[techtalk] X Mail client recommendations

[Dan McGarry]

----- Original Message -----
From: Telsa Gwynne <hobbit at aloss.ukuu.org.uk>
To: <techtalk at linuxchix.org>
Sent: Sunday, February 20, 2000 7:28 AM
Subject: Re: [techtalk] X Mail client recommendations


[snipped: differences between GUI and character-based mail displays]

> So it seems to be "more information at a glance" and "easier UI",
> then?  I'm not the world's most accurate mouse-user, so I find it
> easier to type than to get the right button or menu, but I know the
> computer using world is divided into people who find one of mouse/text
> easier.

I too prefer to use a keyboard, all the time if possible. One of my main
problems X and Windows is the poor (at best inconsistent) implementation of
a keyboard interface. I can't tell you the number of times I've groaned in
frustration when pressing ALT-W in the Default RH Netscape package, and
watching it do precisely nothing. This in spite of the fact that the menu
clearly indicates that this should work!

The list goes on. For speed and efficiency, I find that character-based
interfaces are typically much better than their GUI counterparts. I don't
consider this a necessary condition, however. I can't think of any
compelling reason[*] why a GUI should not be just as navigable by keyboard
as a character-based app. But for some reason, this is seldom the case. One
of my pet peeves with XEMACS (of all things) is that by default it requires
cutting and pasting to be done by mouse. The whole reason I use XEMACS is to
have the powerful keyboard interface *and* a decent GUI.

[* Okay, in fairness, I can think of one: time. GUIs aren't built overnight,
and developing standard aproaches to tasks can be a troublesome thing,
especially in the world of proprietary software, where there's a strong
*dis*incentive to look and act just like every other app. Yet another reason
to like open source: there's some hope that a degree of consistency in
appearance and behaviour can at last be achieved.]

--
Dan McGarry
http://www.moodindigo.com/



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