Comments Regarding Linux Desktop Usability for Teenagers

[Jonathan Marc Bearak]

I believe that one of the most intriguing areas of desktop usability is
for teenagers.  That is, not teenagers such as myself, but rather ones
who are not hackers and are not unusually knowledgeable about computers
for someone of their age group.  My sister, who is 15, has now been
working with Fedora Core 2 for a few weeks.

She is not particularly adept with computers.  I often needed to help
with simple tasks on Windows, such as setting up a printer.  She is not
someone who would typically be running Linux.  I will say quickly
regarding why she switched that she experienced platform reliability
issues and recently faced a situation requiring a clean install.  My
main interest at this point, however, is in her continued use of Linux.

She commented to me that she no longer misses Windows because she has
found Fedora to be reliable.  It is extremely important to understand
that she is not referring to the Windows OS but the platform as a
whole.  The Linux desktop is actively working to create a clean and
consistent environment.  Applications on Windows are often inconsistent
and unreliable.

The desktop platform is what appeals to her -- not Linux itself.  From a
person without any understanding of open source or the GPL, the concept
of the Linux kernel, or any interest in our politics, that is a user's
perspective which should make desktop developers proud of the progress
that has been made.


I have had to help in several areas to maintain my sister's now-Linux
computer.  These have not been in areas of cross-platform compatibility,
but of interaction with the system.

As I recall, one of the first things I had to do was install giFToxic. 
I used Dag Wiers' yum repository.  I found that files were missing in
/usr/lib/giFT and so copied files from my computer's /usr/local/lib/giFT
(compiled) to her notebook.  I also copied my .giFT directory.  This is
not something that is likely to be dealt with in Fedora development, nor
should it.  I know that without peer-to-peer software and without the
ability to download music, she would not continue using her computer. 
This is a predominant aspect of teenage computer use, and one that is
difficult to overlook.

I installed multimedia apps through yum.  A standard procedure, and
frankly, easier than Windows -- just a command and some patience. 
Password, enter, wait.

I installed RealPlayer 10.  I thought this would be necessary for
streaming media now that she doesn't have Windows Media Player.  She
complained that launch.com doesn't work.  I remembered something obscure
-- launch only worked in Netscape 4.  I couldn't remember why, but that
was the case.  I installed netscape-navigator from the Dag yum
repository.  This of course is already beyond what a normal user would
even think vaguely about.  I then opened Launchcast.  The window opened,
and I awaited the Flash applet to load.  But I was told that it could
not work; Launchcast requires Windows Media Player.  I didn't
immediately understand this -- I used to use Launch not so many years
ago.  RealPlayer had been an option in the past.

This bring up another platform issue: multimedia.  Linux desktop
applications exist that are compatible with Office documents.  But Linux
multimedia has is limited by outside factors.

Fortunately, giFToxic satisfied her needs; she could watch music videos
on her computer.  I would point out that WMA support is going to be
necessary in applications like Rhythmbox, which she seems to use as her
only audio player.  Her downloaded songs are mp3's, and I had Ogg Vorbis
copies of much of her music.  CD's which she had already ripped were in
mp3 format only because I set Windows Media Player to encode to mp3s
almost immediately after she first bought her notebook. This is not the
case for most individuals, and there is not much that can be done to
stop people from making WMA recordings.  Down the line, this will be a
big factor in people trying Linux.  (It is somewhat analogous to the
concept of "addicting" college students to Napster subscriptions.)

Another area was in setting up her printer.  On Windows, this involved
downloading and installing drivers for her (HP PhotoSmart P1100)
printer.  It took me a long time, and was way too complex.  On Linux, I
simply plugged in the printer, chose /dev/USB/lp0 in the Add Printer
druid, chose the appropriate printer from the list, and was done. 
Still, she could not figure out how to set up her printer.  Of course
not -- /dev/USB/lp0 is meaningless.  I looked in System Tools->Hardware
Browser.  The Linux desktop knows that's her printer (regardless of the
apps involved in detecting that detail (kudzu is irrelevant to her)). 
The printer configuration application should match /dev/USB/lp0 to the
name of the printer attached to the USB port.  It's a matter of
terminology; a small detail that totally removes a user's ability to
administer the system despite the rest of the procedure being
understandable.

Further, the new desktop background interface is unusable without
explanation.  There are no choices given by default!  I had to show her
to /usr/share/backgrounds in Nautilus and demonstrate dragging images
into the Desktop Background window to change them.  A simple solution is
having a something akin to Apple's "Desktop Pictures" / "Choose Folder"
options in the Mac OS X Desktop Background settings application.

Also related to Gnome configuration, I asked if she liked Bluecurve. 
She wasn't fond of it.  She didn't hate it, but she didn't like it
either.  (Nothing to say regarding Bluecurve's quality; I use the
default theme with the Bluecurve-Gnome color scheme.)  I showed her that
she simply had to go to Prefs->Theme.  She was confused "where's the
preview" but was happily surprised that the themes changed instantly so
there was no need for a preview Window as in Windows' Display control
panel.  Unfortunately, I had to go in to Details and switch the icons
back to Bluecurve.  Icons should not change when changing themes; this
is unintuitive -- normal users do not think of this as part of the
theme.  On Windows, you can change the widgets.  On Mac OS X, you can
change the widget colors (blue/graphite).  (Perhaps themes should just
stick to Bluecurve unless they have their own specially-crafted icon
set.)

The rest of her system is normal.  Firefox (installed through yum; but
irrelevant, Mozilla provided by the base would have functioned just as
well), Gaim, and OpenOffice.org.  Her install consists of Personal
Desktop + Games + Samba + the afforementioned applications installed
through yum/up2date.  Her computer is typically running all the time;
she does not appear to turn it off.  The nightly yum update is enabled
(she ignored Windows Update alerts, and she ignored the red exclamation
point of rhn-applet-gui.)  She uses AOL for email (webmail interface). 
(She has commented that people should complain to AOL that they should
make it work on Linux (not write a GTK+ client, of course, but "make it
work" on Linux; an interesting particular in the way non-hackers
understand how software works.))

These have been my observations of my sister's use of Linux, and my
experiences where intervention has been required.  I have brought up
some larger issues, and some smaller points which can probably be
addressed without too much effort.

I hope others find this to be helpful and relevant to working with the
desktop environment on Linux and Fedora.

-- 
Jonathan Marc Bearak <jonathanbearak at yahoo.com>