[Mageia-discuss] Suggestions

[Dale Huckeby]

On Sat, 23 Oct 2010, Wolfgang Bornath wrote:

> 2010/10/23 Marc Paré <marc at marcpare.com>:
>>
>> I don't think this would be the intent of these categories, there would of
>> course be cross-category software but the user could certainly tag more than
>> one category than another.
>>
>> There could even be some kind of information bubble for each category
>> detailing the type of software assigned to it.
>
> Well, that's exactly what we have in Mandriva:
> - a main selection between KDE, Gnome and Custom
> - below that several categories with sub-categories.
> - user can tag whatever he wants.
> - a "standard system" is already defined and tagged for the new user,
> depending on the first selection (DE).
> Even the bubbles are there, explaining what each category does.
>
> In other words: what you describe as "we could have" is already there,
> in total and very well defined. :)

One problem in choosing packages is that for many a description of what
the app does is sparse or nonexistent. And often the description is of
the form: defoliant_2.35.rpm. Install this if you need a defoliant. When
I see descriptions like this my first impulse is to wonder, Why did you
even bother? Complete descriptions of what each app does, including
explaining under what circumstances the user might or might not need it,
would go a long way towards making noobies feel less lost. Some apps do 
an admirable job of explanation. Many don't.

Dale Huckeby