"A Word of Caution" to all newcomers

John Pierce john.raymond.pierce at gmail.com
Wed Dec 1 20:23:00 UTC 2004


Hi all,

I just figured I'd go get the latest Squeak 3.8 beta to keep up with
the latest ideas and I am reminded once again how *scary* and daunting
Squeak looks when first opening a new image.

While I could rant about the initial window style and font choices, I
know there is a desire to integrate Diego's L&F into the base image --
that would be a good move IMO, but that is not what I want to discuss.

So what I'd rather rant about is this little window that is in orange
at the top of the screen that says "A Word of Caution..."  It seems
extremely uninviting and raises the hair on my back until I remember
this is just Squeak and not something dangerous or toxic that I've
just downloaded.

So I breath a sigh of relief and remember to just close the window and
move along (also, the message inside the window is very uninviting and
discourages folks from exploring this *overwhelming* system).

Couldn't we do something instead that invites folks in for a stay for
while?  How about replacing the window with the following window if it
is still important to direct folks in educational realms to SqueakLand
(or see screen shot attachment):
------------
| A note to students, parents, and teachers |
------------
If you are a student, parent, or teacher looking for well-documented
and easy-to-use educational software, you may want to visit
SqueakLand.org, where you can find some great educational projects
built in Squeak, but delivered in an easier-to-use distribution of
Squeak.

If you are still eager to explore this base distribution of Squeak,
there is lots of help available in the form of web-accessible
tutorials and documentation and on-line via the Squeak mailing list
from numerous knowledgeable users of Squeak. Access to the mailing
list can be found at:
http://squeak.org/documentation/index.html#mailing.
------------

Oh yeah, a light green color to the window seems better than the
"cautionary orange neon danger color".  Anyways -- not to start a
debate or ruffle any feathers, but I think a change like this would
say the same thing as the former message and not cause any anxieties
to newcomers (and oldcomers alike).

Kind Regards,

John

-- 
If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it. --
Albert Einstein
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