There was a time (roughly between 1982 and 1993) when very few could sit down in front of a GUI. I do feel like I am returning to that time. Here are some interfaces I could do without, except that I can't:
→ The command line. In 2020, I need to do a lot of things at a command line because there is no other way. For example, starting and stopping sshd needs to be a checkbox.
→ Tabs. Tabs. and more layers of Tabs: boot tabs, workspace tabs: work-spaces/virtual-machines/containers/emulators, Apps ⌘+Tab, Windows ⌘+~, the sad return of "Multiple Document Interface" in the form of tabs and hierarchies of tabs within those tabs, tabs within the page and hierarchies of tabs within those tabs, Views within the page with tabs within those views and hierarchies of tabs within those tabs, keep going recurring tabs possibly forever.
→ You deserve better than this: window snapping. And so-called "tiled" window managers which are little more than poor versions of 1980's window splitting.
→ Right clicking and yet another menu/sub-menus pops up of things I don't want.
→ JavaScript. Advertising. "Block pop up windows" has been enabled by default for a long time, but what about blocking pop ups within a page? An ad blocker for now, I guess.
→ The hamburger menu. Or for that matter, any menu with sub-menus and any menu with more than 8 to 9 menu items.
Here are some interfaces that have improved:
→ No modes.
→ The ability to go full screen when needed without compromise. And, being able to, fairly easily, get out of full screen.
→ UTF-8
→ more guides: the translucent lines or boxes that help align UI elements in flexible ways
What is missing:
→ pop ups/menus used extremely sparingly.
→ Tools that float, in the sidelines — not on top of content, only in the context of when you need them. For examples, see game interfaces, or excellent graphics applications.
→ What you deserve is "Zoom to fit" which when done well is great.
It’s funny you mention that, because if you keep scrolling to the section “for the haters,” you’ll find a pretty close approximation of my views, and a worthy response to those who scorn another’s preferences because they are against their own, when they aren’t mutually exclusive. It’s okay to have more than one way. It seems like some kind of appeal to correctness or directness or purity of task completion that I don’t understand, but which is very common in computers and software especially.
A poor craftsman blames their tools as the saying goes. A worse one curses their tools. A good craftsman appreciates the shortcomings and limitations of their tools and adapts their tool usage, tool choice, and their very tools themselves if need be. What kind of craftsman criticizes the tools another chooses on matters upon which reasonable people could disagree? Is such a tool unreasonable, or is it the craftsman who criticizes another exercising a preference and doing their own thing their own way?
Not every tool is for every job, nor is every tool for every tool user. Preferences are normal and vary. So should expectations. There’s always another tool. Try not to be the tool but rather the tool user.
- Under any other Unix you'd write a GUI over /etc/rc.d/rc.ssh and you called it a day.
I dunno about TCL/TK under OSX, but on BSD/Linux it's a click away. Or better: iomenu/dialog. You pressed a keybind, and chose to start/stop SSH from a dialog under a term.
- I hate tiling. CWM has the best of the minimal and floating worlds.
- JS? use unbound and a hosts fetching + AWK script. Now you have a system wide ad and pest bloking.
→ The command line. In 2020, I need to do a lot of things at a command line because there is no other way. For example, starting and stopping sshd needs to be a checkbox.
→ Tabs. Tabs. and more layers of Tabs: boot tabs, workspace tabs: work-spaces/virtual-machines/containers/emulators, Apps ⌘+Tab, Windows ⌘+~, the sad return of "Multiple Document Interface" in the form of tabs and hierarchies of tabs within those tabs, tabs within the page and hierarchies of tabs within those tabs, Views within the page with tabs within those views and hierarchies of tabs within those tabs, keep going recurring tabs possibly forever.
→ You deserve better than this: window snapping. And so-called "tiled" window managers which are little more than poor versions of 1980's window splitting.
→ Right clicking and yet another menu/sub-menus pops up of things I don't want.
→ JavaScript. Advertising. "Block pop up windows" has been enabled by default for a long time, but what about blocking pop ups within a page? An ad blocker for now, I guess.
→ The hamburger menu. Or for that matter, any menu with sub-menus and any menu with more than 8 to 9 menu items.
Here are some interfaces that have improved:
→ No modes.
→ The ability to go full screen when needed without compromise. And, being able to, fairly easily, get out of full screen.
→ UTF-8
→ more guides: the translucent lines or boxes that help align UI elements in flexible ways
What is missing:
→ pop ups/menus used extremely sparingly.
→ Tools that float, in the sidelines — not on top of content, only in the context of when you need them. For examples, see game interfaces, or excellent graphics applications.
→ What you deserve is "Zoom to fit" which when done well is great.