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Quick Nexus 7 Comments By Linus Torvalds

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Re: Quick Nexus 7 Comments By Linus Torvalds

#111

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

bconway wrote: post #70

But the %^$ thing still cannot be set to send just plain-text emails. Why, google, why? Good technical mailing lists all know that html email is just spam or marketing people, and auto-delete html crap. Just give me the option to send text-only, ok?* I have the opposite problem: My Gmail app only sends in plain text, and I have no way to change that on my Galaxy Nexus. Perhaps it's taking the default from my web Gmai…

I don't have a problem, I never need to send HTML emails on my 2.3.6 Gingerbread phone with atrocious battery life (thanks, Samsung!)

Re: Quick Nexus 7 Comments By Linus Torvalds

#112

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

lukeschlather wrote: post #87
fierarul wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, this has been going on for ages. I blame both Apple and Google.

I blame Google. They are spending way too much time on the JavaScript for what should be basically a static HTML page. Why isn't my spacebar working to pagedown? It's amazing they're getting adoption from techies.

It's not JavaScript itself that is the problem IMO, it's just there's too much of it and I think they're bundling a ton of frameworks in with it.

Re: Quick Nexus 7 Comments By Linus Torvalds

#113

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

guelo wrote: post #26

My main disappointment is with the lack of Flash. Flash is still needed on a lot of websites and every time I've needed it it's a reminder that Adobe has cost Android one of its big advantages over iOS.

Personally, I'm glad Adobe are dropping Flash support on Android. Flash screws up page rendering on my PC, requires me to use Chrome just to be able to view net videos, is relied on by advertisers, is slow, crashes, etc.

I'm just sad Microsoft back-peddled on no plugins in IE10.

Re: Quick Nexus 7 Comments By Linus Torvalds

#114

Post by TazeTSchnitzel »

antidoh wrote: post #66
bicknergseng wrote: post #21

Linus, man... the number of people who auto delete html emails is on the same order as the number of people who disable javascript or run desktop linux and don't know how to program.

He has a good technical reason for not liking html mail, but the number of people who care about this are vanishingly small and a device maker doesn't really need to care about them. There'll be an app to come along soon I imagine.

It's not the device-maker, it's a fault of the GMail app.

Ironic.

The people who would know and care about this stuff are exactly the kind of people who would have wrote the app: programmers.

Re: Quick Nexus 7 Comments By Linus Torvalds

#115

Post by sigzero »

w1ntermute wrote: post #78
yummyfajitas wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lenovo certainly does compete on quality, it just aims for a different set of quality seekers. Apple targets people who want their computer to look pretty. Lenovo targets the people who want to get stuff done. Want to quickly scroll through a document? page up/page down/home/end buttons? Lenovo's got it. Want to change the volume easily and still have access to f1-f12? Lenovo's got dedicated buttons for it. Spill you…

> Need more battery life? Buy a second battery and swap them when the first runs out. Need more ram? Just open it up and put it in. Same thing if you want a new HD/etc. This is one of the biggest factors for me in getting a PC laptop over a MacBook. When I buy a ThinkPad, I intend to keep it for 5 years. My friends with MacBooks all replace them every 2-3 years. > Combine this with great linux support [1] and Lenovo…

"Everything works flawlessly out of the box."

It has come a long way then.

Re: Quick Nexus 7 Comments By Linus Torvalds

#116

Post by yummyfajitas »

primatology wrote: post #100
generalk wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, fewer buttons does not necessarily make a device simpler. There's a happy medium that I think Android hit with the four-button menu/home/back/search keys. Whenever I use an iPhone anymore I always cache-miss and try to find the hardware back button.

Not every screen needs a back button. You can't hide a hardware back button. I'm with Apple on this one. The back-arrow button in the toolbar reminds me I'm in a hierarchal app, and the label reminds me what the prior screen was. It's just the opposite for me: every time I use an Android I hunt around the screen for the software back button.

