Re: Ok, I have had it. A proposal for wizards.

[Miles Bader]

Danilo Segan <address@hidden> writes:
> Just to point out that Gnome (GNU Desktop environment) is
> standardizing on "assistants" instead (mostly because everything else
> like 'druid', 'wizard' is hard to translate to other languages).

I like the word `assistant', it's straight-forward and clear.

`Wizard' sounds like someone trying to be cute, and sort of promotes the
idea that `computers are hard, you cannot hope to understand them';
`assistant' says `hey, nothing magic, but I'll try to give you a hand,'
-- not only friendlier, but more honest too: these sort of automatic
assistants/wizards _aren't_ magic, and _do_ screw things up all too
often.  Trying to pretend otherwise isn't doing the user any favors...

-Miles
-- 
`Suppose Korea goes to the World Cup final against Japan and wins,' Moon said.
`All the past could be forgiven.'   [NYT]