Consistency (was: finding & installing apps, secure file transfer)

[Clinton MacDonald]

Mark:

On Monday, August 25, 2003, at 11:50  AM, Mark Griffin wrote:
> On Mon, 25 Aug 2003 23:17:49 -0500
> Clinton C.MacDonald <clint.macdonald@ttuhsc.edu> wrote:
>> So far, with Linux I have seen little evidence of intuitiveness and 
>> less of consistency (why, oh why does every single application have 
>> to invent its own command for "copy," "paste," "close," and "quit"?)
>
> I have yet to find any place that copy isn't just highlighting and 
> paste isn't a middle button click. But yes I see what you are saying, 
> with linux as far as the GUI part the only rule is there are no rules 
> :-)

You caught me -- I was certainly being hyperbolic when I overstated my 
frustrations with Linux. But I am glad you see my point. "The most 
wonderful thing about standards is that there are so many of them."

I am reminded of some of my early experiences with applications using 
DOS on IBM PCs in the mid-1980s. Our department had several programs we 
used regularly, but no manuals for any of them (that I knew of). Most 
programs we could figure out, but we were constantly frustrated that 
every one must be quit in a different way: some you'd type "quit," 
others "exit," or "X," or "E." Still others you typed an escape 
followed by some cryptic pattern. I always hated WordPerfect because by 
default quitting WordPerfect (which required an F-key followed by a 
sequence of characters I don't remember) did *NOT* save the current 
document, but saving was a multi-keystroke affair that routinely ended 
in inadvertent renaming or moving of the file. There was one program (I 
don't remember which) that we never figured out how to quit it; when we 
were done with it, we would turn off the computer from the power 
switch, then boot it back up.

You can imagine why consistency of the Macintosh interface was a breath 
of fresh air for me and so many others. :-)

Best wishes,
Clint

-- 
Dr. Clinton C. MacDonald | <mailto:clint.macdonald@ttuhsc.edu>