[tex-live] [Fwd: Re: TeXLive Perl + latexmk (windows)]

[Adam R. Maxwell]

On Apr 15, 2010, at 3:21 PM, Manuel Pégourié-Gonnard wrote:

> Reinhard Kotucha a écrit :
>> I don't object if people adapt GUIs for particular systems.  But I
>> don't think that anybody avoids TeX Live only because tlmgr's Perl/Tk
>> interface doesn't provide color gradients in title bars.
>> 
> Well, said this way, obviously not. But the look and feel (and in particular,
> feeling "at home") is an important part of the user experience IMO.

I agree completely.  For example, Google Earth (Qt, I believe) just doesn't feel right on Mac OS X.  There are small inconsistencies in appearance and behavior that add up to an overall feeling that it just doesn't belong.  It's difficult for users to trust a GUI that doesn't work the way they expect.

>> Unfortunately I don't have a Mac.  As far as I understand MacTeX
>> adapts tlmgr's GUI.  But is tlmgr's CLI kept intact?  I hope so.
>> 
> tlmgr is intact, including its gui (but, as I understand it, the gui will only
> work for people who previously installed Perl/Tk hence X11, not installed by
> default, and I'm not sure which proportion of OS X user it represents).

Correct.  The CLI is intact and works out of the box, but Perl/Tk has to be installed manually.

> But
> another GUI is provided, named TeX Live Utility, which looks like it belong on a
> Mac (or so I heard, never had the occasion to test myself, yet).

Screenshots here:

http://code.google.com/p/mactlmgr/wiki/GettingStarted

There are some warts, notably the wrong toolbar icons, but it has a more native look-and-feel than a Perl/Tk application (and I mean no offense to Norbert or other TL developers when I say that).

> I'm not even
> sure if TLU is included in MacTeX or has to be installed independently.

It is included in MacTeX, but can be installed independently or used with any TeX Live install.

>> But if you are concerned about color gradients in title bar
>> backgrounds, you actually treat users as idiots.  Sorry.
>> 
> Still disagree. Not only idiots appreciate good-looking apps. Not only idiots
> are sometimes afraid by computer stuff, and need to be reassured by a familiar look.

I think Manuel is absolutely right, and I also think you'll find far more users of this type on Mac OS X and Windows.  It's not so much about color gradients, but all of the little things that add up to an overall distrust of an application.

-- 
Adam