Mike Wright <mike.wright <at> mailinator.com> writes:
> First mess is the "Package Updater". 1) That's not the !@#$%ing
> program's name.
Blame Fedora's GNOME Desktop Team for this mess. We KDE SIG members are
fighting as we can to get the menu entries to at least _include_ the real name
of the apps. (There's no reason they can't include both the name and the
generic name, e.g. "Pup Package Updater".)
> Its toolbar icon has no properties associated with it
> so I can't even tell what it launches.
In KDE, you can right-click and "Edit this entry...", which will both tell you
what is being launched and allow you to fix the name.
> The app itself has no "About"
> button. In fact, one must perform command line forensics to even find
> out that the program's name is "pup". (I prefer the spanish
> pronunciation.) Why, oh why, is every package preselected? Why is the
> "update list" window not resizeable? Absolutely one of the worst user
> interfaces I have ever used. Actually, it's hard to call it a UI since
> there is no interaction allowed except "click the mouse several hundred
> times", quit, or apply, and it provides no user feedback except when it
> barfs on itself. Is it hanging? Is it running? Is it stalled?
> Absolutely no way to tell. Oh, a dependency issue. Option of ignore or
> continue? No way, those choices are not available. Error out.
Pup was not designed for experienced users. You'll have more luck with Yumex,
Synaptic (my personal preference) or smart-gui. Yumex is the path of least
resistance as it's based on yum, Synaptic is based on apt-rpm, smart-gui on
smart. (There's also KYum, but it isn't very actively maintained and Yumex is
more powerful.)
> Second, where did the Applications->Run Program option go?
It's still there in KDE.
> Third, why does the bottom toolbar show up about two inches below the
> top one? Right clicking on its far left edge gives me some options:
> click "expand" twice and it returns to its position at the bottom.
>
> Why are the toolbar widgets now locked to the toolbar? What, don't like
> us rearranging things according to our own tastes? OK fine, just right
> click, Unlock. Right click, Move. Swell. I get the plus sign shaped
> move cursor but it doesn't work! I can't rearrange the toolbars.
These sound like more GNOME bugs, you'll probably have more luck with KDE.
> Well, maybe it's got its panties in a bunch. I'll just logout and try
> again. Oh my! Isn't this sweet. Where are the toolbars? Why doesn't
> right click do anything? Fortunately, I shortcut keyed an xterm.
> Enter the shortcut key combo and I get an xterm window with borders and
> no prompt, no cursor, zippadeedoodah!
No metacity (the GNOME window manager) running maybe? Try "metacity --replace"
to see if that fixes it. Or try KDE instead. ;-)
> Q: if it's really to be known as f7 why are the kernels named
> "something.fc7"? I think the decision to change the naming scheme
> wasn't wise. Google on f7 and you'll get lots of hits on the function
> key but very little on fedora.
Because disttags need to increase monotonically. .fc7 > .fc6.
> Q: why was it decided to put marketing names on the applications and
> remove their properties? How are we supposed to help debug, etc, if the
> program identities are hidden from us? This decision forces users back
> into CLI mode. Kind of defeats the whole GUI approach, doesn't it?
See my first paragraph.
> I'll also take a look at KDE to see if I have better luck there.
I think you will. Also try one of the alternatives to pup.
Kevin Kofler
