Hacker News Reader

Comment by jonpalmisc | Hacker News Reader

> You seem to think that the interface obliges a program into a certain performance pattern.

I think all software (or at least, any text editor) regardless of interface type should launch instantly. But it's more unjustifiable with TUI programs.

View on HN

Nah. Here's a counter example: the TUIs that IBM wrote for many old store chains like Home Depot. They're at least an order of magnitude faster to operate for cashiers compared to web UIs but they're somewhat slow to start due to the caching and self-checks they do. This obsession with quick boot is more of a personal preference you have than a necessity.

An inane point. Obviously it's a "preference" rather than a "requirement" that my text editor boot in less than 30 seconds. But it's also not a functional requirement that Home Depot's POS terminals take a long time to start. If you could do the same checks and caching in a few hundred milliseconds it would only improve the usability for the cashier. You haven't made a case for why some user interfaces shouldn't start instantly, only that their slow start-up _might_ be justified

> If you could do the same checks and caching in a few hundred milliseconds it would only improve the usability for the cashier.

No it wouldn't. Those interfaces are permanent and only get restarted once a day or if the hardware has to be rebooted. Same for Emacs: there's absolutely no need to start the editor every single time.

> You haven't made a case for why some user interfaces shouldn't start instantly

I'm not making any case, we're not in court. Startup time is irrelevant and your fixation with it is really funny (up to a point).

Reply on news.ycombinator.com