Re: GUI Interface

On Fri, May 12, 2006 at 12:00:26PM -0500, Tony Caduto wrote:
> Joshua D. Drake wrote:
> >I am not trying to be antagonistic here, but honestly curious as to
> >how you are coming to your conclusions. I have been using
> >PostgreSQL since before it was PostgreSQL and except for Internet
> >Explorer/Web access I can tell you that most do not use Windows to
> >manage PostgreSQL.
> >
> >Will that change? Oh, probably as our native Windows port gets
> >better and better but right now... Meh.. I think your off your
> >rocker :)
> >
> Well, let's do the survey thing and see, sure it will be
> unscientific, but interesting regardless.
>
> I am getting my conclusions from the fact that Desktop Linux is
> just not popular yet, there are few if any commercial apps being
> written for it.

I can see how as a proprietary software developer, you can confuse the
two, but I don't see how the first thing follows from the second. It
could simply be that the apps for Linux desktops are also FLOSS.

> Also most DBAs are not hard core OSS programmers and anyone coming
> from a commercial system is more than likely used to running the
> admin tools on windows.

They may or may not be used to such things. Most of the hardcore DBAs
I know are very big on the command line and impatient with the 'Are
you sure? Are you really sure? Are you really, REALLY sure?'
paradigm that infests entirely too many GUIs.

> Before there was even a windows version many many people accessed
> Postgresql from windows, I know I did. Also a lot of people think
> what they think from this mailing list and I can tell you there are
> many many causual users who have never used this list

I should certainly hope so. I'm really big on good user interfaces,
and that means that I don't equate "good" with "graphical." Forcing
people to use a GUI paradigm where it doesn't work[1] frustrates them
and insults their intelligence. "End users"[2] are not stupid,
illiterate, or unable to type on their keyboards, and they resent
being treated as though they were any or all of those things. They do
need good, easily searchable instructions, tho :)

Cheers,
D

[1] Where "doesn't work" depends both on the particular user and on
the problem at hand.

[2] Anybody who first touched a computer when they were an adult,
e.g.
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David Fetter <david(at)fetter(dot)org> http://fetter.org/
phone: +1 415 235 3778 AIM: dfetter666
Skype: davidfetter

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