Re: The portability sacred cow

From	Richard <rgrdev_@gmail.com>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.c
Subject	Re: The portability sacred cow
Date	2014-04-26 11:35 +0200
Organization	http://www.ieee.org/
Message-ID	<8738h0o2l0.fsf@gmail.com> (permalink)
References	(2 earlier) <ljcgrt$gr2$2@news.xmission.com> <ljcvom$mb4$1@reader1.panix.com> <lje8ro$g9i$1@news.xmission.com> <20140425111954.344@kylheku.com> <8a8b525c-0d6d-4cc1-80ff-ecb59f52544b@googlegroups.com>

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Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> writes:

> On Friday, April 25, 2014 7:27:53 PM UTC+1, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
>> On 2014-04-25, Kenny McCormack <gazelle@shell.xmission.com> wrote:
>> 
>> You can call Windows API's when developing with MinGW.
>> 
>> The C library that is used is Microsoft's; you can make programs that can ship
>> as nothing but a single .exe file, and run on people's Windows boxes.
>> 
>> What is lacking is a resource compiler for defining dialogs and strings.
>> Or is it?
>>
>> Googling slightly: http://www.mingw.org/wiki/MS_resource_compiler
>>
> One of the features of programming is that most programming tools,
> applications, interfaces etc have a core functionality which is interesting
> from a computer science perspective, and easy enough for someone to program
> up in their spare time. That then gets attached to some sort of user 
> interface, to create something which, in a formal sense, offers a lot
> of functionality.
>
> However the soft problems are easily underestimated. If you've got to
> download something from the internet, install to a specific directory,
> set a path in some sort of configuration file, only to receive a message
> that some bit somewhere is misconfigured, then it can easily take all
> day to install the tool, and it's not usable in a commercial or consumer
> setting (academic programmers and hobbyists can still use it, but even 
> then, only if particularly committed).
>
> It's hard to make software really nice to use, integrated with the
> environment but not falling over when something about that environment is
> not as expected, 

This is total nonsense. It can be, should be, IS .. easy. A programmer
who installs something that's needs an ENV set and cant do it is
probably out of his depth anyway. Any consumer app for non techies that
requires that needs its creating team overhauled.

It sounds to me like you're used to zero testing (user and integration
tests) and somehow conflate your poor processes with the rest of SW
development.

-- 
"Avoid hyperbole at all costs, its the most destructive argument on
the planet" - Mark McIntyre in comp.lang.c

Thread

The portability sacred cow jacob navia <jacob@spamsink.net> - 2014-04-20 23:14 +0200
  Re: The portability sacred cow jacob navia <jacob@spamsink.net> - 2014-04-20 23:34 +0200
    Re: The portability sacred cow Geoff <geoff@invalid.invalid> - 2014-04-20 21:20 -0700
      Re: The portability sacred cow gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2014-04-21 04:35 +0000
      Re: The portability sacred cow Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2014-04-21 05:10 +0000
        Re: The portability sacred cow gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2014-04-21 05:31 +0000
        Re: The portability sacred cow <william@wilbur.25thandClement.com> - 2014-04-20 23:50 -0700
  Re: The portability sacred cow jacob navia <jacob@spamsink.net> - 2014-04-20 23:39 +0200
  Re: The portability sacred cow <william@wilbur.25thandClement.com> - 2014-04-20 23:37 -0700
    Re: The portability sacred cow Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2014-04-21 20:25 +1200
  Re: The portability sacred cow glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2014-04-21 07:10 +0000
  Re: The portability sacred cow Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2014-04-21 20:32 +1200
  Re: The portability sacred cow David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2014-04-21 16:46 +0200
    Re: The portability sacred cow <william@wilbur.25thandClement.com> - 2014-04-21 10:04 -0700
      Re: The portability sacred cow David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2014-04-21 21:02 +0200
  Re: The portability sacred cow Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2014-04-22 02:52 -0700
    Re: The portability sacred cow Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2014-04-22 23:18 +1200
      Re: The portability sacred cow gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2014-04-22 11:49 +0000
    Re: The portability sacred cow jacob navia <jacob@spamsink.net> - 2014-04-22 14:48 +0200
    Re: The portability sacred cow Richard <rgrdev_@gmail.com> - 2014-04-22 14:58 +0100
      Re: The portability sacred cow Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2014-04-22 07:37 -0700
    Re: The portability sacred cow luser droog <luser.droog@gmail.com> - 2014-04-22 21:52 -0700
  Re: The portability sacred cow Johannes Bauer <dfnsonfsduifb@gmx.de> - 2014-04-22 16:58 +0200
    Re: The portability sacred cow jacob navia <jacob@spamsink.net> - 2014-04-22 17:24 +0200
      Re: The portability sacred cow jacob navia <jacob@spamsink.net> - 2014-04-22 17:25 +0200
    Re: The portability sacred cow Gareth Owen <gwowen@gmail.com> - 2014-04-22 19:11 +0100
  Re: The portability sacred cow jacob navia <jacob@spamsink.net> - 2014-04-22 21:59 +0200
    Re: The portability sacred cow Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2014-04-22 14:02 -0700
      Re: The portability sacred cow jacob navia <jacob@spamsink.net> - 2014-04-23 01:04 +0200
        Re: The portability sacred cow <william@wilbur.25thandClement.com> - 2014-04-22 17:52 -0700
          Re: The portability sacred cow <william@wilbur.25thandClement.com> - 2014-04-22 19:15 -0700
      Re: The portability sacred cow jacob navia <jacob@spamsink.net> - 2014-04-23 01:10 +0200
      Re: The portability sacred cow Thomas Jahns <jahns@idontlikespam.dkrz.de> - 2014-04-23 09:53 +0200
        Re: The portability sacred cow gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2014-04-25 02:21 +0000
          Re: The portability sacred cow JohnF <john@please.see.sig.for.email.com> - 2014-04-25 06:36 +0000
            Re: The portability sacred cow Richard <rgrdev_@gmail.com> - 2014-04-25 14:02 +0200
            Re: The portability sacred cow gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2014-04-25 18:17 +0000
              Re: The portability sacred cow Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2014-04-25 18:27 +0000
                Re: The portability sacred cow Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2014-04-25 21:57 -0700
                Re: The portability sacred cow Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2014-04-26 00:02 -0500
                Re: The portability sacred cow Richard <rgrdev_@gmail.com> - 2014-04-26 11:35 +0200
                Re: The portability sacred cow JohnF <john@please.see.sig.for.email.com> - 2014-04-26 06:04 +0000
              Re: The portability sacred cow jacob navia <jacob@spamsink.net> - 2014-04-25 23:08 +0200
                Re: The portability sacred cow glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2014-04-25 21:52 +0000
          Re: The portability sacred cow Thomas Jahns <jahns@idontlikespam.dkrz.de> - 2014-04-25 11:27 +0200
            Re: The portability sacred cow Richard <rgrdev_@gmail.com> - 2014-04-25 14:03 +0200
              Re: The portability sacred cow gazelle@shell.xmission.com (Kenny McCormack) - 2014-04-25 18:18 +0000
              Re: The portability sacred cow "Bill Cunningham" <nospam@nspam.invalid> - 2014-04-26 20:04 -0400
            Re: The portability sacred cow Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2014-04-25 06:05 -0700
              Re: The portability sacred cow Thomas Jahns <jahns@idontlikespam.dkrz.de> - 2014-04-25 17:43 +0200
                Re: The portability sacred cow Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2014-04-25 10:48 -0700

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