Date: Fri, 05 Feb 1999 20:30:52 +0100 (CET) From: Jeroen Ruigrok/Asmodai <asmodai@wxs.nl> To: Sue Blake <sue@welearn.com.au> Cc: advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Is there a reseller program? Message-ID: <XFMail.990205203052.asmodai@wxs.nl> In-Reply-To: <19990205203316.19436@welearn.com.au>
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On 05-Feb-99 Sue Blake wrote: > On Fri, Feb 05, 1999 at 07:29:57AM +0100, Jeroen Ruigrok/Asmodai wrote: >> But then we hit a major issue, I use GUI because I prefer to see >> consoles (xterms) in a more ordered fashion to enhance my command line >> work. How will newbies with all these GUI admin tools handle themselves? > > They might come to assume that they can do everything by GUI and resent > any commandline work. Ouch. Heh, not if we present a GUI with only two xterms ;) >> The strength of Unix still lies in CLI, which can be extended with >> GUI. Then again, I might be worrying too much, I am just basing this >> on some older Linux admin stuff I have seen which automatically >> filled in some defaults for options even when one only changed a >> single parameter. >> >> I do say that having a GUI work environment lowers the doorstep, but >> only for a few secs, because the user is still confronted with CLI's ;) > > ...because it only makes it easy for simple jobs that don't require > much knowledge or understanding before decisions can be made. Ahhh, that's why those NT boxes keep crashing over at work =P > If we do want to cater to GUI-addicted new unix users (and that's a big > if), here's someone who has had to work through many of the same issues > already and been open minded enough to find a workable solution. In > doing so he demonstrates simultaneously the inadequacy of GUI for many > everyday unix tools, and also its potential when called upon to do only > what GUI does well. Well afaics Unix will always remain primary CLI. As I stated I merely use X and the windowmanagers to have multiple xterms next to each other to heighten the use of IDE's and such. I don't think we want to obfuscate the real OS by using GUI's. IMHO they are meant to be a method to further enhance the total experience. When I came to FreeBSD from Windows 95 (having used Solaris, NT, Amiga, Mac before that) I just had to know things about my computer I knew, but not quite, if ye understand me. Trying to uncover everything that's inside is leading me on a way to knowledge that will serve me well in years to come. As far as the desktop goes, in my understanding it's merely what I proposed/said earlier, to ease entry into FreeBSD, but it will still make it necessary for the user to read. If ye have suggestion as to make it evident to the user that they need to be bothered to actually try to understand what the computer is trying to `say' through the programs, then I'm all ears. There is just one category of people we can never help: the lazy ones. We cannot lead someone by their hand all the time as much as telling them whenever we spot an e-mail that tends to look like number 4564 in category `how to use my zip with FreeBSD' to read the FAQ or handbook without making sure they really need to know that or something very directly associated. Man, I am rambling off again ;) --- Jeroen Ruigrok van der Werven It's a Dance of Energy, asmodai(at)wxs.nl when the Mind goes Binary... Network/Security Specialist <http://home.wxs.nl/~asmodai>; *BSD: Powered by Knowledge & Know-how <http://www.freebsd.org>; To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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