If there is no place to go back to (i.e., you just opened the app), back takes you to the home screen.

Besides, just as you can't hide a hardware back button, you can't hide the wasted space sitting to the left and right the iPhone's "go home or randomly open Siri" button.

Re: Quick Nexus 7 Comments By Linus Torvalds

#117

Post by yummyfajitas »

primatology wrote: post #99
yummyfajitas wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use all 12 of them on a regular basis, except for F2. I just noticed F2 is free, so I bound it to 'revert-buffer, which I use all the time. A single button works great for a gun. A computer does more things than a gun so it needs more buttons.

Fair enough. Upon investigation, I've discovered there are a fair few OS X official system shortcuts which utilize function keys. But I think you're an edge case. Apple targets hard the average consumer, and there are plenty (my parents) who don't understand an arbitrary mapping of a number to a function. The self-explanatory icons (the speaker with lots of sound vs no sound, the universal play triangle, etc.) are fa…

Yes, I'm an edge case. I seek out a quality laptop that I can get work done on. That's what we are discussing, no?

As for "saving space", huh? A thinkpad is the same size as a macbook - both are as wide as their screen plus a little extra. The thinkpad is just covered with ugly buttons instead of pretty metallic empty space.

Re: Quick Nexus 7 Comments By Linus Torvalds

#118

Post by [deleted] »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #116
primatology wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not every screen needs a back button. You can't hide a hardware back button. I'm with Apple on this one. The back-arrow button in the toolbar reminds me I'm in a hierarchal app, and the label reminds me what the prior screen was. It's just the opposite for me: every time I use an Android I hunt around the screen for the software back button.

If there is no place to go back to (i.e., you just opened the app), back takes you to the home screen. Besides, just as you can't hide a hardware back button, you can't hide the wasted space sitting to the left and right the iPhone's "go home or randomly open Siri" button.

[deleted]

Re: Quick Nexus 7 Comments By Linus Torvalds

#119

Post by Teckla »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #71
charliesome wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't manufacturers compete on quality instead? I can walk into a store and see the Apple computers on one side and the Windows computers on the other. All the Apple computers look and feel beautiful, but the Windows computers are plastered with stickers and 'Beats by Dr Dre' branding. They're made out of what looks like the cheapest plastic ever. I can understand why Apple is absolutely killing it at the moment…

Lenovo certainly does compete on quality, it just aims for a different set of quality seekers. Apple targets people who want their computer to look pretty. Lenovo targets the people who want to get stuff done. Want to quickly scroll through a document? page up/page down/home/end buttons? Lenovo's got it. Want to change the volume easily and still have access to f1-f12? Lenovo's got dedicated buttons for it. Spill you…

"Want to change the volume easily and still have access to f1-f12? Lenovo's got dedicated buttons for it."

In preferences, you can set it so Fn+F1 through Fn+F12 trigger the usual features, so that you can still have easy access to vanilla F1 through F12.

Take some time to dig through the preferences menu on OS X, you'll be surprised how configurable things can be.

Re: Quick Nexus 7 Comments By Linus Torvalds

#120

Post by jamesbritt »

progrock wrote: post #102
w1ntermute wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I prefer the Lenovo "nipple" over a touchpad but most people hate it The problem is that no one gives the TrackPoint a chance. I've seen people who've used ThinkPads for years and have never even touched the TrackPoint. But if you spend about 30 minutes working with it, you'll find that it's superior to both mice and trackpads for 99% of tasks (gaming being the one exception, for which I keep a mouse on hand).

I find that the nipple requires a little too much pressure (T500), which is a little tiresome. You can be really light to the touch with some touchpads (including simulated clicks.) I'd prefer a nipple more like a touchpad - something like you get on the Blackberries (not the old trackballs.)

I run Kubuntu on a W500 and set mouse sensitivity way up:

     xset m 5 1
so that I can move the cursor with a fairly light touch.
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