osOpinion: Raskin on ‘Raskin on OS X’

[ Thanks to Kelly
McNeill for this link. ]

“Some readers think that I am proposing having applications,
which could be launched by a button press (as with the Commodore
CBM Plus4, Palm). I am not proposing anything of the sort. An
abundance of third-party software is a necessity, but I am
proposing a better way to access all that power.”

“Many writers misunderstand that I want to eliminate the
low-level functionality of an OS, and then say that I am obviously
bonkers to suggest such a thing. I’ve never said that “an OS does
nothing,” and think nothing of the sort.”

“The comment, “So the OS isn’t going to go away, especially when
computer geeks like me work faster on the command line” (as well as
similar comments from others) are very far off the mark; anybody
who reads my book or looks at the systems I’ve designed since the
Mac know that I promote keyboard commands instead of the awkward
menus and icons we now have.”

“I’ve found ways to allow “geeks” or anybody else to work
efficiently without making it hard for beginners to learn the
system. In fact, it’s easier to learn than today’s GUIs.”

“That’s where I’ve gone beyond the old form of command lines,
and adopted the idea that issuing commands via a few alphabetic
keystrokes is one of the best ways of operating a computer. Those
that had suggested the previous notion are confusing an OS with the
interface of an OS, a mistake many made.”

Complete
Story