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Good Tools Are Invisible

gingerbill.org

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Re: Good Tools Are Invisible

#221

Post by MrMetric »

slopinthebag wrote: post #199
TacticalCoder wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> — Well, in my FrobnicatorStudio, there's a shortcut Ctrl+Alt+So for that When I get those people typically I'll switch to Emacs (it's always open), use dired and rename 20 files at once, using either a keyboard macro I make on the spot or using a regexp replace. This usually not only get them to shut up for good, they also typically then see me as the "computer wizard". I demo'ed some terminal (piping command calls…

I don't think I've ever had to rename 20 files at once, so I wonder if the way people work is kind of shaped by their tools?

I've had to batch-rename files many times over the years. That means:

1. I do it manually over however many minutes. Works if there aren't too many (especially if the pattern is too complex to trivially automate).

2. I make a Python script for it. No way I'm renaming a thousand files by hand.

3. I don't do it. Too much work. The problem lingers forever.

Or these days,

4. I make an AI datacenter eat another town's water supply.

I've never used Emacs. I tried vi(m) nonconsensually and had to google how to exit. A while later, I tried it intentionally and hkjl navigation didn't work because I use a custom keyboard layout, so I never touched it again. Sublime Text and its many cursors for the win!

I'd love a way that isn't miserable to do such a common basic task.

Re: Good Tools Are Invisible

#222

Post by xlii »

I agree with the premise of the article.

For example I've been using Jujutsu exclusively (as a Git frontend) for years and I don't think about it, I just use it. I reflected on this couple of years. It's existence is completely transparent to me.

I, however, don't agree with sibling commenter that it's a function of time spent with X though. As a counter example: Emacs was my go to editor for 15+ years, last 2 years - because reasons - I was switching between Neovim, Helix, Emacs, Kakoune. 6 months ago I settled with Kakoune.

Even with many years in Emacs, I still tweaked and tuned it. There was always something to do, change, understand. I actively thought about Emacs.

With Kakoune after initial "set me up" phase, it's just as transparent as Jujutsu. Sure, I made complex plugins (for searching, highlighting unbalanced parenthesis and even a GUI wrapper called Kakvide). But the difference is that in Emacs the driver was the tool itself and in Kakoune it's always "I wonder if I can do X".

And so I believe that Kakoune is better tool than Emacs as it's more transparent to me even with a big time difference in usage.

Re: Good Tools Are Invisible

#223

Post by ykonstant »

Only tangentially related, but this is why I gave up on fountain pens. They are cool and elegant, far too cool to be a practical tool for me. I realized this at one time I was in Bonn; I was thinking deeply about a problem as I was holding this wonderful Sailor Pro Gear in my hand. At some point it slipped, fell on the desk and bent the nib sideways, a total disaster. That broke my stream of thought and ruined my day. Nah. Tools need to cater to me, not vice versa.

Re: Good Tools Are Invisible

#224

Post by FinnLobsien »

I think this missed the emotional experience of using a tool.

My kitchen knives are decent knives, but no hand-forged Japanese masterpieces. Using them is a joy though, because I have an ingrained understanding of their ergonomics and how they cut.

I remember how clumsily I handled them at first. I take them to a sharpener regularly.

That experience of built-up familiarity puts me into a state of mind where I feel competent and joyful.

This is also true for my mechanical keyboard and some reference books I keep around my desk.

They are not necessarily the best possible tools, but they’re gateways to who I am at my best in different disciplines.

Re: Good Tools Are Invisible

#225

Post by ncphillips »

xlii wrote: post #222

I agree with the premise of the article. For example I've been using Jujutsu exclusively (as a Git frontend) for years and I don't think about it, I just use it. I reflected on this couple of years. It's existence is completely transparent to me. I, however, don't agree with sibling commenter that it's a function of time spent with X though. As a counter example: Emacs was my go to editor for 15+ years, last 2 years…

jj required a very weird mind shift in how I work, but since it’s clicked I’d never go back. Occasionally it makes easy things a bit awkward, but the amount of hard things it makes easy is incredible. Several patterns of work have become common for me that I would never have done before.

Re: Good Tools Are Invisible

#226

Post by aquariusDue »

xlii wrote: post #222

I agree with the premise of the article. For example I've been using Jujutsu exclusively (as a Git frontend) for years and I don't think about it, I just use it. I reflected on this couple of years. It's existence is completely transparent to me. I, however, don't agree with sibling commenter that it's a function of time spent with X though. As a counter example: Emacs was my go to editor for 15+ years, last 2 years…

As someone deeply invested in Emacs who had a short fling with Kakoune a few years ago I'm super curious how did you manage the transition? I have lots of notes in org-mode and rely on packages like Magit and so on, due to that I'm always wary of the fact that a lot of my computer use flows through Emacs (for better or worse).

Also one thing that intrigues me about Kakoune is the possibility of writing CLI utils in whatever language and then calling them from Kakoune. The same can be done from Emacs but generally you'd go for Elisp instead.

I've also found I miss fancier text decoration like subscripts, bold, italics, underline and mixing monospace with another font when not using Emacs.

Re: Good Tools Are Invisible

#227

Post by jhartikainen »

This is a very interesting idea, partially because I recently wrote about how Svelte is kind of "invisible" as a tool for writing webapps (compared to f.ex. React). Much like gingerBill says here, when I use Svelte the tool "disappears into the background", at least for me.

Something I was hoping this would discuss is why do good tools feel invisible? But doesn't seem like it really went into that.

Re: Good Tools Are Invisible

#229

Post by notarobot123 »

A piano is not inherently a better musical instrument than a harmonica. You could argue that a piano is more complex and more puzzle like requiring more of an investment to learn for similar results.

A harmonica has a much lower barrier to entry and can be mastered over years of practice. So can a piano but with a lot more effort for more or less the same result. They both make music after all.

Ultimately, it comes down to familiarity and basic preferences. Pianos and harmonicas are basically the same if you've used them for long enough and you can get the same results with both (but a harmonica requires a lot less fuss and "games")

[I wish piano players would stop looking down on harmonica players - stop being so tribal!]

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