Re: Clueless users are bad for debian (was Let's CENSOR it!)
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On Thu, 25 Mar 1999 18:27:57 -0500, Andrew Pimlott wrote:
>is to figure out how to make software that offers the power you're used to
>without being the gosh darn pain-in-the-butt that Unix has always been.
Unix? Maybe. Debian? Never. Pain-in-the-butt is working in a 'nix
environment like Debian's and then going to something else.
>Most Unix software was designed with minimal attention to usability. No, I
>don't mean superficial beginner-friendliness; I mean usability even for
>advanced users. Sure, you're a hell of a lot more productive using Unix
>software than Windows software, but that's not saying much. How often do
>you curse Unix programs for failing to offer reasonable defaults, or not
>explaining what they're doing, or making you hunt all over to find the cause
>of a simple error? The signature below is a propos. (jwz's rants are good
>in general--find his unix-haters posts.)
Maybes less than 5% of the time that I bitch about Windows or Mac
software which does the same thing except offers no way to find out what the
problem is and, many times, no way to fix it, either. At least with Unix
I'm 95% certain that it is *my* fault that something is munged.
>Think about programs that let you do what you want without first screaming
>and cursing at them. Debian developers are right to want something easier.
>But that doesn't mean they're going to turn Debian into Windows.
Joe, sc, apache, ncftpd, proftpd, ical, icewm, ispell, listar, ssh, at,
cron, exim, less, lynx, xview, xosview, screen, bitchx, cfingerd, mtr, zicq,
slrn, xanim, zsh, ash, tcsh, splitvt, VNC, snmpd, mrtg, samba, uptimed.
That is about 1/3rd of the programs installed on my machine. The other
set I had problems with the programs themselves and not anything as variable
as defaults. I hate to say it, but defaults are never something to whine
about because no defaults are ever perfect for anyone except for the person
who made them.
Here's my list for Windows: PMMail98, Exceed, Powerbar, Opera.
>If you want help Debian, drop the macho "software has to be hard to be
>powerful" attitude, and figure out how to make more of Debian like the
>package system.
I don't see him having a "macho 'software has to be hard to be
powerful'" attitude. I see it as the same one I have, RTFM! The first
thing anyone should do with a new OS/program/anything is sit down and go
play with the configuration and learn where things *are*.
People who expect to be productive without ever learning how to even
configure the programs they are using are idiots and should not be catered
to. We all hate the computer/program/OS to car analogy but let's put it
this way, would you really cater to people who climb into a car and complain
and bitch about how the car is utterly undrivable because they can't stretch
their legs, can't see over the steering wheel and have a strained back? No.
You'd tell them to adjust the seat and be done with it.
Those are the people that we can safely ignore because they aren't
interesting in anything other than being spoon fed. They find Windows
complex and impossible to use. Note, that is different than geeks which
find Windows simplistic and impossible to use. ;)
I hope you can see the difference I'm trying to make. And if I'm just
reiterating your point, well, oops. Mea culpa, lemme disappear into the
corner.
- --
Steve C. Lamb | I'm your priest, I'm your shrink, I'm your
ICQ: 5107343 | main connection to the switchboard of souls.
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