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From: rwhite@nusdhub.UUCP (Robert C. White Jr.)
Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng
Subject: Re: Request for human interface design anecdotes
Message-ID: <125@nusdhub.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 13-Oct-87 19:16:08 EDT
Article-I.D.: nusdhub.125
Posted: Tue Oct 13 19:16:08 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 15-Oct-87 20:39:16 EDT
References: <301@mv03.ecf.toronto.edu>
Organization: National University, San Diego
Lines: 22
Keywords: human factors, interfaces
Summary: Just Here...


	My ongoing UNIX vs. MS-DOS anticdote.

To some extent MS-DOS is a back-hack of UNIX syntax, at least as
far as command line syntax. [I am talking borne shell here].
I work and deal with "just barley ms-dos users" every day.  These
people ALWAYS type things like "cd\break".  In ms-dos, any
"internal" commands dealing with pathnames are first-space-optional.
that is, "cd\break" and "cd \break" are functionally identical.

	To my misery I have been given a group of such people,
which I am to educate in the basics of UNIX.  No matter how many
times I say "ALWAYS USE A SPACE" these people don't and I end
up with 'What does "cd/break: not found" mean?'

	The moral: Just because it is an option, dosn't mean it's
an option worth using.

As an after-note, some versions of ms-dos have started to complain
about this usage also.... That'll teach em.

Rob.