Pipes 163When was the last time your Unix workstation was as useful as a Macin-
tosh? When was the last time it ran programs from different companies (or
even different divisions of the same company) that could really communi-
cate? If it’s done so at all, it's because some Mac software vendor sweated
blood porting its programs to Unix, and tried to make Unix look more like
the Mac.
The fundamental difference between Unix and the Macintosh operating
system is that Unix was designed to please programmers, whereas the Mac
was designed to please users. (Windows, on the other hand, was designed
to please accountants, but that’s another story.)
Research has shown that pipes and redirection are hard to use, not because
of conceptual problems, but because of arbitrary and unintuitive limita-
tions. It is documented that only those steeped in Unixdom, not run-of-the-
mill users, can appreciate or use the power of pipes.
Date: Thu, 31 Jan 91 14:29:42 EST
From: Jim Davis <[email protected]>
To: UNIX-HATERS
Subject: ExpertiseThis morning I read an article in the Journal of Human-Computer
Interaction, “Expertise in a Computer Operating System,” by
Stephanie M. Doane and two others. Guess which operating system
she studied? Doane studied the knowledge and performance of Unix
novices, intermediates, and expert users. Here are few quotes:“Only experts could successfully produce composite
commands that required use of the distinctive features of Unix
(e.g. pipes and other redirection symbols).”In other words, every feature that is new in Unix (as opposed to being
copied, albeit in a defective or degenerate form from another operat-
ing system) is so arcane that it can be used only after years of arcane
study and practice.“This finding is somewhat surprising, inasmuch as these are
fundamental design features of Unix, and these features are
taught in elementary classes.”She also refers to the work of one S. W. Draper, who is said to have
believed, as Doane says: