Re: Unidentified subject! (Two Balsas crash)

[Jules Bean <jmlb2 hermes cam ac uk>]

On Tue, 7 Dec 1999, Phil Groce wrote:

> At 12:08 PM 12/7/99 +0000, Jules Bean wrote:
> >No, no, no.  Please no!
> >
> >Running an application twice should run it twice.  This is a real
> >operating system, not a toy one.
> 
> 
> Purely as an interested lurker (who's looking to become a tester/user as 
> soon as the next version comes out)....
> 
> If a user clicks on the app icon a second time, they may or may not know 
> there's another instance out there. Why not pop a dialog that asks the user 
> if they want to start another instance or work in the existing one? If the 
> user selects to work in existing, bring the app to the foreground. I don't 
> know if it should move to the current desktop, though....
> 
> Personlly, I like the option to run multiple instances, but I don't want 
> the app to assume I want that, because I usually don't with email.
> 

Well, this is certainly the wrong forum for the discussion, so I'll pipe
down in a minute,

But basically, because that's not the unix philosophy.  Imagine if it
asked you every time you ran two terminals, or to shells.

I quite often run two mail-readers (text-based ones) so I can read
different folders simultaneously.  Also, if I'm away from my desk I can
telnet in and start a new session.

However, in some contexts, particularly if there are locking issues
involved, as there are here, a dialog box would be a sensible idea.

Jules

/----------------+-------------------------------+---------------------\
|  Jelibean aka  | jules@jellybean.co.uk         |  6 Evelyn Rd	       |
|  Jules aka     | jules@debian.org              |  Richmond, Surrey   |
|  Julian Bean   | jmlb2@hermes.cam.ac.uk        |  TW9 2TF *UK*       |
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