Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 18:08:47 +0000 From: Daniela <dgw@liwest.at> To: "Devon H. O'Dell" <dodell@sitetronics.com>, freebsd-advocacy@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Friendly and Secure Desktop Operating System Message-ID: <200310281808.47924.dgw@liwest.at> In-Reply-To: <3F9E8659.9040102@sitetronics.com> References: <3F9E8659.9040102@sitetronics.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
On Tuesday 28 October 2003 15:08, Devon H. O'Dell wrote: > Another problem is that with the 'stupid user' model that's mentioned in > the article, the OS has to handle things that should be decided by the > user. You get into the question of where to stop trying to save the user > from him/herself and where to let the user make decisions. Again, this > is a problem that *application* developers need to address, not > operating system developers. Question: What makes the user stupid? Answer: An environment that hides details and doesn't force the users to know a little bit of the thing they're working with. Call me paranoid, but I think this "over-userfriendlyness" is quite dangerous. We'll end in an environment where we don't understand anything, and a few companies control our lives. This might seem farfetched, but we are slowly walking in this direction. Think about it: No knowledge - no control. And users are accepting it. They are just lazy and want everything to be done for them, even if this means they have to give up freedom. BTW, I think this user-friendly desktop should only be an optional and easily exchangeable frontend to the "real thing". Daniela
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?200310281808.47924.dgw>