logermoore's comments

On: Facebook email is live

[logermoore]

Why not just pay for an IMAP account at a provider that doesn't invade your privacy?

On: Facebook email is live

[logermoore]

The combination of Facebook's blatant disregard for privacy and American authorities' wide access to snoop means that I won't be using Facebook email.

On: [2008] On The Flight to Old Text Editors

[logermoore]

The difference is that in the case of hammer vs. nailgun, the old solution (the hammer) is the simple one, and the new solution (the nailgun) is the complex one.

With editors it's the other way around. Old editors are in no way simple, quite the contrary. Emacs is complex, and Vim, while seemingly simple, is complex once you want to change its default mode of working.

As in the case with the hammer, simple tools often work best - but in the world of editors, the new tools are often the simplest ones.

[forensic → logermoore]

It's not clear that nailguns are more complex than hammers. What is the measure of complexity? Nailguns are easier to use for a complete newbie, so a nailgun could be seen as a simpler tool. Becoming an expert hammer user takes literally years.

There are many different ways to measure complexity. Learning curve, interface, potential for virtuosity, amount of time implementation took, etc.

Nailguns are wayyyyy simpler to use than a hammer.

[hsmyers → forensic]

As a one-time (long ago) silver smith, I can tell you that while there were more than 30 hammers on the wall, there was not one nail-gun. A brief tour of books on subjects from book-binding to leather engraving should demonstrate that there is not a one-size fits all replacement for a tool whose many forms have been developed over centuries (if I handed you a hammer used by a roman carpenter, you would know a.) what it was and b.) how to use it) is just silly. Try making the last finishing cut with a carving tool using a nailgun before you say anything about simplicity...

[forensic → hsmyers]

I think you missed my point. What you're saying actually supports my opinion on this issue.

[logermoore → forensic]

Okay, I wasn't aware of that. I still think modern editors are simpler and easier to deal with than Emacs and Vim, but that's a different story.

On: Encrypted Google Docs done well

[logermoore]

Unless you actually use the collaboration feature of Google Docs it would make more sense to just use LibreOffice instead of Google Docs + encryption.

On: Encrypted Google Docs done well

[logermoore]

Free storage? You could store a gazillion word processing and spreadsheet documents on a normal hard drive (and back them up on Dropbox if necessary). Awesome software? Hardly (and I've used them for years before I switched back to desktop programs). The word processor still has bugs that should have been weeded out years ago.

So the question is relevant: Why not just use LibreOffice?

On: Which calendar features are essential?

[logermoore]

Thanks for your comments. Why is a browser-based app a problem (if it does what it's supposed to do)?

On: Five Reasons why Google's Linux Chromebook is a Wi...

[logermoore]

So, a laptop where the OS, browser, search engine, email client, calendar, word processor, spreadsheet, etc. are all controlled by a single company that gathers loads of personal information about you? No thanks.