Re: Where is Debian going?
On Jul 14, 2002 at 08:13 -0500, Jamin W. Collins wrote:
>
> > Learning a new iterface isn't terribly difficult.
I really have to disagree with this statement. At least for the users
I've observed (including myself and many hard-core professional
programmers). In my experience, the first thing most programmers do
when confronted with a fresh machine is configure the editor and UI so
that it resembles what they're most familiar with. Learning a new
interface gets in the way of doing productive work.
> > Microsoft best demonstrated this fact. Win3.1 works drastically
> > different from Win95, which works diffirently from 98, which works
> > differently from XP. Even Windows users demonstrate thier ability
> > to learn a new interface every time they upgrade on the Microsoft
> > path.
One of the things I'll give MS props for is their extensive usability
testing. They don't let their hackers just sit around and dream up
cool interface tricks; they actually run controlled scientific studies
of Joe User. Everything from MS after around Win95 has had an
excellent and easy-to-use surface interface, IMHO, better than every
other contemporary and prior system besides the Mac.
Now, aside from disliking their politics, I also personally find that
their actual OS's suck, and excessive GUI centrism annoying; I almost
never touch the mouse, and prefer to use a GUI desktop (on any
platform) as a way to open a bunch of bash terminals at the same time.
But I'm also pleased when there's an easy GUI interface to something I
don't use very often (like a debugger on an unfamiliar platform, or
word-processing, or whatever), because it's easier (and quicker!) to
fumble through for very occasional use.
> Users need to acquire (or be given) a basic understanding of how
> their system works and why. This is a fundamental part of changing
> them from a conditioned response monkey to a productive user.
I'm not going to disagree with that; I'll only observe that rather
than always moving the user to the mountain, it's also possible to
move the mountain a little closer to the user. Most users have other
things on their minds besides learning a new window manager. They
have jobs to do, places to be, thoughts to think. If they can learn
on the fly, gradually, in an interactive way, so much the better.
--
Thatcher Ulrich
http://tulrich.com
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