On Tue, May 14, 2019 at 12:20:52PM +0100, Patrick Harper wrote: > On Tue, 14 May 2019, at 09:09, ULF wrote: > > If from one side is true that many modern interfaces (mostly M$, though) > > are made for people who know nothing about computing, from one another is > > clear that some good ones (in terms of usability) help the user to keep > > concentrated on his work. > > > > On a mac, on a recent gnome, on a kde, etc. it's easier for a user to keep > > track of multiple jobs without thinking about the OS, but rather thinking > > about contents. It's a matter of fact that computers are mostly used to do > > things that have nothing to do with programming and sysadmin, and also > > developers here must, while programming/administering the machine, maybe > > write a letter to the insurance, browse 20+ pages while looking at a > > calendar (maybe shared) during a phone call, opening the accounting program > > for taxes and so on... > > > > In 2019, doing all of the above with fvwm, twm, (whatever-tiny)wm not only > > feels awkward, but also time consuming and less flexible. The argument that > > one just has to type "command &" is not as valid as just clicking an icon > > when one of your hands is busy holding the phone or a document. > > If one's window manager's configuration file is set up to provide shortcuts > to all relevant applications, then there's no need to use a terminal for that. > > > > > And, btw, let's say it: fvwm looks like 70s/80s, it's full of charm for > > retrocomputing but it's pretty ugly to see in 2019. And many people prefer > > just right clicking on a picture to change background rather than finding > > which config file they gotta change and then change it. Because config > > files are good, but total lack of automatization > > for basic activies is just time consuming, not sexy. Not to speak about > > fonts, icons and, especially, different languages (I mean alphabets) > > managing.... just shifting to a non-latin keyboard becomes hell. > > I think you have a point in there somewhere but I can't find it.
I like retrocomputing. At what point does a society say "we want some things, but not the whole nine yards". Sorta like in Matrix III revolutions where the point is made that some machines (dumbed down) are OK, but high tech self-thinking machines like the "machines" in the matrix are not. We had a split before in western society where a group split from car ownership, and machinery in general. They lasted over 100 years I think. I think we may be nearing a split like that again, as we don't need to wait for the singularity to hit us. We can say "stop" where it's at today, or go back a few years or decades. When I started with UN*X in 1995, it became clear to me that I'd have to sacrifice on the trash games I played. I had to sacrifice on other things too. In a way life is about sacrifices and we don't even miss it when we don't think about what we'd be missing out on. Technology wise I'd like to go a bit further still as I am today but not much further where a computer tells me how to live my life, or even tries to hurt me. If I knew fvwm survived 100 years, that'd be a blessing perhaps? Regards, -peter
