From: neeri@iis.ethz.ch (Matthias Neeracher)
Subject: Re: GUIs Considered Harmful
Organization: Integrated Systems Laboratory, ETH, Zurich
	<NEERI.92Sep3180619@iis.ethz.ch>
	<1992Sep3.152523.11437@news.cs.indiana.edu>
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 16:53:04 GMT

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In article <1992Sep3.152523.11437@news.cs.indiana.edu> "Ken Rawlings" <krawling@papaya.ucs.indiana.edu> writes:
>In article <NEERI.92Sep3180619@iis.ethz.ch> neeri@iis.ethz.ch (Matthias Neeracher) writes:
>>A minor point: Laserprinter are usually *not* connected with a serial (RS-232)
>>connection, they are networked.
>
>        Sorry, I thought about changing this when I wrote it, but figured it
>didn't matter. What I meant was hooking it up over LocalTalk, which is still a
>serial serial connection if memory serves me.

It's serial in the sense that Ethernet cables are serial.

>>Maybe this situation will change in the not-too-distant future (the printing
>>architecture is one of the oldest and quirkiest part of the Mac), but the
>>problem with a postscript file is that it is not obvious whether to print it as
>>a postscript file or as a text file.
>
>        I understand the dilemma, but I have a problem with an operating
>system that doesn't let you do something anyway. It could pop up a requester
>saying something like, "Are you _sure_ you want to send this raw" or
>something.

I'll concede you that point, provided that you admit that this has nothing
whatsoever to do with the operating system per se.

>>Trust me: There is no way it could run, because it is not yet in the correct
>>Mac format. 
>
>        I'm not talking about the .hqx files, i'm referring to binhex4.bin
>(see below)

That's what I was referring to (see below).

>>>            This is a _real_ problem when you have a bunch of
>>>            .hqx files, and have a copy of binhex4.bin that you downloaded
>>>            with a PC
>>
>>So convert these .hqx files with Stuffit, or Compact Pro, or tickle. Would
>>you expect to read uuencoded files on unix without uudecode ?
>
>        Sheesh, don't assume i'm a _total_ imbecile. :-) 
>
>        It's a totally separate issue. Look more closely at what I said  "when
>you have a bunch of .hqx files, and have a copy of binhex4.bin that you
>downloaded with a PC". I have the _MAC FORMAT_ binary for the "un-hqxer", and
>it won't execute it.

You don't have the Mac format binary, you have the Macbinary format binary. A
Mac format file has two forks, a data and a resource fork. As this differs from
most other file systems, files are sometimes exchanged in Macbinary format,
which is sort of a tar file of the two forks. Despite the name "binary",
Macbinary is just as much an encoding as BinHex, and is *not* equivalent to a
normal Mac file. Files with a suffix of ".bin" are usually Macbinary.

Sorry for getting into Mac specific details, but I hope this point has gotten
clearer.

>        Anyway, I think these issue point out a central problem of a "Total"
>GUI based operating system: If the functionality is not already there, it's
>damn hard to get something new done.

Not really. A converter from Macbinary to a Mac file is not much harder to
write for a Mac than for Unix (and a lot easier than for a Sinclair ZX 80, if
we're talking about CLI's :-). What makes programming for Macs hard is the
increased demands on interface quality you get from GUI trained users.

Matthias

-----
Matthias Neeracher                                      neeri@iis.ethz.ch
  "Nur die halbe Welt ist Teflon und Asbest" -- Einstuerzende Neubauten 
Newsgroups: alt.religion.computers,comp.lang.postscript