Re: [ jEdit-devel ] Lowering the entry-bar for new users

[Dalibor P. <dal...@is...>]

Original message:
> From: Shlomy Reinstein <sre...@gm...>
> Sent: 13.04.2009 0:16:29 +0200
> To: Seph Soliman
> Cc: jed...@li...
> Subject: [ jEdit-devel ] Lowering the entry-bar for new users
> 
> I tend to agree with this. Many tools use several modes of
> configuration in order to deal with this issue, e.g.: Beginner,
> normal, and advanced. Each mode introduces more options. I don't know
> if this is suitable for jEdit or not, but this is possible.


Might be suitable BUT when I see a default configuration marked as
"simple/Beginner/..." I tend to discard that program because it seems to
me that developers are trying to "sell" program by any mean just to sell
it. I'm not sure know how many more options are there burried
somewhere(see below) and basicaly I'm insecure in using program that
hides something it the first place.

Just my thought.
(part of the fun using advanced software is trying all the options :-)))


> In addition, we always have the option to provide a GUI for only basic
> options, and keep the rest configurable by properties with no GUI,
> that are documented in some appendix in the user guide.


Please do not do that.
If something is configurable only by using properties/.ini/config file
and that something is TEXT EDITOR (even as great and versatile as jEdit)
then there's something gone wrong - to many options or to great paranoia
about mocking with them.
I come from old *nix school and to be honest - it's not (any more) fun
to configure this-and-that-and-all in some text editor. And to make it
more absurd - to configure text editor in text editor.
Brrrrrr :-)))

-- 
Dalibor Petričević