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Re: gEDA-user: PCB a bad name ?
On Sep 20, 2006, at 2:25 PM, kmk wrote:
PCB's UI in particular deviates from Linux norms.
"Linux norms"?? What exactly are the UI "norms" in the Linux
world?
I don't think, usability of pcb suffers from deviation of some kind of
official norms. Still, it helps to look how other applications GUIs
handle similar problems. Some techniques have evolved over the years
and
proved to work better than others. Applications whose UI is rather
pecular tend to loose users. I dumped qcad because of this.
Yes, I agree. A large number of PCB beginners, however, complain
about the UI and assume it's "unusual" because it was thrown together
without any sort of attention, while I'm certain the opposite is true.
I, too, had a hard time with the UI when I first started using PCB.
However, once I learned it, I found that it can be SCREAMING FAST and
very effective. It is NOT "newbie friendly", nor should it necessarily
be. Complex, powerful tools have a learning curve. I spent many days
gnashing my teeth while getting used to PCB's UI, and have now done
four years of extremely fast, efficient, effective design work with it.
That's a fine trade-off that I'm willing to make any time, and I
suspect that goes for many others as well.
The "Linux norms" (as if such a thing actually existed) typically
cater to making Windows refugees comfortable with Linux by trying to
replace the point-and-drool "I don't need no steeenking I.Q." interface
while trying to avoiding its [unavoidable] drawbacks. This does not an
effective design tool make.
Let's not even THINK about dumbing down the impressive power of PCB
by changing its UI to make it take a few hours instead of a few days to
learn. The trade-off is one that every serious engineer or even
spare-time tinkerer should be more than willing to make.
-Dave
--
Dave McGuire
Cape Coral, FL
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