🚀 go-pugleaf

Is there any way to work without a mouse?  A few hours ago, my
left-hand mouse button went "boing" instead of "click" and now it's
stuck down.  Playing with 'dwrite NeXT1 MouseButtonsTied' doesn't seem
to produce anything usable---I can move the mouse pointer, but I can't
click on anything.  Without the mouse, you can do a few things
(navigating in Workspace with the keyboard is actually pleasant), but
I've discovered an amazing number of places where you just can't
switch first-responder status to something using only the keyboard.
Forget switching between applications.  Forget unhiding something.
Unless I just don't know how to type the cokebottle key, or I need to
do the equivalent of 'dwrite NeXT1 MouseSpringHasSprung'.

If NextStep were sufficiently robust, it could notice that a mouse
button was stuck down when I logged in, realize that something was
wrong, and let me continue with my mission-critical work.  I'm not
saying the system should stay up with an arbitrary stuck-at fault in
the hardware---just suggesting that things be a bit more tolerant of
failures of often-used mechanical parts (i.e., the mouse button switch). 

So at the moment I'm stuck in a VT100 world.  I have to applaud Scott
Hess for making Stuart keyboard-friendly---at least I can switch
between several windows.

By the way, I have to recommend that individuals get a service
contract after warranty---my station's 200MB Quantum died with 6 days
remaining on warranty, and the mouse stumbles three weeks later.  I
remember a coworker with a Delorean car.  He spent a month waiting for
a new radio because the old one's switch was bad.  Then the windshield
wipers broke, he had them fixed, he picked it up in the rain, he
turned on the wipers, they moved six inches, and they stopped.  The
mouse is the windshield wiper of a workstation, and NeXT seems to have
sold me a Delorean.  It's fast and sexy, but poor reliability and
parts availability can drive you nuts. 

Maybe NeXT is on the right track in trying to become a vaporware, er,
software company.  (This is an option Delorean didn't have.) If
NeXTSTEP 486 were shipping, a Pee Cee would be attractive.  If I had
some money a Quadra trade would be looking more and more attractive.
Althought I suppose the latest ADB-compatible NeXT hardware would also
be a step toward a configuration where replacing a mouse on a weekend
would be possible. 

Now I get to deal with our Computer Repair, which took a week to swap
out the hard drive last month.  That's enough time to drive to Redwood
City from Pittsburgh, pick up a new part, and drive back.  And obey
the speed limit.  (To be fair, NeXT shipped a new drive overnight; the
delay was local.) At least the mouse is easier to carry than the slab. 

 -- Derek
-- 
Derek_Beatty@cmu.edu   ABD   Comp Sci, CMU, 5000 Forbes, Pgh, PA 15213 USA