[OS X TeX] New Macros, new Engines, new TeXShop versions, and all that

[Alain Schremmer]

On Feb 22, 2010, at 4:07 PM, David Messerschmitt wrote:

>
>
>> Software cannot read user's mind. Furthermore the directory is not  
>> obscure but contained in ~/Library.
>>
>
>
> True, software can't read our minds, but the software can ASK users  
> what's on their minds. So my suggestion to Dick Koch would be to  
> add a dialog box at upgrade time that asks the user if he or she  
> wants (a) the completely default installation or (b) wants to  
> preserve past changes. There might be more than two choices, or  
> choices at the granularity of macros, engines, etc, but you get the  
> idea. The big advance in window/menu systems is the idea of not  
> depending on users to know and issue commands, but rather giving  
> them choices. This has proven to be the right approach to  
> accommodate the naive user.

I don't know what it would mean in terms of work for Koch but a  
dialog box would indeed be  "something I could relate to".

Bystander's regards
--schremmer