Date: Sun, 28 Sep 1997 16:22:56 +0200 From: Peter Korsten <peter@grendel.IAEhv.nl> To: FreeBSD Chat <chat@FreeBSD.ORG> Subject: Re: Microsoft brainrot (was: r-cmds and DNS and /etc/host.conf) Message-ID: <19970928162256.26698@grendel.IAEhv.nl> In-Reply-To: <19970928101941.03210@lemis.com>; from Greg Lehey on Sun, Sep 28, 1997 at 10:19:41AM %2B0930 References: <19970927143934.ZN26834@uriah.heep.sax.de> <199709272127.OAA11524@usr08.primenet.com> <19970928101941.03210@lemis.com>
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Greg Lehey shared with us:
> (following up to -chat)
> On Sat, Sep 27, 1997 at 09:27:02PM +0000, Terry Lambert wrote:
> >> Why do it if the basic nameserver setup takes about 10 minutes? (No,
> >> not the caching-only server, this one only takes a couple of minutes.)
> >
> > Each. Time.
>
> How do you find out your configuration with this horrible,
> complicated, you-only-see-as-much-at-a-time-as-I-want-to-show-
> you-and-make-sure-you-keep-alternating-from-keyboard-to-mouse Motif
> application once you have entered your initial configuration?
You know, a rowing boat has a far more clear interface than a 747.
You pull the oars, the thing moves. Nothing is hidden behind knobs
and sliders and flashing lights. But which do you prefer to cross
the Atlantic? Not everyone is a pilot and still you might want to
get to the other side.
User interfaces _have_ developed since the introduction of the CRT,
which basically still is the level that Unix is at. At the moment,
when we're talking about user interfaces, we're talking about a
display, a mouse and a keyboard. We don't use sound and the mouse
doesn't give feedback about what's happening on the screen.
With this set, the most easy interface we have isn't a command line
that you could run over a teletype (like anybody would still use
that), it isn't all those dialog boxes of Windows, it's the browser
(Jordan already pointed towards a link). That's the big ommision
of Java. With Java, you can write applications like we already had
in the mid eighties. You can put an applet in a browser, but it
doesn't really interact with the rest of the page. JavaScript is
better at this - though the implemention is far from ideal.
(Note that a browser is also ultimately customizable.)
If you look at Joe Sixpack with his little PC and some of MS's
operating systems, setting the thing up is fairly easy. If you use
off-the-shelve parts, setting up Windows 95 is within reach of most
people. But the trouble start when he wants to connect to his ISP.
Why does he have to setup name servers and gateways and mail servers
and proxy servers and god knows what, when the only things that
really matter are perhaps the phone number (when you don't have a
direct connection) and some means of authorisation? He isn't going
to call another ISP and there's just the line between him and the
ISP. There's only _one_ possible mail server, _one_ possible proxy
server, etc.
The answer is, because there's a reciprocal relationship between
the ease of programming and the ease of using an application. The
easier an application is to use, the more difficult it is to write.
The ideal way of administrating a network would be to have a
graphical representation of it, with lines indication connections.
You really shouldn't have to worry about things like DNS, TCP/IP,
or whatever. Let the computer decide that for itself.
Like I said, it's hard (and now I'm using an understatement) to
implement. If you have limited resources like FreeBSD, you'll keep
to the easiest implementation. If you have more than enough resources
and criminally high profits like our friends in Redmond, WA, you
can make a nice attempt at a GUI.
Watch out for Windows 98, where browser and desktop are one (if I
understand it well). It could well be a first step into the direction
that user interfaces are heading.
- Peter
P.S. Speaking of cars, now _that's_ a user interface that really
sucks. To get it moving, you release one pedal with your foot
while pushing another one down. If you want to stop, you push
down a third pedal and, at the right time, also push down the
first. If you don't do it right, your cars stops and you have
to restart it. Couldn't they have invented something less
braindead in the last 100 years? A sidestick and drive-by-wire?
(I know, planes and motorcycles have an even more stupid UI.)
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