Basic Desktop Needs

Contents

• 1  Definitions
• 2  Basic desktop needs of a computer literate user
• 3  Working with the desktop environment
• 4  A desktop suitable for Turkish and Turkey
• 5  Information messages
• 6  Applications

1  Definitions

From our point of view, an operating system that meets the basic desktop needs can serve the user with an easy-to-use, configurable and customizable desktop.

Desktop environment is a graphical user interface in which there is data flow and communication between similar interfaces and processes and which can perform drag-and-drop, copy-and-paste features between applications. The desktop environment consists of the menu, the panel and the desktop itself -the place where the icons and shortcuts for files, directories, application launchers and environmental devices exist.

While meeting the basic desktop needs, its desirable for the user not to need the rights of the root user who is the most authorized user in the system.

Another necessity is to meet the basic desktop needs with graphical interfaces. The hardware should be configured automatically; in the cases where user should intervene, the work should be performed with graphical interfaces alone. In a similar sense, the actions to install/remove/update the software should be done via graphical interfaces. The user shouldn't be forced to work with the console (command line) screen for any of their needs.

In addition to those mentioned above, all the applications in Pardus should be using Turkish and UTF-8 as a default language, provided that Pardus is installed Turkish.

As being a GNU/Linux distribution, the software on Pardus should meet any Linux user's needs. For this reason, base system (Unix) tools should appear on the software list, as well.

Along with these definitions, the basic desktop system should be meeting the conditions and supporting the items below.

2  Basic desktop needs of a computer literate user

1. To mount, configure and use basic desktop hardware
   
   The hardware may include¹
   • Any kind of monitor
   • Any kind of keyboard
   • Any kind of mouse
   • Storage devices: floppy disk drive, CDROM/DVD drive, usb storage device, CD-RW/DVD-RW drive
   • Printer (network printers, printers connected via parallel port and usb)
   • Scanner (scanners connected via parallel port and usb)
   • Any kind of dial-up network modem
   • Network card (PCI and usb network cards)
   • Any kind of TV card
   • Infrared and Bluetooth supports

Its preferred that the hardware which is mounted on the PC or on the network is detected and configured automatically.

3  Working with the desktop environment

1. Accessibility to the desired application via the menus
2. Customizable interface
   • Themes
   • Wallpaper
   • Screensaver
   • Fonts
   • Default application choice for file types
3. Configurable panel
4. Shortcuts
5. Drag-and-drop
6. Copy-and-paste between applications
7. Search/Find functions
8. Easy accessibility to the files by means of icons, having the chance to alter the arrangement of the icons/files
9. The chance of setting up date and time
10. The chance of setting up country, region and language

4  A desktop suitable for Turkish and Turkey

Regarding all the interfaces interacting with the user, Turkish support is a must for Pardus. Those interfaces can be classified below.

• Application interfaces
• Menus
• Help files
• System and application messages

Besides, font types which are suitable for a Turkish interface should exist in the system and they should be used as default.

For the distribution software, its imperative that the choises which are suitable for Turkey are made and data such as calendar information is added.

5  Information messages

Messages to inform the user should be free of technical details. Ideally, instead of pointing out the problems in a technical manner, messages should contribute to the solution by means of assistant programs.

6  Applications

The types and characteristics of the applications of the basic desktop system are as below.

1. Internet
   1. Web browser
   2. E-mail client
   3. Instant messaging client
   4. File transfer appliction
   5. Web pages editor
   6. File sharing (on the local network and Internet)
2. Multimedia
   1. CD player
   2. Music player
   3. DVD/VCD/DivX player
   4. Encoder
   5. Picture/graphic viewer
   6. Picture/graphic editor
3. Office
   1. Wordprocessor
   2. Spreadsheet
   3. Presentation program
   4. Address book
   5. Organizer
4. System
   1. Configuration tools
      1. Configuring the hardware (keyboard, mouse, screen dimension/resolution, printer, scanner, modem, tv card, cd writer)
      2. Configuring the software
         1. Install, remove, update
         2. Choosing the default software
      3. Network configuration
         1. Dial-up connection
         2. ADSL/Cable connection
         3. Local network connection
   2. File manager
      1. File manager graphical interface
      2. Creating file and directory easily
      3. Cut, copy, paste, delete, move, rename
      4. Ability to search
      5. Sharing
      6. Ownership and permissions
      7. Archiving and compression
      8. Encoding (pdf -> ps, etc.)
      9. Working with storage devices (floopy disk, CD/DVD, usb disk, CD/DVD writer)
      10. A trash can which is easily accessed from the desktop, storing the items deleted by the file manager and can undo the delete action anytime desired
5. Other
   1. Text editor

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1

Its assumed that the hardware is Linux-compatible. In the list whereever the expression ``any kind'' is used, it stands for ``any kind which can be used with Linux''.