Comment 154 for bug 668415

On 28/10/11 17:18, Vitor Lamas Gatti wrote:
> ... I'm sorry, but how many more constructive opinions are needed to
> you understand what power users, the ones that made Ubuntu popular
> (recommending to friends, etc) really want?

As it happens, we have a concrete program of review of what power users
try to do, and how we can make all of those things smoother. It turns
out that power users are much more concerned about keyboard shortcuts
than the position of the launcher. My favourite comment was from one
person who said 'I'm a power user, I do everything with the mouse', and
then turned out to know nothing at all about Linux.

So.

Rather than claim that *your* preference is reflective of all power
users, figure out:

 * how you would define power user
 * how you would find an unbiased sample of them
 * how you would test whether they have natural preferences or natural
aversions
 * how best to present those findings

That's hard work, but it would turn your personal preference into a
matter of substantive evidence, and thus make a far more compelling case.

This is a slow, painful process, but it's how we make decisions -
evidence based design. Showing up here and voting for your preference is
not the right way to make these decisions, period. Think about that, and
if you want to make a difference, start doing it properly.

> People are already porting Launcher's behavior to go to the bottom (
> http://www.webupd8.org/2011/10/how-to-move-unity-launcher-to-bottom-
> of.html ), why this can't just be official?

Because every option comes at a cost, and the cost of this one is too high.

> This kind of reaction reminds me when SONY removed Linux support from
> all PS3s. The same thing is happening: nobody will listen users and we
> will be left trying to hack and port things to what we want (just what
> happened to the PS3). :(

Be my guest. I admire and respect the fact that you can make free
software do exactly what you want - that's precisely what I set out to
support in founding Ubuntu. What I did not set out to found was a
project which pandered to the needs of a few, at the cost to the many.
Especially when the few can perfectly well help themselves, and the many
cannot.

Mark