PuTTY alt-keys (was Re: 16-User Network)

[Fairlight]

This public service announcement was brought to you by Bob Rasmussen:
> 
> For a "known" connection, there is no setup necessary. For a "new" 
> connection, Anzio asks first for your terminal type (which PuTTY doesn't 
> even offer), then how you want to connect (SSH vs. telnet, etc., and host 
> name or address). By contrast, PuTTY presents one treeview where you have 
> to hunt around for settings. How is Anzio "whacky"?

For my money?  Because it is a step backwards compared to pre-1989
software.  Look at Procomm+ back then.  You knew what you were doing, you
configured it, it worked, and it was sleek.  (Pre-GUI, mind...)

Anzio is feature-rich, but in ways the interface is just...it's like
terminal emulation for dummies.  Anyone that should actually be -using- a
terminal emulator should know enough to know what the hell they're
doing--not be guided through wizards and all sorts of stuff.

Honestly, I prefer PuTTY's configuration methodology.

And how many people actually need more than vtxxx, linux, scoansi, or
xterm.  And oh, by the way, vtxxx, linux, and xterm all largely share a
vtxxx base.  So you're really catering to one area that Anzio does better
than any other emulator--scoansi.  Congratulations, you support a near-dead
platform better than any other company!  :)  I'm just not seeing the need
to blast PuTTY for not offering "choices".  It's known to be xterm more
than anything else, and even SCO has xterm.  People clinging to their
scoansi emulation are, IMNSHO, people that need to get with modern
operating systems and come to an understanding on just how screwy SCO
was--er, barely still is.

You serve a totally different segment of the market, really.  You provide
some really great features, and your product is robust.  But you don't
serve the geek sector, who are all about OSS and tuning things at a highly
granular level, on the whole.  You serve (going by your own past public
commentary) a lot of under-educated end-users, most of whom you didn't
trust with ssh support for something like a year before finally relenting
and putting ssh into Anzio Lite--which you'd previously refused to do on
the grounds that the product price wasn't enough to justify potential
support costs for ssh configuration by under-educated end-users.

It's "goofy" to anyone that's even remotely technically-minded and wants
all their settings in one central location, rather than scattered about
menu check items, a few panes in one window, a few panes in another, the
odd dialogue here or there...  Seriously, who spreads their configuration
out that much if they have any sort of technical background?  Who -wants-
it spread out that much?

I'm betting your highest costing support issue isn't actually anything to
do with the functionality, but rather the, "Where the bloody hell -IS- the
feature I know should be here but can't frakkin' find?!!" factor.

Seriously, ProTerm ][ for the Apple ][e had more centralised confguration,
and that was mature (and all but obsolete, as the ][e platform was dying
off) 20-25yrs ago.

So yeah, quirky, goofy, spread out all over the place...  Call it what you
will.  I call it distinctly end-user skewed, as opposed to a technician's
or power user's package.  Essentially, especially considering you have the
scoansi market cornered, you are -still- catering largely to the mindset of
that crowd--canned, "I'm too stupid to be bothered to learn the technical
details without being walked through it step-by-step," type mentalities.
That's where SCO held onto their customers.  They didn't have much else to
offer, considering the devkit and everything else came unbundled.  It was a
platform to install, run canned software, and have zero maintenance.  Even
though one -should- patch, many didn't bother--they saw it as rock
solid--until they got holed.  But I see it as the same mentality at work.

Let's face it...anyone using passthru printing in the age of IP-ready
printers is a bit behind the curve, or is dealing in kiosks--which you also
cornered quite well.  But it shows in the design of the entire product.
This was never designed for power/technical users, IMNSHO.  It was designed
for end-users.

End-users can be quirky and goofy, and do some stupid things.  If the shoe
fits...  Yeah, goofy.

mark->
-- 
Audio panton, cogito singularis.