Re: Distros specifically designed for children

On 03/06/2025 06:24, Marc Haber wrote:

Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

On Mon, 2 Jun 2025 09:13:48 -0700, John Ames wrote:
>

GIMP is deeply frustrating because it's a lot of very solid technical
functionality married to a cargo-cult version of the Photoshop UI ...

>
That’s strange, isn’t it, since most of the Adobe-lovers who don’t like
GIMP primarily say it’s because its UI is too different from Photoshop.

 So it is similar enough so that non-experts see a similarity, and
different enough that it's too different for photoshop fans.
 That is rather normal. When you're _really_ acquainted with a software
you search for reasons for not having to use the alternative, and
chain yourself to features that the alternative doesn't have even if
they're not THAT vital for you.
 

Well there is nothing wrong in that.
My beef with programs like GIMP and blender is that huge amounts of effort go into the cunning 'features' that they have, and almost none into some sort of vaguely consistent way to access those features, or explain why you might want to use them or help you use them.
To be fair that is true of all *nix derived OS and tools. The manual tells you how to use every last feature, but not why you might want to.
I still use CorelDraw because it has a pretty simple and intuitive  UI given what it does. And it once came with a video tape showing how to use it. A tape that actually corresponded with what you saw on screen.
Too often You Tube videos apply to the version you don't have on an OS you don't have that simply doesn't have the same menus.
Or worse has configurable menus that someone has configured.
The learning curve for any technology loaded with 'features' is massive.
Even stuff that is supposed to be simple. My android phone occasionally needs attention. No online help has EVER reflected the reality of the version i seem to have.
Its the same with Linux. You install a new version, It has some issues that need attention. But what is online applies to previous versions that you already have sorted out.
The solutions are to edit files that do not exist on your version, because someone has 'rationalised them'  And the new issues arise because someone has changed default behaviour because 'that's progressive and modern'
e.g. We will make your default to be IPV6 enabled even though no one is actually using it Or systemd. Or Wayland.  And break every program that doesn't have a team of coders willing to spend the man hours 'catching up' and porting their code to the latest new shiny thing.
Its all very MCP like "Fuck the users, we are the cool people"
That's why stupid people like Apple. They spend the time on a user interface, insist that its the only way to use it, and document it.
So its easy for stupid people to use it. And stupid people have money. Lots of it.

Greetings
Marc

--
“when things get difficult you just have to lie”
― Jean Claud Jüncker