On Wed 14 Mar 2018 at 18:46:46 (+1100), Erik Christiansen wrote: > On 13.03.18 10:48, David Wright wrote: > > On Tue 13 Mar 2018 at 21:31:00 (+1100), Erik Christiansen wrote: > > > Too true. After a couple of hours of failing to get any GUI drawing > > > package, not least LibreOffice, to do anything useful, I used Vim to > > > textually produce the 8 drawings for my house; plan, elevations & > > > sections, and site plan. It took about 800 lines of Postscript, and I > > > didn't have to crack the inscrutable secrets of an obstructive GUI > > > interface. > > > > OTOH the results of your work were highly scrutable? > > Adjectives describe nouns, in the quoted text that is "interface secrets". > The quoted text did not refer to output/results. > The quote of my function to draw a door in a floorplan shows my text > input, not output/results.
That's just playing with words. As far as we on this list are concerned, your contribution to the thread was a process: editing PostScript source text with vim. The work that you put into this process/interface/call it what you will, was a lengthy session of learning the PostScript language. That has to be costed in, just as learning about snap-to-grid has to be. > The result of conversion of the postscript to pdf is a suite of drawings > when displayed with e.g. xpdf. (Scrutable even to local government > officials, at considerable cost saving compared to using an architect.) The marks on the paper were not under discussion, neither as a technical drawing nor as an architectural design, but only the operations to produce them. > But there is perhaps an unstated point - that the postscript language > (the interface) is not equally scrutable for all. That's why I quoted it, so people could judge for themselves. It's the one part of your process that can be clearly put in a posting. This source code has to be mastered. > I found it infinitely > easier to learn a fully discoverable textual language than how to crank > a mouse engine in mysterious ways. One would expect that of someone who sees using a mouse as fighting it. But here we have no way of knowing how the OP views using a mouse (which for most spreadsheet operations plays a minor role): whether it makes things easier or speedier, or is best avoided. For most people, there's a balance; they use both mouse and keyboard as they feel is appropriate for each action. All that said, the thrust of my post was: everyone should have some sort of acquaintance with spreadsheets by the time they leave school. Vim key bindings—perhaps not. PostScript—probably not. Cheers, David.
