[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread] 

List:       kde-user
Subject:    Re: desktop
From:       Mark Hill <mark.hill () clic ! co ! uk>
Date:       1999-11-15 16:25:46
[Download RAW message or body]

On Mon, 15 Nov 1999, Michael P. Soulier wrote:
> On Mon, Nov 15, 1999 at 07:18:37AM +0100, Frerich Raabe wrote:
> 
> > In the age of GUI's, this advantage is of course no advantage anymore but a
> 
> 	That's something that I think is a shame really. The age of GUIs. GUIs
> are like icing on the cake. They serve a purpose, but except for artistic
> applications such as graphic design and games, I don't believe that they should
> be the primary method of accessing your computer. Why? Plenty of reasons. 
> 	1. They're sitting on top of the real mechanism, and they can break.
> When they do (KDE's broken on me already) you should know the underlying system
> so you can fix it.
> 	2. On large, NFS mounted networks, GUIs are currently unfeasable. I
> tried using one on the LAN at work. The filesystem is totally shared, and the
> GUI (being TkDesk) demanded a great deal of information every time you changed a
> directory, touched a file, etc. In the UNIX shell, you just ask for what you
> need, and so you are constantly optimizing your speed on the network, and not
> bogging it down by requesting the file permissions of every file when you really
> don't care. 
> 	3. And this might go away, but I don't see it happening any time soon,
> you can't rely on that particular GUI being at your next job, your friend's
> computer, the school's network, whatever. I work at home, at work, and at
> school, and all three have different UNIX setups. The only thing that they have
> in common is the shell. 
> 	4. Currently, it doesn't appear that you can do scripting with a GUI.
> Correct me if I'm wrong, but win32 GUIs and even Linux ones don't provide
> facilities for scripting using them. This prevents some very powerful automation
> that is possible in the shell. 
> 
> 	Anyway, enough ranting. I've just always kept a policy of learning the
> underlying system before learning the GUIs on top. Currently, I don't use KDE's
> toys. I don't see the point. I have about 30 aliases in the shell that make
> everything very simple to do, and they're portable from job-site to job-site. I
> just wish everyone would spend the time learning them. I think they're missing
> out.
> 
> 	Mike
> -- 
> Send posts to:  kde-user@lists.netcentral.net
>  Send all commands to:  kde-user-request@lists.netcentral.net
>   Put your command in the SUBJECT of the message:
>    "subscribe", "unsubscribe", "set digest on", or "set digest off"
> 
> All kde mailing lists are archived at http://lists.kde.org
> **********************************************************************
> This list is from your pals at NetCentral <http://www.netcentral.net/>
-- 

You have to remember that in the marvellous days of the GUI that they are there
for several different purposes - mainly for making things look nice ( user
friendly always help! ).

The majority of GUI users do not need to understand the hidden workings of the
OS - which is why the GUI hides them, so to uncomplicate things.  But they
generally also have the extra dimension that enables people who do want and/or
need to know about the underlying systems can get their grubby little mits on
them.  This is good because the people that don't know about the OS are
generally the ones you don't want playing with it - the GUI gives you an extra
safety blanket as such - and anyway that's why we have UNIX and network admins!

For the people that use the machines properly, we generally do get to know the
OS before the GUI, purely for the fact that the GUI is like an extra added
bonus that let's us integrate our work with other people's more easily ( i.e.
office suites, etc. ).

That's my tuppence worth...

Mark

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Hill - Software Engineer, CLi Connect Ltd.
4 Walnut Tree Park, Guildford, Surrey, GU14TR, UK
Email:	mailto:markh@clic.co.uk
SMS:	mailto:my.telephone@sms.genie.co.uk
Tel:	+44(0)1483300200 
Fax:	+44(0)1483461046
WWW:	http://www.clic.co.uk
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Personal
Email:	mailto:mark@electrofunkychicken.co.uk
WWW:	http://www.electrofunkychicken.co.uk
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-- 
Send posts to:  kde-user@lists.netcentral.net
 Send all commands to:  kde-user-request@lists.netcentral.net
  Put your command in the SUBJECT of the message:
   "subscribe", "unsubscribe", "set digest on", or "set digest off"

All kde mailing lists are archived at http://lists.kde.org
**********************************************************************
This list is from your pals at NetCentral <http://www.netcentral.net/>

[prev in list] [next in list] [prev in thread] [next in thread]