looking at the survey (UI)

[Roger Dingledine <arma@mit.edu>]

Rating scale:

Crucial: This issue is one of the most important things I consider in
  evaluating a computer system
very important: This issue is very important to me in evaluating a computer
  system
important: This issue is important, but I am willing to compromise for more
  important issues
relevant: I consider this issue when I evaluate a computer system, when all
  else appears equal
unimportant: This issue is not relevant for/to me

User Interface:
   - Having a graphical interface to applications and system 

crucial. i need to be able to use a graphical windowing environment,
because of things like netscape.

   - Having a command-line interface to applications and system 

crucial. otherwise i wouldn't be able to actually perform any work.

   - Intuitive user interface 

important. if it's tough, i'll be able to figure it out eventually. A
powerful user interface is much more important. (Maybe that should be a
question.)

   - Consistent user interface (things behave the same way even comparing between two separate
 applications) 

relevant. it might be nice, and maybe one day i'll take advantage of it..

   - Consistent graphical and/or textual user interfaces, and the ability to exploit both to the user's
 advantage 

what's the difference between this question and the last? And didn't we
make "the ability to exploit both to the user's advantage" better worded,
somewhere along the line?

   - Dumping error messages to a text file as well as to the screen 

This is only relevant to me for misbehaving proprietary programs
(open-source programs never seem to have this problem..) And I try to
avoid these programs anyway. So I guess the answer is 'relevant'. But
maybe I'm just saying this because I already have this feature and don't
realize how important it is.

   - Having a program which explains error messages 
   - Intuitive error messages from the OS and applications from the beginning? Rather than an
 interpreter... 

I say we combine these two into
   - Intuitive error messages from the OS and applications

in which case I would say 'very important'.

   - Being able to access context-sensitive help information 

I've learned to live without it, but I think it would be neat. 'Important'.

   - Being able to access a index of functions so that an experienced user can find information quickly
 (needs reworking) 

How about 'being able to access or search an index of keywords or help documents, so experienced
users can find information quickly'?

crucial. I wish 'man -k foo' were better. Currently I use infoseek as my help
document search engine, because I don't have any good documents local to me.
And since I'm networked, I don't need them anyway...

   - Multiple-languages (support for several languages) 

unimportant

   - Multi-language (support for several languages simultaneously) 

unimportant