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From: jdege@jdege.visi.com (Jeffrey C. Dege)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.linux.networking,comp.os.linux.setup,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.unix.bsd.misc,comp.os.ms-windows.nt.advocacy
Subject: Re: Betting on Unix
Date: 15 Mar 1997 14:41:44 GMT
Organization: As little as possible
Lines: 40
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On Sat, 15 Mar 1997 08:00:18 GMT, Bob Young <rkyoung@flash.net> wrote:
>tuoppi@stekt.oulu.fi (Tuomas Haarala) wrote:
>
>>Leslie Mikesell (les@MCS.COM) wrote:
>> Most of the trouble with these "wysiwyg"-programs is that
>> that you can see what you've managed to do, but you don't
>> have a slightest idea how to get what you want. (Of course,
>> in time you will adapt and stop demanding so much..)
>
>ROTFL. There it is, the slogan to take us into the next century;
> "Adapt - Demand less of your software!"
I don't see it as demanding less, but demanding the appropriate tools
for the task.
The fundamental characteristic of wysiwyg systems is that you get to
where you want to go by manipulating the system, with constant feedback as
you go along. This is a very powerful technique, and is appropriate for
most computing tasks. The problem is that there are certain tasks that
it isn't suited for. Programming, for example, system administration,
etc., and other technical tasks better served by _specifying_ what you
want, in such a way that the process is fully repeatable without further
human intervention.
If I want a set of installation disks for a specific version of a piece
of software, I type ``cvs checkout -rVER_2_1 foobar'', then ``make
install'', and everything happens exactly the same way it did before.
I _don't_ want to make choices as I go along, I don't want to _have_
choices as I go along. The choices have already been made.
That doesn't mean that it can't have a point-and-click interface,
but it _cannot_, by its very nature, have a evolutionary, do-a-bit,
see-where-you-are, do-a-bit-more mechanism. The process must be fully
specified in advance.
--
The Windows API has done more to retard skill development
than anything since COBOL maintenance.
--Larry O'Brien