🚀 go-pugleaf

In <40tepi$kpf@columbia.acc.brad.ac.uk> D.A.Reader@bradford.ac.uk (aP) writes:
>These words of wisdom came from Robert Cassidy (rmcassid@uci.edu):

><snip>

>[Munch]

>UNIX is only more difficult than Micro$loth if you know loads about M$ and
>nothing about UNIX.

Nope.

>think about this.. which is easiest to explain to someone..?

>1. DOS - at the prompt type 'dir'
>2. UNIX - at thew prompt, type 'ls'
>3. MSWin - find a window with 'Program Manager' on your screen - it may in
>fact be just a little picture.. if it is then click on it to make it a
>full size window, then, find a window which has something called 'File
>Manager' in it - again, this may already be there as a window or may be a
>little picture again. What it is called will depend on how your system
>was set up - in fact, it may not even be there... anyway, you need to
>click on that twice... then, move to the top left hand corner and find a
>picture of a disc drive... then click on that.. then you should have a
>window which shows you what is on your disc...

You forget the fact that both DIR and ls show you lots of 'files' that
may, or may not, be applications. In fact they may be part of applications.
But you have no way of telling. And to launch them you need to be in the
corect directory. Directory? Oh, erm, think of a tree. Here, I'll draw one
for you... oh looks like file manager.

It is a simple, demonstratable fact that novice->intermediate users
are more at ease and are more productive with interfaces that relate
to real-world objects, be it diskdrives, folders or applications. If you
don't believe it then you obviously haven't spent much time trying to teach
non-computer people computers.



>--
>Dave Reader                        "What I've felt,
>D.A.Reader@Bradford.ac.uk           What I've known,
>                                    Never shined through in what I've shown.."
>Jumper.mcc.ac.uk 3214                                              - Metallica

-- 



|\Nigel Magnay\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\[_][~][X]|
|magnayn@cs.man.ac.uk       {Main}|   3rd yr. CS, University of Manchester   |
|nigel@rcp.co.uk      {Summer job}|                                          |
|http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/~magnayn |"Because you know I'm better than you are"|
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