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Who is the target user?

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KDE

As a teenager, I played a lot of Vampire the Masquerade (VtM)–a tabletop role-playing game. One of the skills in which your character could become experienced was Computers, with ability measured from 0 to 5 dots...

This little table has stayed with me over time. As simple and crude as it is, I think it provides a reasonable measurement scale that can be used to guide software development: you need to decide how many dots in Computers a user must have before they can use your software, which helps you organize the user interface and prioritize features.

My sense is that currently most Linux-based software targets people with three dots in Computers or more, but is often usable for people with two dots. My wife is a solidly two-dot user who is happily using KDE Neon as her distro.

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Also: A Call For KDE To Fully Embrace Simplicity By Default, Appeal To More Novice Users

KDE developer suggests Plasma needs to be simpler by default

  • KDE developer suggests Plasma needs to be simpler by default

    KDE developer Nate Graham, the same person who recently said they may become the "Windows or Android" of the FOSS world is back again with more thoughts - this time about keeping it simple.

    The Plasma desktop is pretty darn powerful, that's for sure and it has a massive amount of customization options for practically every little thing. For many people this is great, however it can also have a detrimental affect on the experience by new users and users less comfortable with computing. So what's the answer? Graham thinks they need to keep things simpler out of the box.

In OS News

  • KDE developer urges KDE to embrace simplicity by default, without removing features – OSnews

    Nate Graham, KDE developer, is arguing that KDE needs simpler defaults – without losing the customisability that makes KDE, well, KDE. I think this is a good goal – especially since many distributions can opt for different defaults anyway. KDE is an amazing collection of software, but there’s no denying its plethora of options and customisation can also be intimidating and a little bit overwhelming, even for experienced users such as myself.

Simpler applications to attract more users?

  • Simpler applications to attract more users?

    A few days ago, the KDE developer Nate Graham wrote an article that gave a lot to talk about and that is worth recovering, whose subject could be summarized in the idea that is reflected in the headline: Could making KDE software simpler attract more users? These types of reflections never hurt and the case at hand has its point, because as you know, KDE has always been accused of being bloated in terms of options and, therefore, of being more complicated for the newcomer.

    By KDE software we mean everything, including the KDE Plasma desktop, its accompanying applications, and all other components; and by Nate Graham we mean the person who keeps us promptly informed with his This week in KDE, in addition to contributing to many other technical issues with special attention generally to the user experience, one of the most delicate vectors when we talk about free software. However, on this occasion I think he has missed the mark, so I am going to give my opinion on it, although in no case is it a reply, but rather to complement the reflection and at most open debate.

    First, his, which he develops in this article Y this other, emerged the last of the comments raised by the first. Summing up the story, Graham says that the percentage of advanced users capable of using what he calls complicated applications is very tight and KDE as a project cannot turn its back on what is a majority user base. But let’s start at the beginning.

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