Re: Big-time Rant of the N800
 

so everything that has been said beforehand is now null and void? nokia dont need to do a thing? cos now this is being hijacked by backpating and choir.

tthere are real issues her that are being hilighted. dont take one misguided comment and base a whole retort on it, thus stifling the serious comments.

also, quit comparing to ms. i know its hard for the linux community take a stab or two, but we arent talking about them now. doesnt help to make comments like "if u dont like it gtfo and go unhappy with winmo"......it doesnt help at all.


lets be civil about this and get back on point.

Re: Big-time Rant of the N800
 

Not sad. Actually I am much happier now than back in the day, when I would spend weeks at a time on a 16 hour a day coding jag.

I could get very comfortable doing all the Unix/linux command line stuff again, as I was in 1975 when I wrote the first full screen editor for Unix. Before your time, no doubt.

It's just that there are only so many hours in the day, and at this point in my life I have other priorities for them than climbing the learning curve and hacking around in yet another system environment, even one I knew in its original incarnation.

It's already taken more hours than it should have to get my N810 to realize its current fraction of its potential. (And I hope that gets the conversation back on substance.)

Re: Big-time Rant of the N800
 

This addresses my greatest frustration with the tablet, and I mentioned it in the x86 v. ARM thread. The development environment is a hassle, so much so that I haven't even bothered to set it up for the 2008 OS.

Under 2007 I had my tablet running with fvwm and could launch and run any of the apps on the tablet with multiple 'windows.' I could simply move between them to access various apps. I also was able to port any x11 program to my system without 'Hildonizing' it.

However, two things were a problem.

The first was that the web browser does not run like any of the other apps and would not run properly in another window manager AND no other suitable web browser could be ported to the n800.

The second problem, and far more frustrating to me, was the fact that Nokia released the source code for the system under the GPL but IT WAS CORRUPTED AND WAS UNCOMPILABLE. I mentioned this in the developers thread. The modified the window code in order to make sure no pop up windows were blocking, but that caused problems with menus under different window managers.

The n800 is a great little pocket computer, but it is most limited to me because of these issues.

Re: Big-time Rant of the N800
 

Aww, nuts. Like I said, I'm not denying there's a problem. I simply have not had it happen to me, and I was curious as to what others were seeing.

I only brought up the possibility of redesigning GPE Summary--were it the applet that caused the most trouble--because even if the Maemo developers agree with the need for locking applets, it'll likely be several months before Nokia releases another firmware update that might include a fix. I don't follow GPE's development, but I imagine it has to move faster than Maemo's.

Updating third party software to work around deficiencies in a platform isn't unusual, nor is it pretending the deficiencies aren't there. It's simply getting a working solution out to users while you yell at the platform developers.

Re: Big-time Rant of the N800
 

As far as I can remember, I was able to arrange the applets and then, accepting the design, lock them. I always prefers freedom of choice, so better would be lock/unlock option. Common sense.

Re: Big-time Rant of the N800
 

I actually agree. I can't put anything where I want it without significant, frustrating effort.

Seems we traded one devil for another. Back to the drawing board!

Again, agreed. Seems the cure was worse than the cause!

Re: Big-time Rant of the N800
 

Hey, that works 2 ways, ya know!

I hate those choirs with torches and pitchforks...

Re: Big-time Rant of the N800
 

Sometimes I wake up the tablet by touching the screen with my finger. Sometimes I pick it up and inadvertently touch the screen. Sometimes I tap an applet and the stylus skids. Maybe I've gotten used to it, but my applets don't move as often as they used to. But it still happens.

I know, I know:

Patient: "Doctor, it hurts when I do this."
Doctor: "Then don't do that."

But if some people, especially new users, do it, then it does drag down the user experience.

Re: Big-time Rant of the N800
 

I think there are two issues to the current home applet problems:

* Interacting with elements in an applet often cause the applet to move instead (like GPE which has a scrollbar)

* Accidental input, such as a tap on an item being registered as a drag instead

I don't know who complained about the lock mode -- I preferred it, actually -- but I totally agree with Rebski. It's why something as common as accidental input becomes a problem, because it's irritating to try to fix the placement/size of the applet if the system won't take your settings exactly.

FWIW, the original lock problems had to do with the model of editing and committing/canceling. It would have better to have made locked-or-unlocked a selectable state of the Home screen at all times, just like the browser's "Fit width to view" setting.

Re: Big-time Rant of the N800
 

Hm, I have yet to upgrade to OS2008.. I'll wait for the next release. But from what I read above the new desktop applet adjustment mechanism sounds awful.. If people have complained about the locked-down applets I really wonder what they were complaining about - it was of course perfectly possible (and very easy) to manipulate the applets also in OS2007 (the only issue I have with it is that in particular the Nokia-provided applets can't be size-reduced any way I want).

So, I agree with texrat, bilofsky and akd. And I also sometimes wake up the tablet exactly as bilofsky described above.