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From: mwm@eris.berkeley.edu (Mike (I'll think of something yet) Meyer)
Newsgroups: comp.arch,comp.lang.misc
Subject: User Interfaces (Was: Programming and Machine Operations)
Message-ID: <26138@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 9 Jul 89 09:20:10 GMT
References: <57125@linus.UUCP> <1989Jun24.230056.27774@utzoo.uucp> <13970@haddock.ima.isc.com> <1398@l.cc.purdue.edu>
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Reply-To: mwm@eris.berkeley.edu (Mike (I'll think of something yet) Meyer)
Organization: Missionaria Phonibalonica
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In article <1398@l.cc.purdue.edu> cik@l.cc.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) writes:
<As far as operating systems, maybe UNIX is a simplified version of 
<MULTICS, but I still consider it horribly complicated.  I believe
<that the OS for a machine should be of the KISS variety, with everything
<else added on.  And the syntax!  Who would use mv for rename?  I will
<not go into further details.

Herman, Thank You! That was the funniest thing I've seen in a while!

Of course, there is just the barest possibility that you, who shout
about the inflexibility & lack of ability to add complications (or, if
you prefer, "user-defined notations") to programming languages are
_serious_ when you complain that the OS that puts more power into the
hands of the user than almost any other is "to complicated". Nah,
couldn't be.  Or could it?

	<mike

P.S. - there've been studies that show that using non-words (mv, ls,
pr, etc) for a command language works better than using real-world
words. People don't have preconcieved notions about what the commands
should do, and don't try words with meanings similar to the one of the
command they want. This is, of course, rationalization as opposed to
rationale.
--
Teddies good friend has his two o'clock feast		Mike Meyer
And he's making Teddies ex girl friend come		mwm@berkeley.edu
They mistook Teddies good trust				ucbvax!mwm
Just for proof that Teddy was dumb.			mwm@ucbjade.BITNET