Joseph Brower

Education has always been exceptionally important to me. Unfortunately, too many people only see education as a destination (for example, their goal as far as education is concerned revolves around getting a degree or a certificate of some sort) rather than as a journey. In order for someone to be truely educated, they must understand that education is a journey, a continual process, and something that doesn’t end. We live in a dynamic world. Each day is different, especially when it comes to technology.

There is a vast difference between someone that feels that they know something because of a degree and someone that feels confidence because they have been required to truely learn something. I am not saying that a degree is without value. Formal education is important, but it is only the first step of many. Bloom’s Taxonomy for learning shows that simply knowing something does not mean that we can use that knowledge. Experience allows one to have a profound understanding of any particular topic.

Playdeb.net is a project that I have really enjoyed. If you are running ubuntu, and enjoy games, I strongly suggest checking it out. Just go to playdeb.net while under Ubuntu. Then you click on the games link, then follow the link on how to install packages. Essentially, you install the playdeb package. Then you check for updates, then you are able to browse around the site and click to install various games. I would suggest Naev, and The Platinum Arts Sandbox.

At Nexus we have been trying to get PHPTimeclock so that it is ready for the everyday user. It has been quite an experience. From a technical standpoint, things have been quite bug free. We only had two minor bugs, both of which were easily resolved. What has been far more difficult is the polishing of the user interface.

We taught Justin (who has kindly been helping us as acting as our non-technical tester) how to properly file a bug report and he went to town on it. After a few days of testing he came up with over 25 usability issues that would cause problems with any new or non-technical user.

A lot of these problems have been related to poor working, orthers were simply poor placement of buttons. We are still making our way through the list, but this has already vastly improved the usability of the timeclock software.

So why am I blogging about this? Two reasons. First, we can always use more people testing. Second, if open source is to succeed beyond the technical audience, it needs to focus on the end user. That means we need to be going directly to the end users and learn what they like, dislike, and would want changed. Too many open source projects are nearing technical perfection but will never see the user base that they should because end users don’t see how good it is. With so many volunteer man hours being expended, we the community, should make it our responsibility to see to it that they are properly tested for usability. We the developers need to put aside our pride and make sure that each and every reported bug is resolved, even ones that are just for usability and that we feel have easy workarounds. Only then can we achieve the polish needed to reach everyone.

I guess my point is that we need to be seeking all bugs, not just ones that are technical. This includes small annoyances with software, not just showstopping bugs.

I recently upgraded to Ubuntu 10.10 and figured I would take the time to really analyze my workflow and see how I could improve. One thing I discovered is that a good portion of my time was taken searching for windows. I usually have about 8 skype windows open, netbeans, a few file browsers, empathy, filezilla, some spreadsheets, and a few web browser windows. That meant my time was slowly being chewed up by me hunting for windows.

I installed Avant Window Navigator using the software center and fired it up. It didn’t take long before it was installed and ready to run. After I used it for a short while, I decided I would go all out and start using it. I removed the panels (using gconf) and have been quite happy since. There are a few things I have learned though.

First… For some reason, my super key combinations (those using the windows key) don’t work anymore. I changed the shortcuts and they work. If anyone knows why, please let me know.

Second… You will want to install gnome-do. The menu applet that is available for AWN has a “Launch” feature that requires it.

Third… Install the extra plugins, they are well worth it. It really lets you add some nifty extras like a Pandora applet.

In short, I have tried many docks, but none has had the appeal to me that AWN has had. I have been using it for a few weeks and have had no issues at all. If you are a dock person, or have some time to test out a dock, I would strongly suggest giving it a shot.