Mike Hord wrote:
> No doubt there will be a chorus of RTFM after this, but I maintain
> that good software ought to be at least approachable
> sans-documentation.

That is desirable in isolation, but unfortunately it usually comes at a cos=
t
back here in the real world.  Such software often has little depth and is
more annoying to use once you have bothered to learn it.  For software I us=
e
lightly and that isn't a important part of my main job, I may prefer easy t=
o
pick up.  But software that I will use heavily, like EECAD, I don't care
much about the learning curve but rather want something that I can
eventually use effectively the way I like to use software.

Too many software designers cater to the mindless masses who are allergic t=
o
manuals and buy on first impressions.  This means lots of hold-your-hands
GUIs and clickety click interfaces.  That by itself would be OK if the GUI
was layered on a scriptable command engine with flexible hot key assignment=
s
and the like, but all too often it isn't.  Once you get to know the
software, all the nannyware gets in the way and slows down the process.
It's not that hard to make software work both ways, but too many software
engineers grew up with clickety-click GUIs and have not been exposed to the
power of scriptable command engines.  Or, they are only pushed by marketing
for the GUIs.

This is one thing Eagle gets right.  Clickety-click interfaces when they
appear are largely layered on the underlying command engine.  Microsoft use=
d
to be better than most at this too.  They didn't always have a accessible
underlying command layer, but they were generally good about everything
being doable from a menu entry, usually with a shortcut key, and didn't mak=
e
a toolbar icon or a right-click menu the only way to do something.
Unfortunately, they have decended into the only placating the morons instea=
d
of supporting both the morons and the power users.


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