On 2002.01.13, in <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "David T-G" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I don't necessarily agree that mutt should spit out a message, though I > can see that this could be confusing. What I would do would be to go > ... > % Feedback is an important element of any user interface, GUI or > % text-based, UNIX or not. > > Yes, but so is providing only the right amount, rather than too much or > too little.
Consider running mutt on a remote server that you're connected to over a slow or high-latency line, or one prone to dropping link. You press 'i'; did [ia]spell complete with no errors, or has it not run yet? It might be hard to tell: if the link is indeed slow, it can take more time yet to get a response to other activity, and instigating this activity just to check the status of ispell is a larger waste of precious bandwidth than a mere "No spelling errors found" message. The key here is usability. Adherence to the so-called "Unix philosophy" is false if it makes the tool in question less usable. -- -D. [EMAIL PROTECTED] NSIT University of Chicago
