On your general tone:
-Up until very recently the people you've been basically labeling 'counter visionary' have actually been your early adopters. The people willing to jump through hoops. How many of them have have been alienated by this branding?
-In this bug report, and in many other places, you spout 'vision' and 'the new jargon' (which you largely invented) while having to be dragged into concisely addressing the issue at hand. This seems 'smarmy' and further alienates people.


Regardless of 'expert opinion' the sheer amount of interest in this does indeed seem to indicate that a large body of otherwise reasonably people disagree. Quite frankly 'opportunity cost' on this issue has been huge. You've taken a minor and popular wish and transformed it into a huge cost for you, your peers, the 'loyal users', and the 'annoyed users' that will run well into the future. It in no way strikes me as 'worth it'. The decision to go to the wall on this makes 'reasonable people' far less reasonable. If going to the wall over things that reasonable people can disagree on is counter visionary then I'm proudly "Counter Visionary" and am becoming increasingly happy to reject the consensus of "The Grand Czars of Vision and the New New Jargon".