On Tue, Jan 29, 2002 at 01:03:35PM -0600, Rodd Ahrenstorff wrote: > Maybe > Debian was ahead of it's time! I certainly like to think it was... > Take for example these names: > mutt, mozilla, kooka, komba, samba, xine, vi, emacs, webmin, etc... Put > those on a system menu and have a newbie try and figure out what the hell > they are...better get your lunch cause it'll take awhile. Most people > utilize one application for every task at hand. Including only the most > popular applications by default may solve some initial confusion. So which is more popular, vi or emacs? > The Lycoris menu usually does not list the application name because so many > are simply not descriptive. Kooka for example is a scanner application. In > the menu its "use a scanner". Xine is "DVD/DiVX Player"...simple. Simple for the user, sure. Sounds like a support nightmare, though... "Hey, TCLUG list! I just installed my new Linux box and my scanner doesn't work." "What app are you using?" "I dunno. I just click on 'use a scanner' and it does X instead of Y." "Sorry, I've never heard of the 'use a scanner' application. HTH. HAND." There are already enough problems with users asking how to make URLs clickable in email or direct mailto: links to mutt, but forgetting to mention what MUA or what browser they're using. I can't see how deliberately hiding the name of the application would make that any better. (OTOH, I suppose it could be a smart move on Lycoris's part, since users will have to buy their support contracts simply because nobody else will know that 'use a scanner' means 'kooka'.) -- When we reduce our own liberties to stop terrorism, the terrorists have already won. - reverius Innocence is no protection when governments go bad. - Tom Swiss