From: "Robert J. Chassell" <bob@rattlesnake.com>
Subject: Re: Info tutorial is out of date
Date: Mon, 17 Jul 2006 12:48:11 +0000 (UTC) [thread overview]
Message-ID: <m1G2SWB-0004EqC@rattlesnake.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: <E1G2I6T-0007sT-HM@fencepost.gnu.org> (message from Richard Stallman on Sun, 16 Jul 2006 21:40:57 -0400)
... the question is about beginners. Isn't it clear that nearly
all beginners use the mouse?
Yes, nowadays, nearly all beginners use the mouse. But that is not
the question. The questions are
* based on their previous knowledge, will beginners (who are sighted
and using their vision and their hands) understand the use of the
mouse in a plain Emacs or will they expect to use the mouse in a
different way?
Presuming that beginners single click (double clicking fails) on
`Help', they will see the `Emacs Tutorial' listed as the first
option and may click on that line. (You have to read the Emacs
manual to learn about going to the Info help. The Emacs manual is
nine lines down the `Help' menu.)
The only change to Tutorial, the Emacs manual, or the Info help
that I would suggest is writing these two sentences at or near the
beginning:
For many actions, you can click on a topic with a mouse
button. This tutorial focuses on the more efficient key
sequences.
* based on their previous knowledge, will beginners unlearn
inefficent habits and begin to use key sequences appropriately?
I hope so. But according to my experience and all I have read, it
is harder for people to unlearn what they learned previously than
to learn rightly the first time. And when undertaking a change,
we must work with what people already know.
The one thing we should never do is encourage the wrong habits.
The two answers mean we should not teach inefficent habits and we
should recognize that most beginners will already know conventions for
use of the mice. (Indeed, some will have learned one set of
conventions so well they will call that set `intuitive'!)
--
Robert J. Chassell
bob@rattlesnake.com GnuPG Key ID: 004B4AC8
http://www.rattlesnake.com http://www.teak.cc
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2006-07-17 12:48 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 114+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2006-07-15 14:44 Info tutorial is out of date Drew Adams
2006-07-15 15:04 ` David Kastrup
2006-07-15 17:07 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-16 6:25 ` Richard Stallman
2006-07-16 17:33 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-16 18:02 ` Eli Zaretskii
2006-07-17 16:06 ` Richard Stallman
2006-07-20 19:03 ` Slawomir Nowaczyk
2006-07-20 23:10 ` Miles Bader
2006-07-21 1:11 ` Slawomir Nowaczyk
2006-07-15 17:46 ` Thien-Thi Nguyen
2006-07-15 23:41 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-16 8:29 ` Thien-Thi Nguyen
2006-07-16 17:33 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-16 17:52 ` Eli Zaretskii
2006-07-16 18:51 ` Thien-Thi Nguyen
2006-07-15 22:14 ` Alan Mackenzie
2006-07-15 22:56 ` martin rudalics
2006-07-15 23:41 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-15 23:41 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-16 0:26 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-16 6:23 ` David Kastrup
2006-07-16 17:33 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-16 17:49 ` David Kastrup
2006-07-20 19:03 ` Slawomir Nowaczyk
2006-07-16 18:42 ` Jay Belanger
2006-07-16 19:24 ` Lennart Borgman
2006-07-16 20:13 ` Jay Belanger
2006-07-16 20:28 ` Lennart Borgman
2006-07-20 19:03 ` Slawomir Nowaczyk
2006-07-20 19:35 ` Jay Belanger
2006-07-16 22:16 ` Mathias Dahl
2006-07-17 3:09 ` Stefan Monnier
2006-07-17 3:54 ` Luc Teirlinck
2006-07-17 5:07 ` Luc Teirlinck
2006-07-17 5:54 ` Eli Zaretskii
2006-07-17 16:54 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-17 19:06 ` Eli Zaretskii
2006-07-17 23:01 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-18 3:32 ` Eli Zaretskii
2006-07-18 4:37 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-18 19:42 ` Eli Zaretskii
2006-07-18 22:19 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-19 3:01 ` Eli Zaretskii
2006-07-17 16:37 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-17 19:01 ` Eli Zaretskii
2006-07-17 23:01 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-18 3:34 ` Eli Zaretskii
2006-07-18 4:37 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-18 19:43 ` Eli Zaretskii
2006-07-18 22:19 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-19 3:02 ` Eli Zaretskii
2006-07-18 13:37 ` Richard Stallman
2006-07-18 0:13 ` Richard Stallman
2006-07-18 4:40 ` Luc Teirlinck
2006-07-18 5:03 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-18 15:00 ` Richard Stallman
2006-07-17 4:20 ` Luc Teirlinck
2006-07-18 2:03 ` Miles Bader
2006-07-18 14:24 ` Stefan Monnier
2006-07-19 3:18 ` Miles Bader
2006-07-17 16:06 ` Richard Stallman
2006-07-17 16:37 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-17 17:03 ` Jay Belanger
2006-07-17 17:11 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-17 19:01 ` Jay Belanger
2006-07-17 23:01 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-17 13:21 ` Alan Mackenzie
2006-07-17 16:37 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-20 19:03 ` Slawomir Nowaczyk
2006-07-20 22:41 ` Richard Stallman
[not found] ` <87k66devap.fsf_-_@hans.local.net>
2006-07-16 20:28 ` Info tutorial is out of date; mouse usage David Kastrup
2006-07-16 21:13 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-16 9:08 ` Info tutorial is out of date Alan Mackenzie
2006-07-16 17:33 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-16 18:44 ` Thien-Thi Nguyen
2006-07-16 22:28 ` Mathias Dahl
2006-07-16 23:35 ` Alan Mackenzie
2006-07-16 22:57 ` Mathias Dahl
2006-07-17 1:07 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-17 9:33 ` Alan Mackenzie
2006-07-17 12:49 ` Robert J. Chassell
2006-07-17 8:19 ` Alan Mackenzie
2006-07-18 2:29 ` Miles Bader
2006-07-18 4:37 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-18 7:03 ` Thien-Thi Nguyen
2006-07-18 15:00 ` "shortcut" Richard Stallman
2006-07-19 3:35 ` Info tutorial is out of date Miles Bader
2006-07-17 1:40 ` Richard Stallman
2006-07-17 2:16 ` Jay Belanger
2006-07-17 9:44 ` Alan Mackenzie
2006-07-17 12:25 ` Sascha Wilde
2006-07-17 14:37 ` Mathias Dahl
2006-07-17 14:41 ` Lennart Borgman
2006-07-17 16:37 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-17 18:57 ` Eli Zaretskii
2006-07-17 23:01 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-18 9:38 ` Alan Mackenzie
2006-07-18 15:28 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-18 16:57 ` Thien-Thi Nguyen
2006-07-18 17:39 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-18 19:06 ` Thien-Thi Nguyen
2006-07-18 17:34 ` Thien-Thi Nguyen
2006-07-17 16:37 ` Drew Adams
2006-07-19 2:23 ` Brad Collins
2006-07-19 9:53 ` Alan Mackenzie
2006-07-19 14:38 ` Richard Stallman
2006-07-17 12:48 ` Robert J. Chassell [this message]
2006-07-18 0:12 ` Richard Stallman
2006-07-18 13:39 ` David Hansen
2006-07-16 2:16 ` Jorgen Schaefer
2006-07-16 17:30 ` Richard Stallman
2006-07-16 6:25 ` Richard Stallman
2006-07-16 17:33 ` Drew Adams
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