Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!rpi!crdgw1!crdgw1.ge.com!barnett From: barnett@crdgw1.crd.ge.com (Bruce Barnett) Newsgroups: comp.windows.news Subject: Re: Is SUN a "PURE PLAYER" in window systems - SunView or OpenWindows??? Message-ID: <4311@crdgw1.crd.ge.com> Date: 19 Dec 89 22:45:00 GMT References: <4290@crdgw1.crd.ge.com> <8912162135.AA03025@iris.rand.org> <5728@ncar.ucar.edu> Sender: news@crdgw1.crd.ge.com Reply-To: barnett@crdgw1.crd.ge.com (Bruce Barnett) Organization: GE Corp. R & D, Schenectady, NY Lines: 45 In-reply-to: thor@stout.UCAR.EDU (Rich Neitzel) In article <5728@ncar.ucar.edu>, thor@stout (Rich Neitzel) writes: >Sigh! I can't stand it any longer. This is a very bad analogy in my >opinion. Yes, I can drive any car car intended for the U.S. market, but >the level of commonality is no where near the level that as proposed by >the "one user interface claim". It is only an analogy. But there is some truth to it. The first time I started up X windows I could get it to do NOTHING. Zip. No menus. mouse clicks did nothing. I tried every combination I could think of, and then gave up. I am someone who has used several window systems. But I could not "drive" the system I installed. >All this talk about commonality of "look & feel" is simply an attempt to >evade the real issue in the design of user interfaces - does the >interface for THIS application adequate suit the conditions of use, >level of user skill and functionality required to perform the job? >Common user interfsces simply make the life of developer easier by >allowing one to put on any interface, cklaim that this is good because >it is "standard" and walk away. No thought or concern about reality required! Well - first of all - the person who benefits most from a common user interface is the user. I would love to have all of tools on all of the window systems I use have the same user interface. It is true that all standards have limitations. I have not found one that was perfect yet. But your statement can be argued. Since this discussion started with Open Look, I can say that Sun has done a lot to address the issue you mention. They have tried to provide a standard look and feel that is an improvement on what else is out there. Did you ask for a copy of the preliminary style guide? Do you have a copy of the current one? Did you send in your criticisms? Did it meet your requirements for a "real" application? How did Sun evade the real issue? -- Bruce G. Barnett uunet!crdgw1!barnett