Date: Wed, 05 Jun 1996 12:40:22 -0700 From: "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@time.cdrom.com> To: John Fieber <jfieber@indiana.edu> Cc: Keith Bostic <bostic@bsdi.com>, current@freebsd.org, jhs@freebsd.org, terry@lambert.org Subject: Re: editors Message-ID: <26319.834003622@time.cdrom.com> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Wed, 05 Jun 1996 09:37:03 CDT." <Pine.NEB.3.93.960605092442.422d-100000@Fieber-John.campusview.indiana.edu>
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> Maybe what is needed is a single system wide agent that monitors > a user's skill level and serves as an advisor to the help systems > in individual applications. Agent says to vi: Well, I think this is an interesting idea but about 10 steps removed from the one we'd take next. :-) There's no point in having an intelligent agent with all the powers of a HAL 9000 at its command to determine what setting to notch "skill level" at when the skill level for UNIX is locked at "hacker and above." We have nothing to offer the novice so the point of an intelligent selection agent is somewhat moot. Again, the way in which tools document themselves or even point back at their source code if you ask them nicely is *entirely separate* from how you tweak them into "friendly mode." You're busily arguing about the shape of the steering wheel for the car, I'm saying that we probably should first do something about the fact that there are no roads to drive it on and only a set of train tracks available, rendering the steering wheel option rather useless anyway. :-) Jordan
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