Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2010 23:17:23 -0700 From: Chad Perrin <perrin@apotheon.com> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Tips for installing windows and freeBSD both.. anyone?? Message-ID: <20101108061723.GC18990@guilt.hydra> In-Reply-To: <20101107220729.000048f6@unknown> References: <AANLkTi=WvFCUqd9P_CPRzL6A7f06eAuEb-sj6kEjVWuv@mail.gmail.com> <20101106190934.GB67566@libertas.local.camdensoftware.com> <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>
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--kfjH4zxOES6UT95V Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Sun, Nov 07, 2010 at 10:07:29PM +0000, Bruce Cran wrote: > On Sun, 7 Nov 2010 13:51:22 -0700 > Chad Perrin <perrin@apotheon.com> wrote: >=20 > > I choose a little up-front learning curve for massive efficiency and > > productivity enhancements down the road. The increased efficiency of > > a minimal, composable toolset driven by the keyboard can be a huge > > win in long-term productivity for one motivated to learn how to use > > it, as well as a major savings on system resources (and hardware > > costs, since upgrades do not need to happen as often, nor be as > > cutting-edge). > >=20 > > Others choose some inefficiency in the long run to avoid having to > > learn anything new up front. The increased discoverability, at least > > for simple tasks, of a point-and-click interface tends to seem more > > "intuitive" and familiar to people just coming to a new system for the > > first time, makes task completion easier to figure out the first time > > (and the thirtieth, since point-and-click interfaces tend to require > > figuring out the same tasks over and over again). >=20 > With the command-line you also choose the inefficiency of having to > read the man page every time you want to do something you're not > familiar with. Well-designed UIs allow you to easily discover how to do > it without resorting to the Help file - and since people tend to have > good visual memories they can remember it better than a string of > characters. A good example of this is Subversion tagging/branching: in > Windows I can use the menu option "TortoiseSVN -> branch/tag..." to > create a branch and have it done in a minute. Using the command-line > I'd have to spend time reading up on the commandline parameters to > achieve the same thing, since it's something I only do about once a > year or so. So, let's see here -- either I lose efficiency on things that aren't very familiar to me, because I have to type `foo --help` or `man foo` or something like that, or I lose efficiency on things I do all the time, because I have to mouse around a lot. Hmm. I wonder which I should choose. Seriously, though, it's not like I never use GUI tools. I occasionally use the mouse when dealing with stuff in the browser, for instance. I select and middle click to paste quite a lot. I'm not opposed to use of the GUI per se; I just use TUIs much more often, because I use them for tasks that I perform an awful lot if they happen to benefit (in terms of efficiency and productivity) by the use of a TUI. When they don't, I use a GUI instead. I wouldn't be willing to waste the time on little inefficiencies every single time I did *anything* with Subversion just for the dubious benefit of a one-time efficiency benefit once a year because I didn't remember off the top of my head how to branch, though. I use Mercurial a *lot*, and I do not see much benefit to using a GUI for it just on the off-chance I might need to do something I don't do very often when the GUI only gets in the way for the stuff I do several times a day, every day. I suppose your mileage may vary, though. 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 Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] --kfjH4zxOES6UT95V Content-Type: application/pgp-signature Content-Disposition: inline -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.14 (FreeBSD) iEYEARECAAYFAkzXlfMACgkQ9mn/Pj01uKW0tQCgm+pgQEWllsm/rRFqFWUp/bxp 1HsAoMyreVJNIjA8XybCSqHVDb85gKBd =Ro16 -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --kfjH4zxOES6UT95V--
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