[TYPO3-hci] BE vs FE

[Michael Scharkow]

Waldemar Kornewald wrote:

> A real-world example:
> The majority of users is able to use MS Word, Excel, and Powerpoint
> *without* having read *any* manuals (and these are your helicopter
> apps!). Sometimes you have to lookup the help for an advanced feature,
> but most users don't even do that. For their simple needs the
> interface is intuitive enough to get the job done. If every MS Office
> user needed training MS wouldn't be so successful.
> 
> Another example:
> Most people don't have a problem with using MS Windows. Its interface
> is acceptable for trial-and-error. But at my university we have
> Linux+KDE and when we (the students) tried to print a document for the
> first time we failed miserably! Why? Because the interface required to
> enter the printing command (lpr or whatever there is), for example.
> And the printing dialog was so overloaded that nobody could get used
> to it. That's an interface that doesn't work for trial-and-error. It
> only works for people reading manuals.

Hi Waldemar,

glad you came up with the beloved "but everyone can use 
Windows/Word/Powerpoint", we haven't had that for a few weeks ;)

1. Just because Microsoft or employers don't train users in using these 
products, it does not mean they are so intuitive that you can use them 
without training. The training takes place in schools and at home. I 
have trained university students in Windows and Office, and it was just 
as hard as training TYPO3 editors.

2. I don't know any KDE program (or any other GUI app) in Linux or 
elsewhere that does not provide a simple print button that is sometimes 
followed by a dialogue in which you should simply press return.

That does not mean that TYPO3 cannot in many ways be improved, but the 
comparisons with other software, especially Word and Co., are completely 
arbitrary. I could just as well complain that I can't save and quit my 
TYPO3 content record with :wq, or that I'd like to have a command line 
interface.

Greetings,
Michael