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Comment Re:Finally! (Score 1) 222

GNOME 1.x was really great. It was fairly configurable while still being relatively easy to use and did what I (as a developer) needed. Current day GNOME looks like it borrows from the worst of Windows (the stuff even the Windows folks don't even like), and only recently adopted a few things that the Mac does (possibly because Windows copied some of it) but in some weird way that lost all of the intent behind the actions. So we end up with something that's simple but still not understandable because it's confusing and weird, and consequently useless to just about everyone. I managed to get by fortunately because they had an alternate window manager that was a bit more traditional.

Don't get me wrong, I still think the Linux community is amazing and love the fact that it all exists. But for GUI, not only have they lost sight of the Unix Philosophy, they also don't really have a good view of who their /actual/ users are.

Comment Design goals (Score 1) 47

Before designing a system you want to know which problems are solved ('why?') and they must be tangible. Here are some aspects that would be nice to solve: code reuse is nice to save time, reducing bugs, testability, security, stability, high availability, maintainability... Not all problems are solved well in humans.

Comment Why? (Score 1) 192

Why do you give status updates? What does it tell them? Nothing. That is why they are so bored.

What they really need to be able to do is 'manage'. Giving them status updates (about service levels) are not the information they are looking for. Managing is about achieving a goal having certain risks and costs. Your goal is having happy customers about the service you provide. Even though that is formalized through SLAs, that will never be why a customer stays or goes.

The reason that it is difficult to tell anything about the 'process' 'providing service' is because it is a very undefined business process requiring skills on all sorts of areas. I prefer to say something about the aspects of the process. These may include e.g.: security management, incident management, hardware management, external supplier management, hr management, personnel knowledge management, building management, computer system management, release management, ... You notice that I put the word management behind every aspect. That is because all these aspects require activity on your part (and choices are to be made). Choose your aspects in a practical manner (lets say between 20 and 30 items).

The next thing is that you identify the following for every aspect: You describe shortly the current situation (e.g. operating system mgmt: We are running Debian Wheezy with automatic updates on wednesday because that is our service maintenance window. Sometimes packages are necessary from upstream). You describe the 'ideal situation' (e.g. for personnel knowledge mgmt: We would like all tasks to be able to be completed by two persons because people have holidays or may be sick. We have weekly knowledge sessions). You describe already known issues that need to be fixed. And lastly you give a grade: 1-5 if this aspect is a risk getting you goal achieved and 6-10 if you are (firmly) in control of the aspect. Remember: A 10 is probably a waste of money and other resources.

If you covered your area well, described all relevant aspects, you will then get something new: You are able to identify the largest risks (even if they did not go wrong) and unique selling points. In 9 out of 10 cases you will realize you are far from done with your work. In the 10th case you realize you can do your job with fewer people. When you have identified your aspects you should (partly) report on that.

Btw A great marketeer once held this speech. Since you are presenting something you should know a little about marketing (which is about making people enthousiastic).

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