Comments on: On computing happiness http://atomized.org/2008/09/on-computing-happiness/ Fragmenting reality. Thu, 18 Feb 2010 08:42:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: Ian http://atomized.org/2008/09/on-computing-happiness/comment-page-1/#comment-98322 Ian Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:40:46 +0000 http://atomized.org/?p=332#comment-98322 @Alex, In what way does Emacs not "look and work right" on a Mac? I use Aquamacs (http://aquamacs.org/), and it looks and works very much like a Mac app. There's a menubar, toolbar, it has the standard OS X open/print/font dialogs, has Aqua scrollbars, uses the OS X help system (including search), and so on. In fact, I'd say it adheres to the OS X Way to a fault - I have mine tweaked to be more Emacsy and less OS Xy; this is largely a relic of my Emacs use predating my OS X use and me being more comfortable with that. It doesn't use an OS X preference pane - that's honestly the only thing that jumps out at me after poking around at it for a few minutes. I also don't see much disconnect between Firefox and native apps. Can you point to something more concrete? Looks like I can't move the window by grabbing the toolbar or statusbar. I just don't see huge differences in either of these apps. The few issues definitely don't outweigh the large increase in utility they provide over competing appe. It seems like you're advocating against cross-platform software purely on the basis that it never works right. I disagree with the premise, and I think that the decision (utility vs. UI) needs consideration, rather than dismissing cross-platform software out of hand. And if you're looking for Emacs tips, you found the right blog. ;) @Alex, In what way does Emacs not “look and work right” on a Mac? I use Aquamacs (http://aquamacs.org/), and it looks and works very much like a Mac app. There’s a menubar, toolbar, it has the standard OS X open/print/font dialogs, has Aqua scrollbars, uses the OS X help system (including search), and so on. In fact, I’d say it adheres to the OS X Way to a fault – I have mine tweaked to be more Emacsy and less OS Xy; this is largely a relic of my Emacs use predating my OS X use and me being more comfortable with that. It doesn’t use an OS X preference pane – that’s honestly the only thing that jumps out at me after poking around at it for a few minutes.

I also don’t see much disconnect between Firefox and native apps. Can you point to something more concrete? Looks like I can’t move the window by grabbing the toolbar or statusbar.

I just don’t see huge differences in either of these apps. The few issues definitely don’t outweigh the large increase in utility they provide over competing appe.

It seems like you’re advocating against cross-platform software purely on the basis that it never works right. I disagree with the premise, and I think that the decision (utility vs. UI) needs consideration, rather than dismissing cross-platform software out of hand.

And if you’re looking for Emacs tips, you found the right blog. ;)

]]> By: snogglethorpe http://atomized.org/2008/09/on-computing-happiness/comment-page-1/#comment-98270 snogglethorpe Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:09:06 +0000 http://atomized.org/?p=332#comment-98270 People who write these sort of "lists of rules" generally seem to do them mostly to justify choices they have made -- and the reasons for those choices may well be quite different than the principles they're publicly advocating. It's no wonder that what they come up with tends to fall apart under any sort of scrutiny... People who write these sort of “lists of rules” generally seem to do them mostly to justify choices they have made — and the reasons for those choices may well be quite different than the principles they’re publicly advocating. It’s no wonder that what they come up with tends to fall apart under any sort of scrutiny…

]]> By: Alex Payne http://atomized.org/2008/09/on-computing-happiness/comment-page-1/#comment-98233 Alex Payne Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:36:46 +0000 http://atomized.org/?p=332#comment-98233 Emacs and Firefox have been the most frequently presented counterexamples to my list. As someone currently experimenting with Emacs on and off, I understand why - it's a powerful, flexible tool. I actually found this site when searching around for Emacs tips. I was happy to see you'd come across my list and disagreed with it :) Imagine if Emacs had all its power and flexibility, but actually looked and worked right on a Mac desktop. Wouldn't that be better? Wouldn't that make you happier? Ditto Firefox. What if it had all that hackability, but it actually obeyed all the rules of its host operating system so you didn't have to remember a second set of behaviors when using it? It's just a thought experiment :) Emacs and Firefox have been the most frequently presented counterexamples to my list. As someone currently experimenting with Emacs on and off, I understand why – it’s a powerful, flexible tool. I actually found this site when searching around for Emacs tips. I was happy to see you’d come across my list and disagreed with it :)

Imagine if Emacs had all its power and flexibility, but actually looked and worked right on a Mac desktop. Wouldn’t that be better? Wouldn’t that make you happier? Ditto Firefox. What if it had all that hackability, but it actually obeyed all the rules of its host operating system so you didn’t have to remember a second set of behaviors when using it?

It’s just a thought experiment :)

]]> By: kris http://atomized.org/2008/09/on-computing-happiness/comment-page-1/#comment-98198 kris Sun, 14 Sep 2008 21:24:46 +0000 http://atomized.org/?p=332#comment-98198 I was excited that Vienna showed me you wrote a post and it didn't appear to be related to Emacs. Sadly, I was incorrect. I was excited that Vienna showed me you wrote a post and it didn’t appear to be related to Emacs. Sadly, I was incorrect.

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