> And in that thread of usability-versus-users:
> [...]
> https://lists.linux-foundation.org/pipermail/desktop_architects/2005-December/001593.html
> -Linus
> [...]
This is a real gem.
|"Usability" is an issue only if you can do something at all. But if you
|can't do the thing at all, it's pointless to talk about usability: the
|thing is BY DEFINITION not usable if it cannot be used for a specific
|task.
|
|[...]
|
|There is no such thing as a "majority of end users" in general. For
|example, maybe _I_ am in what you _claim_ to be a majority, in that I
|want a simple printer dialog - because I have a simple printer, and
|even simpler printer needs.
|
|So a simple printer dialog doesn't bother me, and as such you can count me
|in your "majority".
|
|But I can guarantee you one thing: the _vast_ majority of people are part
|of a specific minority when it comes to something. This is somethign that
|the F.I. "interface designers" in the Gnome sense seems to continually
|overlook.
|
|For example, maybe I don't care about printers. But I _do_ care about my
|mouse. If I can't control the left/middle/right button actions, I get
|really upset. Again, the "majority" of people may not care, so by your
|majority argument, the mouse setup should be so simple that the majority
|of people can never get confused. But I _do_ care.
|
|In other words: your "majority" argument is total and utter BULLSHIT. It
|can be true for any particular feature, but it's simply not true in
|general.
Oh, it is a bit ranty, but also delicious.
Cheers,
--
Steven Black <blacks@indiana.edu> / KeyID: 8596FA8E
Fingerprint: 108C 089C EFA4 832C BF07 78C2 DE71 5433 8596 FA8E
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