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Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!seismo!rlgvax!cvl!umcp-cs!koved
From: koved@umcp-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.cog-eng,net.nlang
Subject: Re: expert-friendly: are long names a waste of time?
Message-ID: <4151@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 1-Dec-83 01:44:40 EST
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.4151
Posted: Thu Dec  1 01:44:40 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 2-Dec-83 03:14:10 EST
References: <6196@watmath.UUCP>, <507@dciem.UUCP> <1490@utcsstat.UUCP>
Organization: Univ. of Maryland, Computer Science Dept.
Lines: 50

Laura, 
Your view of the world is too narrow to see over the top of your keyboard.
When you go out of the computer room at your school, you may run into 
many computer users who are not interested in learning about computers...
they just want to get their work done.

Of course there are the novice users and those executives or secretaries
who could benefit from menus.  Menus could possibly solve 90-100% of their
problems.  This is being used in the *real* world.  Long command names
for commands are not necessary for them since they do not need commands
at all.

The infrequent users need a way of remembering the commands (which may 
be the full command name rather than the abbreviated form).  Some of the
systems I have seen contain several levels of abbreviations and synonyms
for the commonly used commands plus personally tailored versions which
are automatically added to the system (global) versions.  This seems to
work rather well when the synonyms and abbreviations are used.  In general,
a user can use the whole command name (or its synonyn) or its abbreviation.

There is a set of users of computers who must contend with multiple sets
of operating systems, editors, mail systems, etc. which are operating
on different brands of hardware and software.  If they must become experts
to remember the abberviated forms of all of the commands which they need
to commonly use, nothing would ever get accomplished.  I find myself lucky
that I only use 3 computer systems (with completely different command
formats and different names)!  I know of people who use more than 3
systems during a week (although I use all 3 almost every day)!  This
may become more common with the proliferation of small cheap machines.
These people want to get work done, but having to learn all of the 
abbreviations for each of the systems on which the person is working
is too much of a burden.

From experience, once the salesman has sold the software, the fun just
begins!  Many places do not have *experienced* staff to install the software
and maintain it.  If the commands are not spelled out completely, the
installer-user becomes confused and frustrated.  This is one of the
reasons that computers and software have bad reputations (ie: the computer
made an error.... not that the person using the computer made an error
while using a program).  Some of the people using the software are very
bright, but are not familiar enough with the computer to understand all
of the abbreviations and computer jargon.  I constantly deal with people
who are non-experts who are trying to install and use software.  These
problems repeat themselves often.

This is not to say that I am against short command names and abbreviations
and synonyms... On the contrary!  However, they have their place, and
must be taken in perspective.

Larry