Re: Help!

[Paul E Condon <pecondon@mesanetworks.net>]

On Thu, Sep 08, 2005 at 08:25:29AM -0400, David Clymer wrote:
> On Wed, 2005-09-07 at 08:14 -0400, Stephen R Laniel wrote:
> > On Tue, Sep 06, 2005 at 06:43:16PM +0100, Jon Dowland wrote:
> > > We've had a lot of these queries recently. Does that suggest the
> > > installation process needs to be adjusted slightly, to combat the
> > > assumption a GUI environment is installed by default? Or should we be
> > > pushing for people to read the installation docs before going ahead with
> > > it?
> > 
> > I don't think people should ever have to read documents in
> > order to use a product. Requiring people to read the docs
> > suggests that the product itself isn't designed well enough
> > that it explains its own usage. And it allows programmers
> > the luxury of being lazy in their UI design. We should
> > assume that people won't read the docs, and build our
> > products with that assumption in mind.
> > 
> 
> Well put.
> 

For some products, Stephen's position is simply silly. Consider,
for example, a Boeing 747. Another example is a C compiler.
There are many more. Too many to list, and more than I could
possible even know about. In general, the world is larger and
more complicated than any of us know. 


-- 
Paul E Condon           
pecondon@mesanetworks.net