Re: Guix System video review on YouTube

[raingloom <raingloom@riseup.net>]

On Mon, 27 Apr 2020 12:11:05 +0200
Jonathan Brielmaier <jonathan.brielmaier@web.de> wrote:

> $ echo "hello"
> hello
> $ guix install emacs
> 
> Then while installing emacs, try to reach the hello. It will be tricky
> as every new output line from `guix install emacs` will reset you to
> the bottom of your terminal. That's annoying.
> 

This is not related to the distribution, it's a terminal emulator
default. The behavior is the same in every other distribution I've used.
If they think this is a bad default, they should write on the
terminal emulator's bug tracker.

But then again, you usually want new (possibly quite important)
messages to catch the user's attention, so I'd say it's a good default.

Anyways, the option is trivial to change in the settings. You don't
even have to look too hard.

> So I would propose an interface like:
> $ guix search vim
> | Name          | Synopsis                       | Version  | Outputs
> |
> +---------------+--------------------------------+----------+---------+
> | vim           | Text editor based on vi        | 8.2.0411 | out
> | | vim-airline   | ... [...]

Please don't, ASCII formatting always messes things up. Use the
terminal for text. If you want a more visual package manager, don't use
a CLI tool. A proper GUI will be more accessible.

As one example, ASCII formatting makes screen readers a lot harder to
use.