Date: Mon, 8 Nov 2010 09:32:20 -0700 From: Chad Perrin <perrin@apotheon.com> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Tips for installing windows and freeBSD both.. anyone?? Message-ID: <20101108163220.GB21595@guilt.hydra> In-Reply-To: <20101108094301.00007cc7@unknown> References: <20101106200239.00004b64@unknown> <20101106203213.GC13095@guilt.hydra> <20101106225446.GC67566@libertas.local.camdensoftware.com> <20101107101750.00006bd2@unknown> <20101107174106.GB77433@libertas.local.camdensoftware.com> <20101107185845.66745df2.freebsd@edvax.de> <20101107205122.GE17565@guilt.hydra> <20101107220729.000048f6@unknown> <20101108061723.GC18990@guilt.hydra> <20101108094301.00007cc7@unknown>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
--3uo+9/B/ebqu+fSQ Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Mon, Nov 08, 2010 at 09:43:01AM +0000, Bruce Cran wrote: > On Sun, 7 Nov 2010 23:17:23 -0700 > Chad Perrin <perrin@apotheon.com> wrote: >=20 > > I did give a nod to discoverability for GUIs, as you might note if > > you go back and read what you quoted back at me. That's exactly what > > you're talking about. I don't see why you have to pretend I didn't > > mention it, and try to paint the efficiencies on the other side of > > the trade-off as worthless in your response. I thought my original > > description of the trade-off was pretty well balanced, despite the > > fact I have a preference for one side over the other where most tasks > > are concerned. >=20 > Sorry - I didn't mean to imply that it was worthless, just that I > believe the efficiency works the other way sometimes. For example I did > Linux development for a while earlier this year and found it to be > extremely inefficient compared to working in Windows, due to overuse of > terminals and command-line operation - and I grew up running BBC BASIC > and have been using FreeBSD for many years. I love having the > command-line available and indeed often develop software using just an > xterm but I do think a well-designed GUI can increase productivity by > bringing things together that would otherwise be separate. You probably found it "inefficient" because you did not bother to gain sufficient familiarity with it to enjoy the efficiencies it provided. Seriously. In my experience, development on MS Windows with clicky GUI tools like Visual Studio only seems more efficient when doing things that are very well-worn paths to very uninteresting destinations for people who have never bothered to learn a better way. A well-configured Vim provides a substantial efficiency boost for the competent user that dwarfs the dubious benefits of things like Intellisense, for instance. When developing software in a Unix(-like) environment, I typically have *several* terminals open, running different programs. For Ruby, for instance, I might have a Vim terminal, an irb terminal, and a test suite terminal, possibly including a second buffer in the test suite terminal for running the program separately when appropriate -- rather than just "using just an xterm" -- and it works better than any Visual Studio setup I've encountered on MS Windows for similar development. In fact, there are whole classes of software that are effectively impossible to develop effectively on MS Windows; it doesn't get much more inefficient than that. Sometimes a GUI that brings things together can help. You're right about that. Unfortunately, such GUIs usually shoot themselves in the foot by not just bringing things together, but actually replacing them so that the benefits of the separate things are lost, resulting in a net loss of productivity enhancement. That's what I get from IDEs like Visual Studio. --=20 Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] --3uo+9/B/ebqu+fSQ Content-Type: application/pgp-signature Content-Disposition: inline -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.14 (FreeBSD) iEYEARECAAYFAkzYJhQACgkQ9mn/Pj01uKVlPQCdFsIvxRQF+zfdJo36NvEawwlJ 5tAAoMH02Akqs6d9pGhinbx522VGkZj3 =4ixA -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --3uo+9/B/ebqu+fSQ--
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?20101108163220.GB21595>