On Desktop GUI Minimalism

#1

Post by netdoll » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 6:23 PM UTC

On Desktop GUI Minimalism
mycophobia.org

Re: On Desktop GUI Minimalism

#2

Post by fellowniusmonk » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 9:39 PM UTC

I think issues with attempts to redefine pc computing interfaces is that despite what is stated people are not actually starting from first principles when they go to redesign a personal computing GUI interface.

Even in this article just a few sentences after stating we should start from first principles he then jumps into the assumption of the "desktop".

The baggage of TTY interfaces in textual interfaces and the "desktop" paradigm for GUI interfaces is preventing people from going back to actual first principles for designing personal computing interfaces.

Of course I do appreciate that since the title of the articles is minimalist desktop GUIs the assumption of "first principles of computing assuming a desktop analog" is baked into the article, I just think it's insufficient.

Re: On Desktop GUI Minimalism

#3

Post by pengaru » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 10:32 PM UTC

That's quite the wall of text I won't be reading...

Re: On Desktop GUI Minimalism

#4

Post by sim7c00 » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 10:42 PM UTC

fellowniusmonk wrote: post #2

I think issues with attempts to redefine pc computing interfaces is that despite what is stated people are not actually starting from first principles when they go to redesign a personal computing GUI interface. Even in this article just a few sentences after stating we should start from first principles he then jumps into the assumption of the "desktop". The baggage of TTY interfaces in textual interfaces and the "d…

so agree that a lot is not going back, perhaps more just modifying whats there.

i think the first rule for me is: computers need to make things more simple for humans.

how we control our devices, how we use those controls to do things (like interact with these guis), currentlt the model makes things always difficult and practically ensures people lose immersion of their real life into some device screen and controlscheme.

tldr i guess; u can optimise guis etc. but if you dont change the interface to those guis its not reinventing anything. these things work in concert to generate the users experience.

Re: On Desktop GUI Minimalism

#5

Post by bluepoint » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 10:45 PM UTC

Cool insights in Desktop! I really hope that someone comes up with a desktop metaphor for the hundreds of open browser tabs (which I think are the new bookmarks) that hang open in an endless horizontal list. Imagine tabs which are like documents, can be moved around, minimized, and spatially organized in folders and subfolders. Actually, why does this not exist somehow?

Re: On Desktop GUI Minimalism

#6

Post by MrVandemar » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 10:47 PM UTC

pengaru wrote: post #3

That's quite the wall of text I won't be reading...

Put it in reader-mode and up the line-height. Much improved.

Re: On Desktop GUI Minimalism

#7

Post by somnic » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 10:50 PM UTC

bluepoint wrote: post #5

Cool insights in Desktop! I really hope that someone comes up with a desktop metaphor for the hundreds of open browser tabs (which I think are the new bookmarks) that hang open in an endless horizontal list. Imagine tabs which are like documents, can be moved around, minimized, and spatially organized in folders and subfolders. Actually, why does this not exist somehow?

There's an extension for firefox called Tree Style Tabs. I never really got into it but some people are quite enthusiastic, pretty similar to what you describe though.

Re: On Desktop GUI Minimalism

#8

Post by bluepoint » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 10:55 PM UTC

somnic wrote: post #7

bluepoint wrote: post #5

Cool insights in Desktop! I really hope that someone comes up with a desktop metaphor for the hundreds of open browser tabs (which I think are the new bookmarks) that hang open in an endless horizontal list. Imagine tabs which are like documents, can be moved around, minimized, and spatially organized in folders and subfolders. Actually, why does this not exist somehow?

There's an extension for firefox called Tree Style Tabs. I never really got into it but some people are quite enthusiastic, pretty similar to what you describe though.

This sounds interesting. I will check it out.

Re: On Desktop GUI Minimalism

#9

Post by torstenvl » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 10:59 PM UTC

TLDR: How to hack MATE to get window shading and spatial file management à la MacOS 9.

Decently cool and interesting, but not worth the hour-long read IMHO.

Re: On Desktop GUI Minimalism

#10

Post by MrVandemar » Sat, Sep 09, 2023, 11:04 PM UTC

Interesting article, and the author makes some excellent points (especially about the pernicious encroachment of "touch" interfaces for systems that are fundamentally driven by keyboard and mouse on large screens) but they start with speculating about starting from scratch for desktop paradigms and ends up:

> What I have now is a reasonable facsimile of the classic Mac OS UI functionality in Linux, minus little niceties like the aforementioned popup folders, and I've found that I need basically nothing beyond that to work incredibly efficiently.

While it's one of the killer features of linux that you have enormous flexibility in how you use it and set it up, the screen-shot gives me the heebie-jeebies. Visually it's too noisy. I couldn't concentrate with that clutter screaming in my face.

Nb: I'm a i3 + command-line guy.