Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!mit-eddie!bbn!bbn.com!mesard From: mesard@bbn.com (Wayne Mesard) Newsgroups: comp.mail.mh Subject: Re: MH drawbacks for computer-unexperienced users Message-ID: <23864@bbn.COM> Date: 25 Apr 88 17:09:35 GMT References: <336@draken.nada.kth.se> Sender: news@bbn.COM Lines: 49 From article <336@draken.nada.kth.se>, by psv@nada.kth.se (Peter Svanberg): > > * They are puzzled about the fact that all commands should be > given from the shell. No argument from me. This is puzzling to new users. Especially, those who've used another mail system like MM. But rather than succumb to the temptation to protect novices from this interface, why not explain the rationale behind it. Specifically: o They need not bounce in and out of a mailer every time they want to read a message. o By using the shell, we have access to the full power of the shell. This needn't be a lengthy, complicated discussion, just a few examples of how easy it is to customize the mail reading environment and create new "commands" that are as cryptic or helpful as the individual user desires. For example, alias rmn "rmm; next" alias new-mail "inc; show" A simple discussion, loaded with examples can be an advertisement for UNIX as well as MH. But... o There are a lot of features in MH which the casual user shouldn't be bothered with, since most people "just want to read their mail".* The solution: a brief synopsis of the few commands they need and maybe a few aliases in a default .cshrc file (to protect them from the UNIXness of MH) AND a pointer to finding out more if they're interested (e.g. " -help" and "man mh"). > * There is no way to include a file in a letter without the use of > an editor. "forw -file " works for me. ---- * The words of more than one recalcitrant user after hearing my 5 minute sermon on why MH is the greatest thing since toast. -- unsigned *Wayne_Mesard(); MESARD@BBN.COM BBN Labs, Cambridge, MA "All systems of useful complexity contain software errors." -The Eastport Report, p.14