Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1999 14:49:32 +1100 From: jonathan michaels <jon@caamora.com.au> To: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: A GUI administration tool for FreeBSD Message-ID: <19990109144932.A5652@caamora.com.au> In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.4.05.9901071711020.32166-100000@smarter.than.nu>; from Brian W. Buchanan on Thu, Jan 07, 1999 at 05:23:59PM -0800 References: <4.1.19990107200536.00a21470@genesis.ispace.com> <Pine.BSF.4.05.9901071711020.32166-100000@smarter.than.nu>
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On Thu, Jan 07, 1999 at 05:23:59PM -0800, Brian W. Buchanan wrote: > On Thu, 7 Jan 1999, Drew Baxter wrote: > > > A web solution would be just ducky too.. Wonder if you could run it under > > the XR6.3 Broadway plugin or not.. > > I believe there already is a web-based admin thingy in the ports > collection under sysutils/webmin. I don't particularly like the idea of > using the web to administrate a system for a couple of reasons, though, > and in my opinion, an X11 application is the best way to do it if > we're looking to make it easy for newbies. if this were the case .. then concider a textmode version that relied on getting the basic freebsd woring first. the x windowing system has enough intricasies to make seasoned campainers flinch .. newbies would have an added layer of complexity that would at best befuddle them, at worst turn them off teh idea altogether. textmode interfaces can be made to look just as neat and tidy as x generated stuff, but, withoout the overhead ... not just on the system, but on teh person driving the keynboard most newbies start out on a second computer or one that is not so capable, because they are not just beginers in teh unix universe, but computer beginers as well. at best they are going to have what they can afford based on the information found on thier current version of microsoft windows whatever they are using. > (Well, actually, I like text console tools too, but doing it with a GUI > is more flexible and more "friendly" in many cases.) i disagree .. maybe because i've spent a lifetime making textmode apps look like socalled gui interfaces. > > My basic goals at this point are: > 1) Provide a unified interface for performing common configuration and > administraiton tasks. Try to eliminate the need to hunt down the > configuration file necessary to change something, then hunt down the > documentation for that config file so you know what format your changes > should be in, etc. > 2) Have it easily usable for folks new to FreeBSD, link it in with online > help (manpages, calling up the handbook, etc. in a web browser, etc.) 3) make it east to use by disabeld people, not the ones in wheel chairs that have noting wrong with thier eyes, hand and brains .. but us peoples who struggle with keyboards, screens and stuff because ours eyes and hands and brains have deficiets that makes managing those sort of things difficult at best and crying with frustration, despair at worst. build in font seletion, as well as size, or should i say more importantly. and not sizes like 2 to 8 point but start at 18 and go up to 72 point .. you know like one inch characters. have alternative keyboard usage, and make a sticky key selection, aka ibm os/2 handles the multiple keys required for meta+key or worse still meta+key1+meta+key2 (primary selaection) meta+key3 for final selection. this sort of sequence is annoying for a person with good hand coordination, but for one with neurological deficits ... well, if you had a good imagination. i'm not pounding on teh door to make noises for pc'ing freebsd, rather, i see many good people stuck in bodies most of teh rest of teh planet goes about pretending don't exist. these same crumples living corpses have bright minds and are will to 'serve', only they need a bit of assistance, an even break so to speak. ask yourself 'self, what makes a good admin?' then take a look at the qualities of teh "average" disabled person .. thier are in most cases a lot of very very good correlations. only if teh keyboard were usable, or only if teh screen could be made readable. what a differance it would make to those people, as well as the richness of experience they would be able to bring to the crowd i have called 'the snotty nosed kid brigade' for a long time now .. bearing in mind i was one of these selfsame snotty nosed kids a long time ago. sorry, for the preaching, beging, but when one hasn't much, principles and pride become commodities just to expensive to buy. > Now if we just had a reliable way to get XFree86 up and running > more-or-less automatically... :) yes, and all the more reason to develop a good primary textmode version, from this you could go on and produce any number of so called gui versioned interfaces. once you have teh concept etched in granite, cleaning up teh edges with x is really easy. all i'm doing is offering another point of view, brian. regards jonathan, professional card carrying human vegetable. -- =============================================================================== Jonathan Michaels PO Box 144, Rosebery, NSW 1445 Australia ===========================================================<jon@caamora.com.au> To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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