On 03/23/2012 04:36 PM, Jacob Dawid wrote: > I am sorry to say that, but I think that all the discussion about the GUI > is complete non-sense. A GUI is simply a different way to access octave's > functionality that integrates better with the ideas and concepts that a > state-of-the-art program has to have. What I don't understand is that > people are so afraid of using something different than their vi or emacs or > whatever they are used to.
I'm not afraid to use something other than vi or emacs. I've been accustom to GUIs for decades. Loved FrameMaker twenty years ago. The issue is that GUIs are not always efficient. I don't buy into this modern computer system idea, continually changing for no justifiable reason. > Can you click in the terminal and modify a matrix visually, by clicking a > cell and simply changing the content? No, you can't. Can you type and - > while you type - sort the history in a list, then simply click the command > and it will be inserted into the terminal? No, you can't. Sure, you can > find different ways to do that, but in the end, a GUI offers many > possiblities. But all this pointing and clicking isn't always efficient. Typing is ten fingers working at once with little hand motion. "Mousing" is one or two fingers working at once and moving the mass of my whole arm around. Honestly, sometimes my index finger gets tired and I move my hand so that I can operate the left button with another finger. > We're in the era of touchscreens and still fiddle with pseudo GUIs in > terminals and editors like vi and emacs that simply look terrible and are a > nightmare to use. Some of us don't find them a nightmare to use. There is a learning curve, sure. But people with a computer software background become very proficient at using the control sequences and so on. The problem with the GUI/touchscreen approach is that one can't replicate a plot or process very easily. Say I generate a plot and then point-click to modify text, or line color. The next day my boss asks to have the line in green instead of blue, then I have to do all the point-click stuff again. Had I written it as an M-file script I just retrieve that script (via gvim) type in blue where it said green and rerun the script. Having a scientific bent, I like being able to replicate analysis, figures, etc. Doing ephemeral things doesn't sit well. Does GUI have its place? Most definitely. CAD work, graphic designers, cartoonists, document editing layout, surfing the web--there are all sorts of cases where a GUI is superior and much more efficient than the command line. But a touch-pad to analyze data? How many thought provoking text messages have you ever gotten? Dan ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This SF email is sponsosred by: Try Windows Azure free for 90 days Click Here http://p.sf.net/sfu/sfd2d-msazure _______________________________________________ Octave-dev mailing list Octave-dev@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/octave-dev
