[OpenBIOS] Re: boy is EFI a kludge!

[Jason Gurtz]

> Why not redirect the boot sequence to a log file? Then you
> would not getall the nasty looking spam; but you could
> take a look at it, (if you wanted).

Why not just have a hot key and/or a setting to turn off the hiding if
troubleshooting is going on.  Intel MB's have been doing this for years
now.  I think it's quite ideal and you can replace the graphic with your
own if you want.

> Form and function are two sides of the same jewel in my view.
> It HAS to look good.

i've seen some text based interfaces that look quite good using ansi
graphics and colord text, etc...  Just because something is text doesn't
mean it looks bad.  I do admit the Linux Kernel bootup is pretty ugly,
but I think that is more a function of it being rather disorganized and
chaotic.

> Textual interfaces are pretty much obsolete.

Absolutly not!  Before everyone gets in a huff, let me explain.  Say
there are people that use a computer as part of their job but they
really don't *use* the computer like a (for lack of a better word) geek
does.  Yes, these people do exist, and I have to support them every day.
These people do not unserstand the difference between a monitor and the
box on the floor.  To them, the computer *is* the monitor.  They are
*confused* and *lost* in a graphical environment.  It may sound funny
and sad but there is just too much to look at and too much complexity
for them in the use of a graphical environment.
	It is easy for me when they call up and have trouble with our console
based Point of Sale application "Press one, press enter, what does it
say, press escape...etc."  But god help me if I have to explain how to
delete a print job in an NT print que.  "First you click here, now
scroll up and wait for it to fold out....no click it with the RIGHT
mouse button...no, your other right...etc..."  I wish we still had the
old SCO boxes and used the lp commands  ;)  This may not be BIOS
related, but I hope you get the idea.

> You should be able to
> emulate them at will, but the quality of the system fonts is
> often poor,
> and given today's PCs, could be a LOT better. Whilst we are at it, we
> might as well have a GUI at startup.

Sure, but don't let that gui be an excuse for bad design *or* lack of
functionality.

Cheers,

~Jason

--

-
To unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo at freiburg.linux.de
with 'unsubscribe openbios' in the body of the message