From: mwood AT indyvax DOT iupui DOT edu (Mark H. Wood)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp
Subject: Re: compiling emacs 19.34
Message-ID: <1996Dec2.121118.27277@indyvax.iupui.edu>
Date: 2 Dec 96 12:11:18 -0500
References: <Pine DOT SUN DOT 3 DOT 91 DOT 961125071752 DOT 844G-100000 AT is> <329BA7B5 DOT 2DAD AT cs DOT com>
Lines: 33
To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
DJ-Gateway: from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp

In article <329BA7B5 DOT 2DAD AT cs DOT com>, "John M. Aldrich" <fighteer AT cs DOT com> writes:
> Weiqi Gao wrote:
>> 
>> There used to be a formula that states "user friendliness is directly
>> proportional to programmer hostilility."  Can we translate that into
>> "user dumbness is directly proportional to programmer cleverness"?  Or
>> should it be "user dumbness is directly proportional to programmer
>> dumbness"?
> 
> I think it's the first one, because the better a programmer does his or
> her job, the less intelligence it requires for a user to use the
> program.  The dumber a programmer is, the more knowledge a user needs to
> figure out what to do.

That would mean that e.g. gcc's developers are too stupid to breathe without
prompting.  I don't think so.  The real tradeoff is between expressive power
and simplicity.  Good tools for really dim users or really smart users *both*
require good programmers.  The thing is, you can't make a tool that's good for
both kinds of users without in effect building two tools and fusing them into
the same executable.

> This certainly does explain the Windows phenomenon, btw.  :)  MS's
> _programmers_ are very good; it's the politics at the higher levels that
> makes everything so complicated.

Aye, politics doth make dullards of us all.  But what does that have to do with
dumb/smart programmers and smart/dumb users?  Now the question isn't about
intelligent life forms at all.
-- 
Mark H. Wood, Lead Systems Programmer    +1 317 274 0749   [@disclaimer@]
Internet:  MWOOD AT INDYVAX DOT IUPUI DOT EDU       BITNET:  MWOOD AT INDYVAX
I am endeavoring to construct a mnemonic circuit using stone knives and
bearskins.				-- Spock