this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2025
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    They'll cast you back to the Windows realm with all their toxic might (discuss.tchncs.de)
    submitted 2 days ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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    [–] [email protected] 37 points 2 days ago (44 children)

    A true mainstream Linux distro would need guidelines like this:

    • The user is never be expected to type a command into a terminal.
    • The user is never be expected to edit a configuration file.
    • There is a graphical UI for every possible action the user might want to (or have to) do.

    This especially includes:

    • Configuring audio devices
    • Installing graphics drivers
    • Updating the operating system
    • Managing applications and storage space
    • Connecting to networked storage
    • Adjusting kernel parameters (This is neccessary on certain hardware, yet, barely any distro has a graphical UI for it.)

    The only distro that comes close to this is Linux Mint, but not even Mint covers everything I just mentioned.

    If we want Linux to succeed, there needs to be at least one distro that confidently ships without a terminal.

    [–] [email protected] 7 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (3 children)

    Seriously - Linux needs a standardized config schema spec. Something that programs should provide which an application can read and provide a frontend interface for the users to adjust config files.

    Could be something like:

    schema_version: 1.0
application:
  name: Poo Analyzer
  icon_path: /etc/pooanalyzer/images/icon.png
  description: Analyzes photos of poo
schema:
  - config_file:
      path: /etc/pooanalyzer/conf/poo.conf
      conf_type: ini
    configs:
      - field: poo_directory
        type: dir_path
        name: Poo Image Directory
        description: Directory of Poo Images
        icon_path: /etc/pooanalyzer/images/poo.png
      - field: poo_type
        type: list
        name: Poo Types
        description: Types of Poo to Analyze 
        values:
          - dog
          - cat
          - human
          - brown bear
        icon_path: /etc/pooanalyzer/images/animal.png
          ...

    Any distro could then create any frontend they'd like to manage this - the user could even install their own.

    [–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

    Ever heard of xdg?

    [–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

    This particular program would work great in combination with old school German/Dutch toilets with the poop shelf, take a pic after the deed and let the program tell you how you need to adjust your diet.

    [–] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

    I agree and disagree.

    The premise is solid: unify config so it's standardized and machine parse-able for better integrations like an easier-to-build UI/UX. It could even have ramifications for cloud-init and older IaC tech like Puppet.

    The problem is Linux itself. Or rather, the subsystems that are cobbled together to make Linux a viable OS. You're not going to get all the different projects to pivot to a common config scheme, so this YAML standard would need a backend to convert to/from whatever each little deamon and driver requires. This creates a few secondary problems like community backlash (see systemd), and having multiple places where config data must be actively synchronized.

    I think the current crop of GUI config systems are aleady well down the most pragmatic path: each config panel touches one or more standard config files, wherever they are, and however they are structured. It's not pretty under the hood, and it's complicated, but it works. These tools just need a lot more polish on the frontend.

    [–] [email protected] 2 points 1 day ago

    They could still use whatever config format they wanted - this would just be for providing their config schema. It also doesn't need to be YAML, that's just the easiest one for me to type on my phone. In fact, I think most schema validation programs rely on JSON as it is.

    I also don't think programs should be required to provide it. Many core programs and kernel modules would likely take years if they ever were able to add it just to avoid the risk of mistakes causing any major issues, especially if they haven't needed an update in years. There are also many config files that use their own nonstandardized schema. A possibility is that they could be allowed to provide a CLI tool which could update the config or they could just ignore it entirely.

    But creating a common schema for... well, the config schema would make it easier for systems to provide a frontend interface for updating your configs.

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