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Comment by netbioserror | Hacker News Reader

Latter NeXTStep feels like the peak of computing UI aesthetic. Maybe the abstractions and metaphors have improved a bit (I do think modern drag-and-drop icon-based file managers are probably an improvement), but everything interactable and non-interactable in those interfaces is crystal clear and unambiguous. Some of the themes I've seen around the Internet are spot-on perfect.

Why did Linux so thoroughly abandon that look? Almost everything that works on Linux theme sites is...flat. FLAT. It's ALL FLAT.

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I have a functioning NeXT Cube on my desk that I’m quite fond of, but I’m afraid I couldn’t disagree more.

The UX feels like a bulky and weird variant of CDE, and I hate CDE.

Icons and widgets consume too much space for no reason, and the entire UI feels complicated and involved for no appreciable benefit.

I still think the pinnacle was BeOS, and that’s because it felt like a refined Mac System 7.

I still use WindowMaker as my primary desktop GUI for Linux/BSD systems. It still holds up and is light on resources. The fact it really isn't updated anymore is a feature in itself.

It doesn't work with Wayland afaik, but I wouldn't consider that a bad thing.

>I do think modern drag-and-drop icon-based file managers are probably an improvement

I largely agree, though using drag and drop with touchpads (or touchscreens) is a bit of a chore, as is with large or multi-monitor setups. Sometimes you have to pre-arrange your windows before you drag and drop or you run the risk of dragging and dropping in the wrong place.

It was so much easier when all you had was 512x342 to work in.

> though using drag and drop with touchpads (or touchscreens) is a bit of a chore

Having been playing a lot of the new Zelda game, I'm now convinced that I should be able to drag-and-drop files by wiggling the mouse randomly around an object until it gets picked up, and then not having to hold anything until I click again to put it down.

> Sometimes you have to pre-arrange your windows before you drag and drop or you run the risk of dragging and dropping in the wrong place.

Stupid pro-tip that nobody should need but here it is anyway: on macOS, you can three-finger-swipe-up with your index+middle+ring finger while "holding" the drag with your thumb, to get into Mission Control; then hover over the correct window for a while, which will close Mission Control and bring that window into focus; and then drop.

> It was so much easier when all you had was 512x342 to work in.

NeXT workstations had 1120×832.

I've used Window Maker on Linux since before my current distro existed.

https://www.windowmaker.org/

It should be in any self-respecting package repository.

Well you could still have GNUstep or WindowMaker if you want to...

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