Re: Error message standards

[Stefan Werner <pergent web de>]

Hi,

>I just got a message from the Gnome Run dialog, and it was jarring.  I
>think computing would be a happier place if all our error messages
>were haiku.
>
>Imagine how much less stress you would feel if instead of the gnome
>segv dialog, you saw:
>
>    Three things are certain:
>    Death, taxes, and lost data.

Are you sure that you did not take this idea from BeOS' native
browser NetPositive? It features haiku error messages.

However, as funny as they are, I say haikus decrease usability:
First, the sorta hide information, since it takes more reading
and more thinking until you figure out what went wrong.
Second, it is hard for people whose mother languange is not
English to understand most haikus, since poems tend to use
unusual word order.
Third, you make the translator's task really hard, especially
since haikus are not very popular in Europe. I myself am from
Germany, and if it wasn't BeOS and SouthPark I wouldn't know
what a haiku is.

Regards,
 Stefan Werner