GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 543474
"Mirror Screens" string confusing
Last modified: 2009-04-11 14:30:13 UTC
IMHO, the term "mirror" often implies some sort of axial symetry. I wonder if it is really accurate here. There is another string that says "Cloned Output" (xrandr-capplet.c:1286). Should we stick with Clone/Cloned? As I'm not a native English speaker, it's a little difficult for me to suggest a good replacement string. CC'd Shaun, my favorite language expert :-)
Note that "Cloned Output" is no longer mentioned. We use "Mirror Screens" throughout.
That's a tough one. Claude, I take your point about the term "mirror". One could reasonably imagine a user thinking one screen would be like the other, except flipped horizontally. I'm not saying any real users are confused. I'm just saying I wouldn't think a person an idiot if that were his expectation. Whether any real users are confused about the terminology would require user testing. The term "mirror" is used frequently in the computer industry to mean "exact copy", but that's perhaps geek lingo. The term "cloned" doesn't sit right with me. I don't know why. It sounds like technobabble. What do other systems (Windows, Mac, KDE) use? If there's a term that's pervasive in the industry, we should use it. Otherwise, I think "mirror" is the best we've got. I'm not sure how often the term is used. If it's just the check box, maybe it should say something more explanatory. If it's used elsewhere, there's value in using the term in the check box as well. If users find it confusing or not as informative as it could be (not unlikely), I don't see any reason the check box couldn't have a one-line hint under it explaining what it does.
It's true that in computing "mirror" is often used as "identical copy" (mirror site, mirror servers) but this is generally related to data. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_(disambiguation) From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-monitor : "Initially on PCs, the multiple output interface was designed to display the same image on all output interfaces (sometimes referred to as mirroring or cloning)." As long as the same term is used consistently throughout the desktop, I won't mind to close this bug as a WONTFIX.
OK, closing. Please reopen if you come up with a better term :)
I just tried out Ubuntu 9-04 beta and stumbled over this option. I am a long time Linux user and was extremely confused by this wording. I don't think I am an idiot but my first thoughts were exactly "Why the hell would anybody want to mirror his/her screen? May for backlight projectors...?". I am using GNOME with the de_CH locale and the German translation of mirror (Spiegel) is even stronger connected to a tool mostly used for fixing your make-up but nobody, really *nobody* here would use this word for computer monitors/screens. English always has fife words for the same thing. Please choose one with a little bit less confusion. How about "duplicate" or "double" instead of "mirror"?