Why I set out to build a desktop system operating system true to the desktop metaphor’s roots. One that removes the distractions, clutter, complexities, privacy issues, and encumbrances that have kept piling up.
Desktop user experience needs to be restored because it has been crippled over the years.
We risk forgetting the power of the Desktop
They build user interfaces for touch. They bring in user experience elements made to be used with the finger on tiny mobile devices, no matter that we have a precise mouse pointer and 27" screens.
Already three years ago when I wrote my series on #LinuxUsability (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6) I had the impression that there was some super secret, evil plan to kill the desktop as we know it. A general-purpose computing productivity powerhouse. Replace it with inferior user experiences that make our lives harder.
Today I stumbled across this article:
It proves my worst fears.
Sometimes it seems that even desktop operating systems these days are made by people who don’t get, or worse, hate the desktop.
The desktop metaphor is still unmatched when it comes to productivity
When I observe people in a company, I can immediately tell those who actually do the work from those who just glance over other people’s work. The former have real desktop computers or powerful notebooks, usually plugged into power and a wired network. The latter have tablet-wannabe-computer “convertibles” with cardboard keyboards held together by magnets, and their battery is always empty.
No TV studio will cut a feature-length movie on those mobile toys.
The mouse is your friend
It allows for pixel-perfect navigation and object manipulation. It allows you to select even parts of a word on the first try. It makes it easy to do drag-and-drop.
Touch is an inferior substitute, as far as productive work is concerned. No serious graphic designer will be happy with the precision of manipulating objects with the fingers on a slippery glass surface. Heck, even selecting text within a word is almost impossible on those mobile touch devices. And no, voice is not a good substitute at all. I don’t want to tell my computer how to draw a picture.
So let’s use a real mouse. Not those pesky touchscreens. Not those touchpads. A mouse with an optical sensor and buttons, you know.
Applications and documents are our friends
You could call them “verbs” and “objects”. Being able to exactly choose which version of which application to use to operate on which document is crucial.
Centering the workflow around lofty other ideas has been tried before, and went nowhere.
The file system is your friend
It allows you to understand where stuff goes. It gives you full power over where stuff goes. It allows you to access, move, copy, remove, backup, archive stuff. It puts you in control. By using “Save As…” and saving a file under a different name, you can make a new version. And so on.
On mobile devices, stuff goes “somewhere”, in places you don’t know. You never know what gets saved when and where. Maybe stuff goes somewhere on the local device, and worse, those days maybe it goes somewhere in the cloud. Anyone who as ever tried to get an MP3 file off an iPhone knows what I mean. You don’t even know where the files are stored, and you need complicated 3rd party software to actually access them. Complicated!
So let’s embrace the file system. Not a file system hidden away from view. And let’s work in the file manager. Let’s do everything by drag-and-drop in the file manager. Let’s do away with control panels, application installers, app stores, backup software, and the like. It can all be done with drag-and-drop in the file manager.
The global menu is your friend
It allows you to see all commands that are available to you quickly. Today, it even lets you search those commands.
So let’s use a real menu. Not those pesky hamburger or ribbon things that only make everything slow and inefficient.
Let’s get rid of the bloat, less is better!
There is just way too much stuff. And it’s all way too configurable. As a result, it’s a giant mess. Hence, let’s remove everything that had been bolted onto the desktop metaphor lately, and let’s go back to the basics.
Get rid of notifications
The computer is supposed to execute the instructions the user gives it, not the other way around. Notifications are a big distraction, most often designed for the computer to make the user do something. They are a never ending stream of unwanted interruptions, taking the focus away from your work. Your virus scanner wants to phone home. There is a new version of this and that. 7 new messages on Twitter. Please reboot. Activate your windows. Special promo offer ends today.
Get rid of notifications entirely! The original Mac did not need them, and nor do we today.
Get rid of ads
Some desktop operating systems look like an ad-financed newspaper.
Get rid of all ads entirely! Not just in the web browser. The original Mac did not need them, and nor do we today.
Get rid of app launchers
A Start menu with tiles? A Launchpad? Who needs those extra things to launch apps when we have the file system. I want to launch an app, I double-click it in the file system. Easy as that! As an added benefit, I can organize the apps in folders to my own liking, and can move, copy, delete, archive, backup them exactly like I want.
Get rid of tiles, launchpads, and other launchers. The original Mac did not need them, and nor do we today.
Get rid of app stores, DRM, signed everything
App stores require you to give their operators your personal information. They allow the app store operator to know which apps you have. They enforce “DRM” against you. They use signing to keep you from doing with your computer what you want.
Get rid of app stores. Drag-and-drop the apps into the file system at your own liking. Get rid of all the app store accounts and the phone home that comes with them. The original Mac did not need them, and nor do we today.
Get rid of everything that messes with your privacy
Once Apple positioned themselves as the savior that rescued mankind from an omnipresent Big Brother. Today they are phoning home which developers’ apps you use, and are making it hard to firewall internet traffic originating from the operating system. It’s outright evil.
Get rid of everything that messes with your privacy.
Get rid of everything that is “always on”
What if you don’t want an “always on” processor, let alone an “always online” one? Don’t use battery-operated devices.
Get something that has an off switch. Something that is really off when it is not in active use.
Get rid of everything you cannot understand
Good things can be understood. Not just how to operate them at their surface, but how they work.
Get rid of anything you cannot figure out how it works on the inside, if you like to.
I you are like me, you want to get tasks done with high efficiency, speed, and control. The desktop metaphor is ideal for this.
The mouse is your friend. The file system is your friend. The global menu is your friend. They can make your life easy! Don’t treat them as your enemies but embrace them. Let’s bring back the original simplicity of the desktop.
Un-bloat the desktop. Throw everything out that makes it cluttered, distractive, and encumbered. Notifications, ads, launchers, app stores, DRM , “always on” stuff — all that cruft that has no place on the desktop.
Less, but better!
Check out helloSystem. It is a desktop system for creators with focus on simplicity, elegance, and usability. Its design follows the “Less, but better” philosophy. It is intended as a system for “mere mortals”, welcoming to switchers from the Mac. FreeBSD is used as the core operating system.
Right now, it is beginning to materialize from the idea stage.
Want to collaborate? This is a small, purely volunteer-driven project, so your contributions are highly welcome. Check out https://hellosystem.github.io/docs/developer/contributing to get started.
Say hello!
probono is the founder and lead developer of helloSystem, the AppImage project, and a contributor to various open source projects. Screenshots were made on helloSystem booted from USB.
