Re: galculator should be included in Gnome [OT rant]

[Peter Bowen <pzb ximian com>]

On Mon, 2003-04-28 at 07:35, James Henstridge wrote:
> Owen Taylor wrote:
> 
> >Drifting off topic here - (note that I haven't looked at gcalctool)
> >
> >While the concept of copying a simple 4 function calculator may have
> >a bit of merit - people are familiar with that - copying a physical
> >calculator really is a entirely broken way of presenting a interface
> >for interactive calculations.
> >
> >I'd think it might be better to start off with a command line
> >calculation tool (I actually typically use python or gdb when
> >I need to calculate stuff) and think how you can improve it
> >with a GUI. Random ideas:
> >
> >There are a lot of examples of interfaces that could serve as
> >prior art - bc, Mathematica, shell-mode in emacs, etc, etc. Many of
> >them admittedly, are experts-only or simply hideous.
> >
> >But I think if one sat down and plan out what you want people to
> >be able to do with tool tool - whether it's summing up lists of
> >numbers or plugging in numbers in their Physics homework - and
> >what is *not* in scope for the tool (it shouldn't try to replace
> >gnumeric or mathematic), you should be able to do *so* much better
> >than trying to reproduce the details of a physical calculator,
> >whether it is Casio, TI, Sharp, or HP. 
> >  
> >
> Sounds like you are thinking of something similar to the "Power Calc" 
> calculator for Windows XP (part of the XP powertoys).  Here is a screenshot:
>     http://www.winsupersite.com/images/reviews/wxp_pt_05.gif

You might also look at Apple's Graphing Calculator from MacOS 9 and
earlier.  They appear to have licensed it from Pacific Tech
(http://www.pacifict.com), and Pacific Tech has it available for
download if you have MacOSX.

Thanks.
Peter