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From: lcuff@spectrum.CMC.COM (Leonard Cuff)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Where does UNIX fit in a graphically-based computer world?
Message-ID: <1990Sep7.211450.1007@spectrum.CMC.COM>
Date: 7 Sep 90 21:14:50 GMT
References: <1990Sep5.202652.700@sun.soe.clarkson.edu> <14894@burdvax.PRC.Unisys.COM>
Organization: Rockwell CMC
Lines: 77


I have a Mac at home, a Mac at work, and also get paid to
write software on Unix systems, on which I use the command
line Unix interface.

I believe on the whole command-line interfaces will
disappear over the next decade.  Regrettably, I also
believe we will see a lot of mediocre GUI designs
implemented in the next decade.  As an example, the Sun
3-button mouse interface is far less easy to use than the
Mac 1 button interface.  What happens with which button is
context-sensitive in no reasonable way (based on my using a
Sun for a couple of weeks and discussions with a fellow
engineer who has used a Sun for development for a couple
years).  It could be easy (left button = 1 click, middle
button = 2 clicks, right button = pop up a
context-sensitive menu). But it's not!   With the current
proliferation of parties involved in GUI design, I have
slim hopes that a coherent and consistent design will
emerge.  However I also believe most non-mac users won't
notice the poor design.  It is still easier than a
command-line interface.

Unix as an operating system that provides process control,
disk buffering, an I/O subsystem etc. will be around for
some time.  But it is unlikely that it will be recognizable
as the same beast at the user interface level.

There are two things Unix provides at the user interface
level that will have to be incorporated in a complete
windowing/point and click interface for it to completely
replace the Unix user interface:

(1)  A way for applications to pass data to one another.  I
have hopes that this is part of what Mac system 7.0 is all
about.  In Unix, almost every application reads standard
in, writes standard out, and deals with a stream of ascii
characters.  The beauty of this interface in terms of
getting diverse applications to communicate is truly
marvelous.  How well this can be moved into the Mac
environment which is rife with special file formats and
rarely uses ascii data is a hot design question for Apple
to face.

(2)  Programmable extensibility at multiple levels.  Let us
take two examples:  The shell, and nroff.  I love the
shell.  If I want to perform the same task on multiple
entities, I can use the shell to loop over all those
entities (typically files).  In contrast on the Mac, if I
want to use unStuffit to decode a whole pile of sounds, I
have to do them one at a time.  How to provide shell-like
programmability in a Mac environment is another hot design
question for Apple.  In contrast, I hate nroff, but then I
never learned to use it very well.  WYSIWYG is a much
easier thing to learn, but the programmability of nroff is
lost.  I am unaware of anything in the works within the
point and click interface paradigm that would provide the
kind of extensibility one really wants after using a system
for an extended length of time.  Some places it really matters
(e.g. the shell) and other places it seems less critical (e.g. 
document preparation).

In summary:  The Mac has lots of good features, not the
least of which is a very consistent design.  The same can
be said of Unix.  But the Mac addresses a far less
sophisticated user, and thus a much larger market segment.
The design question ahead is how can a Mac type user
interface be integrated with some of the capabilities
provided in Unix so sophisticated users won't be
aggravated.  The current GUI's I've seen beg the question
by letting you revert to the standard command-line
interface to do something "Unix-like".
-- 
Leonard Cuff                 if ( my_words == Rockwells_words )
lcuff@cmc.com                         hell_freezes_over = now;

"I feel like a fugitive from th' law of averages" - Bill Mauldin