kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Dick Hollenbeck <dick@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 03/14/2014 09:33 AM, Wayne Stambaugh wrote:
> On 03/14/2014 10:24 AM, Adam Wolf wrote:
>> Hi folks,
>>
>> I heartily agree with this.  I've been trying to show some Kicad users
>> how to use new features in Kicad, and environment variables is turning
>> out to be a real turn-off for many of them.
> 
> That's a rather sad statement.  Before the advent of the GUI (I know I 
> am showing my age), even the secretary (before they were called personal 
> assistants) at my first job knew how to set environment variables to get 
> DOS to print to a specific printer without the assistance of tech 
> support or the engineering department.  Apparently now, folks who are 
> "technically competent" enough to lay out a PCB cannot be bothered with 
> learning how to set up their OS works so that they can configure it 
> properly.  I confess myself disappointed. :(
> 
> Wayne



I argued early on for a training video.  But the whiner I asked to do that insisted
everything should be self explanatory, as an excuse to not make the video.



People make billions of dollars training people on how to use software.  The notion that
all software should be intuitive enough to use without either consulting the manual or a
training session, is simply not reality.  I know a guy making a fortune teaching softare
to corporate users.  His fortune is my proof.  Modern software sometimes requires training.

He started teaching Word Perfect to lawyers, but now its huge, and any number of software
programs are being taught to any number of corporations.  He wrote none of this software,
and only does the scheduling now for his employees who do the travelling.




I am still frustrated that people have not bothered to read the manual, and don't seem to
know that using environment variables is optional.  The concept is really not that hard,
but they're less interested in concept than immediate use.


The video idea was in recognition of the well known fact that "if its free, then I also
should not have to read, because that would ruin the totality of the free-ness."