> Gary Gendel wrote: > > For example: why install Sendmail if the user only uses Thunderbird as a > > mail client? ..... It is these types of details that keep the system complexity up plus confound and confuse the home user > > the bulk of UNIX users ... relied upon Sendmail ... Sendmail has also been > used to send mail off > after a job has completed Its been my experience users that migrate from > Windows to Linux have >this problem. They tend to have the mindset that > what's unneeded to them is generally what's >unneeded to everyone, because of > problems that are localized to Windows.
What I am writing is not only on Send mail... This is all on features that would confuse the average user, but features that are valuable, that need not be stripped altogether. Imagine a desktop interface that is three dimensional. It exists in later versions of Open Solaris, I have seen it, it is like a cube, so don't tell me you already have it. This is more like how the cube can be organized to reconcile this problem. Make six desktops, one on each surface of the cube. The front face of the cube is the common man and Ian Murdock's uncommon woman. I will call it Surface 1 ( Unix professionals would be inclined to call it Surface 0, don't, I will get confused. ) This will require no expertise, except some basic, very basic GUI navigation skills. The user broswes, checks mail, writes a letter, watches a video, listens to some music, blissfully logs off and goes away, The most advanced System Admin task that the user will ever perform in this plane is change his password, suing a change password GUI interface. Trust me, over 70% of all desktop users don't want anything more than the functionalities of this surface. Switch to the surface on the right, I will call it Surface 2, that the User will have access to after a simple warning that says that it requires moderate knowledge of computer settings.. You will find in this surface automatic updates, download privileges, change basic settings, add an icon, change network settings etc. ( I have not arrived at an optimal set of privileges///limitations for each level, but I think the idea is conveyed ) Switch on to the surface on the back, Surface 3, you have more advanced GUIs such as smc. Or this surface just has smc. Requires a Surface 3 password to swtich to. Switch to the surface 4 on the left, it is where you will find everything, including sendmail functionality, if the user chooses. The user who gets on to the plane is invariably the Unix familiar user, the advanced user who can get down to the Terminal, the terminal is there. The bottom of the cube is Surface 5, the root interface. The user will stay away from this plane if he is warned that it is dangerous ground. The top layer is for Sun. It is for Sun's support. Users may suscribe to remote desktop administration, which will have access to even the kernel files, in case Support wants to update it, but not the user's personal directory path. ( Is there a way of setting up such privileges as total access, except the user's directory ? ) The user may not even have to see this surface, it is a surface where there could be simultaneous activity even as the user is watching a movie in his own surface. If he so chooses, he can switch to this surface with "view only" privileges to watch unintelligible terminal messages flashing past ... What if you come up with six desktops rolled into one ? A mac on the face, a full scale GNOME on the right, a GNOME solaris on the back, a UNIX on the left, a Terminal at the bottom and a Remote Machine on top ? I would love to learn at least as much UNIX as it takes to send and receive mails from the command prompt, or from a command prompt like GUI, as in Mission Impossible ... Someday I will be on Surface 4. > > -- > Derek E. Lewis > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://delewis.blogspot.com > > _______________________________________________ > opensolaris-discuss mailing list > opensolaris-discuss@opensolaris.org This message posted from opensolaris.org _______________________________________________ opensolaris-discuss mailing list opensolaris-discuss@opensolaris.org
