On Mon, 2 Oct 2000, Roger B.A. Klorese wrote:
> On Mon, 2 Oct 2000, SRE wrote:
> > Personal experience suggests that there are more ways to do it wrong
> > than there are people in the world. Trying to accommodate mistakes
> > tends to encourage mistakes, and my life as a list owner and system
> > administrator got TOUGHER (not easier) when I did things for the
> > users instead of educating them.
>
> My life as a service provider becomes easier when I take away choices and
> flexibility from the average user, making it easier for 95% of them to
> accomplish their goals.
>
> [...]
> Most list managers are not system administrators, and shouldn't be forced
> into daily dialogs with them. It's a major goal of good UI design tl keep
> the support phone from ringing.
>
> [...]
> Newbies (which we will herein define as non-technical users -- many
> of my best list-owners of 2 to 5 years' standing would be
> "newbies" by this definition) should be given those choices BY THE
> GUI. There's no reason for them to interact with me.
>
> [...]
> Good help files keep the phone from ringing.
>
> But good task-oriented UIs keep even the help files from needing to be
> consulted.
>
> > If we do what you've already done (provide stock templates)
> > with notes about the things they shouldn't touch unless they educate
> > themselves, haven't we made their life even EASIER?
>
> Only if those are the main track of the UI, not a grafted-on
> simplification.
Roger makes some valid points for one way of operating. It would be most
useful if he could demonstrate these points.
But this brings us full circle to the "release" question. We are not in a
position to commit ourselves, and our employers' resources, to Mj2
(including to such demonstrations) unless we can be reasonably confident
that Mj2 is itself committed to us. That is: that there is seen to be a
commitment to its release and maintenance (in open-source style).
It is a covenant relationship (in the theological sense): Mj2 commits to
us, and we in turn commit to it.
Until that happens, Roger's ideas (whether we think them good or bad is
irrelevant) will not get the chance to prove (or disprove) themselves.
--
: David Lee I.T. Service :
: Systems Programmer Computer Centre :
: University of Durham :
: http://www.dur.ac.uk/~dcl0tdl South Road :
: Durham :
: Phone: +44 191 374 2882 U.K. :
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