2006.12_Write Access.pdf

Write Access

Linux Jubilee

I picked up a copy of you Issue #71 after seeing ads on The Linux Emporium website for Lenovo/Thinkpad

notebooks with Linux pre-installed.

As a non-technical user, but as one who is attracted to the idea of having "windows without Gates," I found

the overall tone of that article very offputting - despite it's positive references to Ubuntu and Suse. For

example, with reference to Lenovo, you say, "However, the sobering news is that only business customers can

buy this kind of system..." and "The Linux laptops from Novell and Lenovo are not usable without special

drivers...'."

The Linux Emporium ships notebooks pre-installed with Ubuntu, although there are options. Ubuntu is

supported, so what's the problem, if it works? There are a numerous drivers for printers available, for HP

machines for example, both direct from the HP website and from Turboprint. Again, I ask (perhaps naively)

what's the problem?

Graham Gough

Thank your for your comments.The Linux world is a place of many opinions and, in general, Linux users tend

to be frank and direct. We agree that the tone of our "Happy Birthday" article was a bit more skeptical than

the candles on the article's birthday cake image would imply, but we believe this skepticism is in the best

tradition of Open Source software.

The passage you mention about Lenovo is in the context of an earlier sentence that states "The average user

still cannot find a desktop computer bundled with Linux in a normal electronics store." Linux on pre-installed

notebooks is definitely a good sign, but the article was making the point that we have a long way to go before

complete and guaranteed Linux-supported systems are easily available to all users.

Treeline

I'm Doug Bell, the author of TreeLine. Thanks for writing the detailed article about it.

Your article was favorable overall but it did bring up some issues. For instance, you write. "...the selection of

import and export filters is fairly restricted." Do you have any suggested additions?

Also, you state, "...you will not find a description of the data structure for the file format." I'm not sure what

this means. Does it refer to the "Default Child Type" for each type, that could reflect the structure of the tree?

Write Access

Also in the article is the comment, "...the program gives users the ability to define additional root nodes, but

this does not mean that the nodes will be inserted at the root level."

The "ROOT" data type is really just a name used in some of the default configurations. It was never intended

to make the node a root item. Maybe a different name would be more intuitive? But I'm not sure what that

name should be.

Lastly, you mention that "The pre-defined field types are a mixture of genuine field types and controls, such

as the choice field type. This shows that the software lacks a stringent design."

I'd hesitate to add another layer of complexity by requiring the selection of both a data type and a control. The

gain in functionality doesn't seem that significant. Or did you have something else in mind?

Doug Bell

Thanks for your comments, and thanks, also, for contributing a useful tool to the Open Source community.

Regarding the export filters, we will take a closer look at the new version to see if these issues have been

addressed.

As for the issue of the root data type, the name is fine, but the usage is unclear. We expected a node to jump to

the top level when we switched its attribute to "root." The XML data structure seems to allow this.

Regarding the pre-defined field types, the problem may really only apply to new users. Overall, we think the

software gives the user great flexibility.

Please send your comments and suggestions to letters@linux-magazine.com

Write Access

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: