commit: ac5710af2951d4e6643b54b7e406fef9ab9ed454
parent 75e89bf90af89f9480d52569cbac193031cb2b32
Author: Haelwenn (lanodan) Monnier <contact@hacktivis.me>
Date: Fri, 8 May 2020 23:29:32 +0200
decreases of usability: New page
Diffstat:
2 files changed, 27 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
diff --git a/decreases of usability.shtml b/decreases of usability.shtml
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+<!DOCTYPE html>
+<html>
+ <head>
+<!--#include file="/templates/head.shtml" -->
+ <title>Decreases of usability — lanodan’s cyber-home</title>
+ </head>
+ <body>
+<!--#include file="/templates/en/nav.shtml" -->
+ <main>
+ <h1>Decreases of usability</h1>
+ <p>Inspired by <a href="https://datagubbe.se/decusab/">The Decline of Usability | datagubbe.se</a>, which I would recommend reading.</p>
+ <h2>Progress bars</h2>
+ <p>Few decades back progress bars often used to have nice separation with blocks so you could notice progress and count rough percentage easily if a number wasn't present. Nowadays if you don't only get a spinner or some waiting screen (games…) you have a simple-ass line, if there is no percentage next to it, you're basically lost with something where you can only get an idea of the quarters instead of a good indication of the dozens. Imagine having something like your mercure-based thermometer with no units on it.</p>
+ <p>Nowadays you basically have to keep the pointer on the progress bar to notice progress. Great, as if doing separators was any kind of an hard thing to do.</p>
+ <h2>Documentation</h2>
+ <p>I know, 90% of folks do not read them. But it doesn't means that it's completely useless, documentation can allow to repair a program or reimplement it (software rot). Some programs have litterally no documentation for their settings, Firefox is one example of that, specially for the <code>about:config</code>, meanwhile the linux kernel, the thing supposed to be hard to configure, like if you would need to be a confirmed wizard? Well each setting has a nice documentation, there is some pre-made configs for you, you can export/import your settings, and there is <a href="https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git/tree/Documentation?h=v5.6.11">/Documentation/</a> which is useful for the runtime configs or APIs, including internal ones.</p>
+ <h2>Scrollbars</h2>
+ <p>I think Ubuntu introduced this one, scrollbars that have something like 5 pixels width maximum and with poping alien buttons when you manage to hover it. Name of the thing was something like <code>liboverlay</code> or <code>libunderlay</code>, and gess what? It looks like it got adopted elsewhere because I have it in NetBSD with Xfce, at least not on my main machines (running Gentoo with XMonad or Sway).</p>
+ <p>As datagubbe pointed out there is also contrast or even just indication issues, sometimes you're left wondering which part is the background and which part is the foreground.</p>
+ <p>Want some system where the scrollbars are glorious? Plan9. Like the rest of the system the UI is simple as fuck but presents everything well. You get to choose how much to scroll on each click based on the position in the scrollbar or directly at a precise position with another click, meanwhile I had to hard-modify my current mouse so I would have less to no friction on the wheel.</p>
+ <h2>Behaviours from other platforms into yours</h2>
+ <p><a href="https://www.jwz.org/blog/2012/04/why-i-use-safari-instead-of-firefox/"><cite>jwz: Why I use Safari instead of Firefox</cite></a>: <q>I don't <i>want</i> your Linux in my Mac. I want my Mac to behave like a Mac. That's why I bought a Mac.</q>. Well Firefox… I don't want your Windows into my Linux (or Unix), if you don't want to maintain behaviour consistent to the platform, maybe keeping on simply using GTK or making a small wrapper, or another toolkit would have been better, but no, you did you own <abbr title="Not Invented Here">NIH</abbr> with XUL, which you're doomed to be the only one using.</p>
+ </main>
+<!--#include file="/templates/en/footer.html" -->
+ </body>
+</html>
diff --git a/templates/en/nav.shtml b/templates/en/nav.shtml
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
<li><a href="/animelist">Anime List</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li tabindex="0" class="menu"><span>Misc'</span><ul>
+ <li><a href="/decreases%20of%20usability">Decreases of usability</a></li>
<li><a href="/kopimi/">Kopimi (libre data)</a></li>
<li><a href="/notes/">Notes</a></li>
<li><a href="/abgilpqt+">ABGILPQT+</a></li>
