Miles Lane wrote:
It's a bigger issue of empowering users. It is a pattern of limiting user control in favor of developer control. It is the dumbing down of the UI to prevent users "running with scissors." Guess what, most Linux users know how to use scissors safely. Sure, I want Linux to succeed in the world of computer Newbies, but just give me the option to enable more advanced settings and I will be perfectly happy.
It's too bad that GNOME is the only desktop environment out there, and thus must suit everyone. That's exactly the reason why they have been slapped with monopoly charges -- for repeatedly taking away choice from their users who have no alternatives to turn to. At least they have been good about full refunds, otherwise it would be nothing short of racketeering.
Not that it really matters for the sake of argument, but Linus Torvalds has similar concerns about Gnome. He a pretty reasonable guy, fwiw.
Linus is an excellent kernel developer, but not god. He's not even pope. His opinions on things other than kernel development, while welcomed, carry exactly as much weight as anyone else's.