I am about to replace a DOS based payroll with a Windows(R) based one for a client, to include HR features like leave-management etc. But the payroll runs fine, it can run forever, forever hustle-free!!! I do not wish to sound premedieval, but apps based on DOS used to run so smooth and fast. No mouse, no java, no add-ons, no problems - just TAB and ENTER on dumb terminals/thin clients. I understand there is the major issue of security that has resulted in heavier and heavier apps being created for Windows vs DOS, but OS like Novell and UNIX had serious inbuilt security and apps were not easy to crack, yet all they lacked was beauty; but they did their job! Think of banking systems for example, I believe some old modules still run on mainframes somewhere in the back office(s). Can't we have some developers recreate such apps for the nostalgic, but performance-focused people, finding a way to add security but keeping the fancy look out of the whole process? All we hear is we need faster processors and more memory, but even those extra computing resources are never used for the real work. Stuff like Flash and Java are OK for the aesthetics, but are they really necessary for apps for small one-branch organizations, for example? Everyone* appears to want web-based apps, even when there are <30 users on a well-wired LAN with the server(s) in the next room. Is it just a hype about web-based or are there clear cut advantages? I feel performance is being compromised when other alternatives may exist out there, and it may be time to revisit old ideas? Go back to our roots, if you like. What are your thoughts guys? -- Ngũgĩ Kĩmani | Fundi wa Mitambo | 0772 576846 | http://www.mafundi.co.ke/home
On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 6:34 PM, Ngũgĩ Kĩmani <ngugi@mafundi.co.ke> wrote:
I am about to replace a DOS based payroll with a Windows(R) based one for a client, to include HR features like leave-management etc. But the payroll runs fine, it can run forever, forever hustle-free!!!
I do not wish to sound premedieval, but apps based on DOS used to run so smooth and fast. No mouse, no java, no add-ons, no problems - just TAB and ENTER on dumb terminals/thin clients. I understand there is the major issue of security that has resulted in heavier and heavier apps being created for Windows vs DOS, but OS like Novell and UNIX had serious inbuilt security and apps were not easy to crack, yet all they lacked was beauty; but they did their job! Think of banking systems for example, I believe some old modules still run on mainframes somewhere in the back office(s).
Can't we have some developers recreate such apps for the nostalgic, but performance-focused people, finding a way to add security but keeping the fancy look out of the whole process? All we hear is we need faster processors and more memory, but even those extra computing resources are never used for the real work. Stuff like Flash and Java are OK for the aesthetics, but are they really necessary for apps for small one-branch organizations, for example?
Everyone* appears to want web-based apps, even when there are <30 users on a well-wired LAN with the server(s) in the next room.
Is it just a hype about web-based or are there clear cut advantages?
I feel performance is being compromised when other alternatives may exist out there, and it may be time to revisit old ideas? Go back to our roots, if you like.
What are your thoughts guys?
It's simple. You cannot lock down people to the 19th Century. That's it. -- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254733744121/+254722743223 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Damn!!
@Wash: 19th century or no, my point is that there is no need to use technology simply because it is the in thing; I have come across several proposals for web-based apps (and even Windows(R)-based upgrades for legacy systems where the legacy systems work just fine) without any clear explanation how the new system is better, just that "we recommend you upgrade your system because it is too old now". Unfortunately, most of those upgrades bring with them more and more greed for cpu/memory/storage... sometimes for less than the legacy systems features, as well as more crashes because they have this or that built-in security feature which occasionally misbehaves and needs a critical patch and so on and so forth. If we look at CLI-based Linux installations for example (I hope we agree that they are quite secure), why don't we have more and more application software built on such platforms? A good example is Aptitude for Ubuntu. While we agree that the interface is not exactly nice to look at, it has all the features required to do its work without the user being required to remember complicated commands; The computing resources needed to run such programs are quite few, resulting in a great user experience for impatient users who don't want "please wait while processing" for simple tasks. -- Ngũgĩ Kĩmani | Fundi wa Mitambo | 0772 576846 | http://www.mafundi.co.ke/home On 1 November 2010 19:21, Odhiambo Washington <odhiambo@gmail.com> wrote:
On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 6:34 PM, Ngũgĩ Kĩmani <ngugi@mafundi.co.ke> wrote:
I am about to replace a DOS based payroll with a Windows(R) based one for a client, to include HR features like leave-management etc. But the payroll runs fine, it can run forever, forever hustle-free!!!
I do not wish to sound premedieval, but apps based on DOS used to run so smooth and fast. No mouse, no java, no add-ons, no problems - just TAB and ENTER on dumb terminals/thin clients. I understand there is the major issue of security that has resulted in heavier and heavier apps being created for Windows vs DOS, but OS like Novell and UNIX had serious inbuilt security and apps were not easy to crack, yet all they lacked was beauty; but they did their job! Think of banking systems for example, I believe some old modules still run on mainframes somewhere in the back office(s).
Can't we have some developers recreate such apps for the nostalgic, but performance-focused people, finding a way to add security but keeping the fancy look out of the whole process? All we hear is we need faster processors and more memory, but even those extra computing resources are never used for the real work. Stuff like Flash and Java are OK for the aesthetics, but are they really necessary for apps for small one-branch organizations, for example?
Everyone* appears to want web-based apps, even when there are <30 users on a well-wired LAN with the server(s) in the next room.
Is it just a hype about web-based or are there clear cut advantages?
I feel performance is being compromised when other alternatives may exist out there, and it may be time to revisit old ideas? Go back to our roots, if you like.
What are your thoughts guys?
It's simple. You cannot lock down people to the 19th Century. That's it.
-- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254733744121/+254722743223 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Damn!!
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Some answer to your question(s) is in your statement, On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 8:32 PM, Ngũgĩ Kĩmani <ngugi@mafundi.co.ke> wrote:
@Wash: 19th century or no, my point is that *there is no need to use technology simply because it is the in thing;*
While your observation might be correct, people WILL use technology simply because its the in thing, this is something you will find incredibly hard to change. So, if majority of the decision makers in the small, one branch organisation you mentioned are of this generation, then they have been brought up and fed on Facebook, Gmail and all that Web 2.0, Ajaxified web based cerelac. Now, take your kick ass, stable, fast and all things nice DOS based software to them and chances are you will walk out with it.
participants (3)
-
Ngũgĩ Kĩmani -
Odhiambo Washington -
Peter Karunyu