* List: alug@stu.uea.ac.uk
On Sun, 4 Jul 1999, Mark J Ray wrote:
To place a GUI abstraction on this and expect it to cope with everything is a wrong turn.
No, it's not.
If the underlying config files are ordered and structured sensibly, it should not be a problem. And quite frankly, a GUI interface is often far, far easier for novice users than hacking a text file.
Yes, you need to understand the structure of the system, probably having a book to hand in the early days, but it does all have reason, a kind of logic to it.
I don't see why you should have to understand the structure of the system. Surely a properly designed OS and interface should let even novices get up and running quickly?
for concealment of the complexity (in the quoted paragraph) is to argue against Linux.
You, sir, are talking nonsense. If to argue for concealment of complexity is to argue against Linux, why then are almost all the major distributions trying to do just that? Take RedHat, with their extensive GUI config tools (for better or for worse). Take Debian, with their extensive package management system. All attempts to make things less complex for the end user. Why? Because at the end of the day, complexity is not what the end user wants. Accessibility, flexibility and stability is what it's all about.
Andrew.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- A.Savory at uea.ac.uk All views are my own - who else would want them? -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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