Posted by: Anonymous Coward
on March 02, 2004 10:20 AM
Just right. Writing a 'task-oriented' UI can easily result in orders of magnitude more code than just addressing the problem at hand as directly as possible. It is the MS Windows approach 'we know best' approach, vs. the toolbox full of tools approach of *nix. It obscures the actual operation of things from people who *do* understand how things work, and increases the probability of introducing bugs.
I don't care whether or not Aunt Tillie can circumnavigate my server room, which is where CUPS belongs. We are not talking about end user desktop software here, despite the fact that distributions put it there. They do so for lack of an alternative. What does 'The Cathedral and the Bazaar' have to say about these things. If you have an itch, ???
And why doesn't anyone ever allow Aunt Tillie to speak for herself? I don't see Aunt Tillie complaining. What does Aunt Tillie do now? (Hint: her nephews are the only ones you see posting...)
Eric, you're a fine man, but have the same proclivity to rant as most any other geek. This is an interesting discussion, for the issues it raises, but not much more.
Among other things, it promotes one of the computer industries biggest misconceptions: that computers will make our lives easier. They won't. That is not to say that *in detail* they can make things easier - printing could be made easier for example. But in the aggregate, there will always be more to do, more problems to overcome. One hurdle only exposes the next. The mechanization of farming did not make farming easier. There are fewer farmers working as hard as they ever have.
Maybe Aunt Tillie's career does not involve computers. Great. Then identify what Aunt Tillie really wants - sharing recipies perhaps - and give her something to help her do that. But don't be handing out more and more powerful general computing devices, and then complain that they are complicated.
That's not to say that useability improvements aren't necessary or warrented, either. That would be completely missing the point. The point is that it's an endless effort. The FOSS community is making great progress. How would Aunt Tillie like installing circa 1990's slackware? There's nothing wrong with complaining now and then, but let's not make out like we've encountered something profound here. You're noticing the grain of sand in your eye, and forgetting that you're an otherwise healthy specimen, and getting stronger all the time.
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Exactly so
Posted by: Anonymous Coward on March 02, 2004 10:20 AMI don't care whether or not Aunt Tillie can circumnavigate my server room, which is where CUPS belongs. We are not talking about end user desktop software here, despite the fact that distributions put it there. They do so for lack of an alternative. What does 'The Cathedral and the Bazaar' have to say about these things. If you have an itch, ???
And why doesn't anyone ever allow Aunt Tillie to speak for herself? I don't see Aunt Tillie complaining. What does Aunt Tillie do now? (Hint: her nephews are the only ones you see posting...)
Eric, you're a fine man, but have the same proclivity to rant as most any other geek. This is an interesting discussion, for the issues it raises, but not much more.
Among other things, it promotes one of the computer industries biggest misconceptions: that computers will make our lives easier. They won't. That is not to say that *in detail* they can make things easier - printing could be made easier for example. But in the aggregate, there will always be more to do, more problems to overcome. One hurdle only exposes the next. The mechanization of farming did not make farming easier. There are fewer farmers working as hard as they ever have.
Maybe Aunt Tillie's career does not involve computers. Great. Then identify what Aunt Tillie really wants - sharing recipies perhaps - and give her something to help her do that. But don't be handing out more and more powerful general computing devices, and then complain that they are complicated.
That's not to say that useability improvements aren't necessary or warrented, either. That would be completely missing the point. The point is that it's an endless effort. The FOSS community is making great progress. How would Aunt Tillie like installing circa 1990's slackware? There's nothing wrong with complaining now and then, but let's not make out like we've encountered something profound here. You're noticing the grain of sand in your eye, and forgetting that you're an otherwise healthy specimen, and getting stronger all the time.
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