...another fortunes package candidate? I especially liked the sections beginning "R is a 4 wheel drive SUV...", but a lot of it is great IMHO. Well said! Bestimmt!
-- Bert > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Greg Snow > Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2006 1:37 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [R] Can't there be a cd command? > > When talking about user friendlyness of computer software I > like the analogy of cars vs. busses: > > Busses are very easy to use, you just need to know which bus > to get on, where to get on, and where to get off (and you > need to pay your fare). Cars on the other hand require much > more work, you need to have some type of map or directions > (even if the map is in your head), you need to put gas in > every now and then, you need to know the rules of the road > (have some type of drivers licence). The big advantage of > the car is that it can take you a bunch of places that the > bus does not go and it is quicker for some trips that would > require transfering between busses. > > Using this analogy programs like SPSS are busses, easy to use > for the standard things, but very frustrating if you want to > do something that is not already preprogrammed. > > R is a 4-wheel drive SUV (though environmentally friendly) > with a bike on the back, a kayak on top, good walking and > running shoes in the pasenger seat, and mountain climbing and > spelunking gear in the back. > > R can take you anywhere you want to go if you take time to > leard how to use the equipment, but that is going to take > longer than learning where the bus stops are in SPSS. > > Now there are tools like Rcmdr that help get you started > (maybe a gps unit in the R suv above), but if we make R too > user friendly then we limit what can be done with it. > > I think the volume of mail in R-help is partly due to lack of > friendliness, but a lot of it is due to the flexibility as > well, if it did less, there would be less to learn and ask > questions about. I for one prefer to do a little more work > learning the program in exchange for being able to do a lot > more with it. > > > To mangle a famous Einstien quote: "Statistical packages > should be made as user friendly as possible, but no friendlier." > > -- > Gregory (Greg) L. Snow Ph.D. > Statistical Data Center > Intermountain Healthcare > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > (801) 408-8111 > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Manuel > López-Ibáñez > Sent: Wednesday, May 10, 2006 2:19 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [R] Can't there be a cd command? > > Jan T. Kim wrote: > > > > That's an idea I like very much too -- much better than the > currently > > popular idea of "protecting" users from the "unfriendliness" of > > programming, anyway... > > > > It is just my opinion that the amount of mail in R-help > speaks volumes about the current "friendliness" [1], or lack > thereof, of R. Perhaps I am just the only one who thinks this way... > > [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability > > > ______________________________________________ > LLama Gratis a cualquier PC del Mundo. > Llamadas a fijos y móviles desde 1 céntimo por minuto. > http://es.voice.yahoo.com > > ______________________________________________ > [email protected] mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help > PLEASE do read the posting guide! > http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html > > ______________________________________________ > [email protected] mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help > PLEASE do read the posting guide! > http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html > ______________________________________________ [email protected] mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide! http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html
