From owner-freebsd-hackers Fri Apr 12 13:49:21 1996 Return-Path: owner-hackers Received: (from root@localhost) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.3/8.7.3) id NAA18402 for hackers-outgoing; Fri, 12 Apr 1996 13:49:21 -0700 (PDT) Received: from phaeton.artisoft.com (phaeton.Artisoft.COM [198.17.250.211]) by freefall.freebsd.org (8.7.3/8.7.3) with SMTP id NAA18379 for ; Fri, 12 Apr 1996 13:49:16 -0700 (PDT) Received: (from terry@localhost) by phaeton.artisoft.com (8.6.11/8.6.9) id NAA02387; Fri, 12 Apr 1996 13:44:33 -0700 From: Terry Lambert Message-Id: <199604122044.NAA02387@phaeton.artisoft.com> Subject: Re: Lesstif (motif compatible) package. To: narvi@haldjas.folklore.ee (Narvi) Date: Fri, 12 Apr 1996 13:44:33 -0700 (MST) Cc: terry@lambert.org, jkh@time.cdrom.com, alk@Think.COM, hackers@freefall.freebsd.org In-Reply-To: from "Narvi" at Apr 12, 96 10:49:16 am X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4 PL24] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk > > > I know, you're now going to come back with the argument that one can > > > trivially write a blah blah blah widget in Motif (probably using the > > > word "virtualize" at least once :-) but that's not the point - I don't > > > WANT to have to write custom frobs for Motif each time I want to > > > display a triangular button or a flipping-page widget or whatever, nor > > > do I want to have to reinvent the generalized canvas widget there. > > > > Wrongo. I'm going to say that using custom frobs is bad, and that > > if you need a triangular button, your user interface design is bad. > > If you succeed in creating your little triangle, where in the users > > previous training does the information on how to use it come from? > > No. Triangular (and round and square) buttons are all the same. In some > places the triangular ones should be used (in an application which > presents the user with a real world like remote control thingy?). What do > you think the scrollbar buttons have arrows on them? > > I don't think a triangular button makes the usage any harder if it used > it in a place which wins from it. Those places are where they are analogs to existung real-word controls, and there aren't that many places where an aleegorical interface is useful. This goes back to my other question -- what does a physical instead of a software word processor look like, such that you could design the software version s an analog? Most of the problems solved in software are *only* solved in software, and have *no* real world analogs. Terry Lambert terry@lambert.org --- Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present or previous employers.