This is absolutely impossible in the EU where law is changed 100x times per day. You simply wouldn't comply.
Ask HN: My family business runs on a 1993-era text-based-UI (TUI). Anybody else?
41–50 of 315 posts
Re: Ask HN: My family business runs on a 1993-era text-based-UI (TUI). Anybody else?
#42A client i work for used a Pick system and it's maintained by one dude. He's in his 60s, so who knows how long they'll be able to get support... [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pick_operating_system
> It is named after one of its developers, Dick Pick Wikipedia vandals these days...
There's a completely unironic obituary linked from the LA Times from 1994, which makes me wonder if the scandalous meaning even existed yet in those days?
Re: Ask HN: My family business runs on a 1993-era text-based-UI (TUI). Anybody else?
#43I built my own ERP system for handling my business. It's also an TUI and has been here on Hacker News a few times. About training new staff, there's actually studies done on it: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2655855/ My 2 cents is that GUI is good for exploring new software, while TUI is wonderful if you already have a mental map of what you're doing. So for everyday used software I would definitely hope t…
Super interesting study. Training new staff was always the most challenging aspect of the software.
Re: Ask HN: My family business runs on a 1993-era text-based-UI (TUI). Anybody else?
#44A client i work for used a Pick system and it's maintained by one dude. He's in his 60s, so who knows how long they'll be able to get support... [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pick_operating_system
> It is named after one of its developers, Dick Pick Wikipedia vandals these days...
Hahahahahaha - the kids are alright
Re: Ask HN: My family business runs on a 1993-era text-based-UI (TUI). Anybody else?
#45I remember using a TUI for a Bank in the UK, and them switching to a web-based javascript system. Because the TUI forced keyboard interaction everyone was quick, and we could all fly through the screens finding what we wanted. One benefit was each screen was a fixed size and there was no scroll, so when you pressed the right incantation the answer you wanted appeared in the same portion of the screen every time. You…
A GUI can be as effective as a TUI if it's designed to be 100% usable from a keyboard - the problem is very few applications take the time to do that design.
Re: Ask HN: My family business runs on a 1993-era text-based-UI (TUI). Anybody else?
#46this should video of the use of IBM CallPath on an AS/400 should get you all misty-eyed https://youtu.be/5pY6Xxptp9A?t=2058
Re: Ask HN: My family business runs on a 1993-era text-based-UI (TUI). Anybody else?
#47> I got my start as a script kiddie writing automations for this system with Microsoft Access, VBA, and SendKeys to automate data entry
I've done exactly this for the likes of JP Morgan Chase. Many of their core banking systems are some COBOL/Fortran mainframe (that I know nothing about) but the interface through a TUI client. When they have a desire to work in a more modern fashion, it's SendKeys to the rescue. There's definitely still a lot of TUI's that run the world.
Re: Ask HN: My family business runs on a 1993-era text-based-UI (TUI). Anybody else?
#48Many (most?) older retail businesses still use TUIs. They're reliable, consistent, and orders of magnitude faster than GUI systems. When I worked ar Sherwin Williams, I got good enough with the TUI that customers could rattle off their orders while I punch it into the computer in real time. It's absolutely crazy that a well designed TUI is so much faster. It turns out that if you never change the UI and every menu it…
I remember training a new hire on her first day and, about an hour in, she said she needed a coffee break. I never saw her again lol.
Typically the first two weeks of training revolved around new hires asking why in the world we used this system before their spirits broke and they reluctantly plunged into the deep end...kind of like being released into the matrix.
Re: Ask HN: My family business runs on a 1993-era text-based-UI (TUI). Anybody else?
#49Both of the lumberyards in my city are still running on DOS (or DOS emulation) for their systems, along with quotes printed on dot matrix printers (and no online price sheet). They’re so low margin and old school, I don’t think they get tech upgrades more often than once every two human generations except for new capital equipment, which sucks most of their surplus.
I still use a dot matrix in my office lol. I love the sound and they are so cheap to operate.
Re: Ask HN: My family business runs on a 1993-era text-based-UI (TUI). Anybody else?
#50I manage the roomaccess of my workshop via a custom TUI application . Works flawlessly.