[E-Lang] what is good about E?

[Ken Kahn]

Marc Stiegler wrote:
> Actually, there are more types of people than this. My favorite type is
the
> "my grandmother" type, who while taking her first computer class on Web
> surfing is terrified of computer viruses though she doesn't exactly know
> what they are. I have explained the Love Bug virus to community college
> classes full of such people, and I have explained to them what would
happen
> differently if they had a capability secure desktop. They understand it
> immediately. Capability security is not half so much about "security"
> (passwords and that stuff, ick), as it is about giving back to the humans
> the control over what is being done "on their behalf". Capabilities are
> about ensuring that, when you install IE5, it doesn't replace Netscape as
> the default browser, or relabel your html docs with IE5 icons, without
your
> permission. It is about ensuring that, when I install VJ++, it cannot
ravage
> my configuration settings to the point where the PGP plugin to Outlook
> Express no longer functions (true story, of course). It is really really
all
> about the Principle of Least Authority, which grandmothers grok in an
> eyeblink, and go home after my guest lecture dreaming of having one day.
>

I too think about the grandmother type. But I don't think it is this simple.
When I wrote the installation script for ToonTalk I worried about these
issues. Should I make an association with a unused extension without asking?
(I agree it is rude to take over an extension in use without asking.) How
should I make tradeoffs of speed vs. disk space consumed?  Should I, as
Microsoft suggests and my own testing indicates is a good idea, update
Microsoft facilities such as DirectX? (I recommend it but ask first.)

I've read several reviews of consumer software where the reviewer was
pleased at the ease of the "one click installation" and others that
complained an installation was too complex and asked too many questions that
a "grandmother type" has no clue how to answer.

I ended up following the Windows convention of offering 3 choices: 1.
typical (default that automates most choices), 2. minimal (which does as
little as possible but the software may not run as well) and 3. custom
(where you have fine control over most choices).

Going back to your IE5 example, suppose that Netscape wasn't already
installed. Shouldn't it automatically associate HTM with IE? Or should it
get your permission?

I agree that capabilities are a nice way to think about what an installation
script does but I'm not sure I see a connection with E.

I think the grandmother type prefers the one click installation so long as
it doesn't break anything. They are happy with software that does a lot "on
their behalf". If you think otherwise then isn't this an empirical question
that can be answered by surveys or interviews or the like?

Best,

-ken kahn