Ref: the more or less standard layout of drop-down menu systems...
Is it a necessity that one should *standardise* menus in this way? I find it really limiting to think that.
Certainly not. For another concept that students benefit from being implicitly taught is there are usually many ways of invoking the same function. For example, the 'Paste' command is usually accessible thus; 1. On the drop-down menu select 'Edit...' 'Paste' 2. Type 'alt-E', 'alt-P' 3. Type 'crtl-V' 4. Locate the 'Edit' toolbar and click on the 'Paste' icon 5. Hold down the 'ctrl' key while you 'Drag & Drop' a highlighted copy of the object you want to paste. 6. Etc., etc., etc... Of course you are free to chose any method that personally suits you best. But when students first attempt to use an unfamiliar application the familiar structure that's inherent within the drop-down menu system makes this far easier, compared with trying to work out what those 'naff looking' indecipherable icons might mean.
One of the reasons I switched to using the CLI is that the CLI allows me to work the way *I* want to, rather than being restricted in this way.
Working with the CLI (command line interface) is fine if this suits your preferred way of working. But it just so happens that I'm diagnosed with a 'specific learning difficulty' that manifest principally as an almost nonexistent extended short-term memory capacity. I guess this renders me permanently in a state that's similar to most novices, in that I'm simply not able to remember even a small subset of the most commonly used CLI commands, let alone master the full complexity of CLI syntax. That's why I find working with Linux becomes just too frustrating at times.
So-called "point and click" junkies.
Yes, I guess this makes me a point-and-click junkie ...and I'm proud of it! I've even been know to proffer the opinion that CLIs' based interfaces which give little or no feedback until after it's far too late really suck! At the risk of starting as flame-war, give me a well-designed WIMPs based GUI any day! Actually, there are times when I get highly jealous of 'CLI' junkies who achieve so much with such ease. For they have the luxury of invoking feats of memory that I can only dream about. The synapses within my brain are simply not wired up so as to readily store and access information in the way that these CLI warriors do. I guess I could described manner in which my brain works as more akin to a powerful RISK based processor, restricted to working with negligible RAM and interfaced to ludicrously small hard drive. What ultimately makes this usable is the fast and powerful 'real time' interpreter based OS that my brain runs in the background. However this interpreter requires constant servicing with memory refresh cycles gleaned from looking at the screen. Without this feedback my brain quickly grinds to a halt or even crashes!
...when you start to work an a new application you'll quickly discover you already know how to access perhaps 80% or even in excess of 90% of it's basic functionality.
Which is the sad thing, because hidden behind all of that are some powerful tools to be had.
What you've written simply doesn't make any sense al all. Quite the opposite in fact. For once you know how to access the 80% to 90%, this frees up your mind to concentrate principally upon the really interesting new stuff you have alluded to, dummy! <VVVVBG> ;-) David Bowles TeacherLab / Education Support