Khepri wrote:
> Well, not knowing any language outside of some very basic javascript,
> HTML, CSS and whatnot..it probably will be fine with someone like
> me...although for querying a database it might not be whaat I'm
> interested in and Perl would better suit my ideas...
While Python is reportedly good for database management, I suspect that
PHP and Perl are both somewhat better suited to the task. I say this
with full knowledge that I might touch off a flame war, though: I'm sure
there are others who will vehemently disagree with me on this (though
whether or not they're on this list is yet to be determined).
>> It is, by all accounts, easy to use and quite good for (limited?)
>> object-oriented programming, but the syntax and formatting of it makes
>> me a little nuts. Just looking at it can give me a headache.
>
> LOL...One of the funniest articles I read recently was about "code
> snobs"..:) It was a guy complaining about people who complain about his
> sloppy C++...
Python doesn't look sloppy at all, however. In fact, it's one of the
most neatly formatted languages I've seen. The major reason for this is
that whitespace is significant in Python, which is also probably the
biggest problem I have with it.
There are people who complain that Perl is a "sloppy" language, but it's
not really: it's a language that will let you write sloppy code if you
want to. You can also write very tight, very efficient, very clean code
in Perl. Part of what I like about Perl is the fact that it will
basically let you do ANYTHING AT ALL, up to and including patching your
OS kernel with a few short lines of code.
>> Not at all. I don't think that's what he meant to say. In fact, you
>> can generally make quite extensively personalized keyboard shortcuts
>> work on your system in most window managers.
>
> You mean something similar to assigning macros?
Er . . . sorta like that.
>> If you're going to use the mouse, though, it's a good idea to have
>> one with three buttons because you'll be forced to switch back and
>> forth between input devices a lot more if your mouse only has two (or,
>> heaven forfend, one button).
>
> ...I can come close...I have a two-button serial mouse from Tandy laying
> around here somewhere...LOL
It might be worth your while to choose your window manager with that in
mind, then. The really basic window managers, like fvwm, tend to be
very keyboard-friendly. My favorite window manager so far (and the one
I use here) is WindowMaker, and for my purposes at least it seems to
incorporate the best of both worlds, making use of the important bits of
GUI functionality and presentation as well as the ability to pretty much
use nothing but the keyboard to get around. The only time I find myself
using the mouse for more than merely moving the cursor around while
typing is when I'm using an application that needs the whole clicky
thing for efficient use (like a web browser on a webpage with lots of
links).
Aside from stuff like fvwm and WindowMaker, you might want to have a
look at PekWM. It might suit your needs as well. I've tried it out
briefly, but was turned off by the fact that it's a window manager that
doesn't have any good graphical configuration tools. Like I said in an
earlier email, in my opinion GUIs need graphical configuration tools,
but basically everything else should be configured using a text editor.
If I could be bothered to put the effort in, I might find that I like
PekWM as much as WindowMaker, but I had better things to do at the time
than learn a new window manager's idiosyncrasies. Besides, it occurred
to me that after configuring PekWM to suit my tastes it would basically
be WindowMaker. That's just me, though: from what I understand, it
suits the keyboard-centric among us quite well.
-- Chad
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