Re: Timeless Classics of Software Engineering

From: Ken Hagan <K.Hagan_at_thermoteknix.co.uk>
Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2004 10:29:40 +0100
Message-ID: <cffda5$og8$1$8300dec7@news.demon.co.uk>

Jeffrey Dutky wrote:

> Many, if not most, hackers started out as regular users and should be
> able to recall what it felt like to deal with the recalcitrant
> machine: I can certainly recall the feeling of helplessness I
> experienced for the first few years I used unix, and I try to channel
> that feeling into my programs and documentation.

Well, yes.

Maybe it's different in Linux land, but in Windows I struggle daily with examples of bad UI, rude software and inadequately documented systems. I can think of no-one better qualified to defend the interests of end-users.

Of course, the most horrendous errors are when the reality is buried under
a pile of marketing. If you lie to your end-users, you can't really expect
them to understand your system, can you? Received on Thu Aug 12 2004 - 04:29:40 CDT