> It is HARD.
No it isn't. This isn't rocket science, just basic UI design.

You are conflating absolute progress with relative time.

> Maybe a couple of numbers under it showing # files done out of # total files.
Correct. The total number is constant. The time it takes to install/copy is variable.

The CORRECT solution is to show BOTH numbers so the user is not confused over which information the progress bar is displaying. Far too many programmers and designers don't seem to have a clue of understanding the difference of WHY you want to show both -- they are presenting different types of answers because they are answering different types of questions:

* The absolute progress is never wrong but it doesn't convey _enough_ information "How long do I have to wait?"
* The relative time progress bay can easily be wrong but it will never give a correct value of "What has just completed?" since it was never designed to answer that question - only "How much longer do I need to wait?"

> Which installs faster, a package containing 250 files totaling 10 MB, or a package containing 10 files totaling 100 MB - hint; it depends.
In the first case there would be a progress bar #/250, the second #/10. However, since each file could take anywhere from seconds to minutes to install a GOOD UI would show the user that the installer is doing _something_; an ETA is "good enough"

A common fallacy is assuming that one or the other is all that is needed. That is incomplete.

Yeah but this isn't rocket science, just basic UI theory.

Is the progress bar displaying an relative value (like time) or an absolute (like bytes).

If you are coping bit it should show BOTH, that way the user knows they have 1000/8192 bytes copied, but an ETA of 9 seconds.

Agreed that security (or lack of it) is an issue. What makes security a difficult problem to "solve" is trying to balance two extremes:

convenience/freedom < - - - > authentication/authority

Too much freedom and you lack security. Too much security and you make it a PITA to actually get anything done!

That axis is related to these two extremes:

authority < - - - > accountability

The often quoted mis-interpreted* "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" would lead us believe that Freedom should be valued over Security. There are cases where it can be argued for one or the other.

As a relatively new country we're still trying to figure out the right balance (as it swings from one extreme to the other extreme) especially with respect to Social Engineering and "White" Hats vs Gray Hats.

* See for details: http://www.lawfareblog.com/2011/07/what-ben-franklin-really-said/

You don't need to be on the internet to have a "hack".

i.e. The road sign hack was actually funny the first time. :-)
https://www.google.com/search?q=l4d+road+sign+zombie+hack&tbm=isch

What, you mean you can't just hand wave the design/engineering tradeoffs as "implementation details"? ;-)

> Posting syllabi is nice and all, but students use that as a way to just read the book before the exam rather than attend class.

And who is paying for the class? We're not in kindergarten anymore where you need mandatory attendance for mommy and daddy.

I've had my share of shitty teachers where it was more efficient for me to just read and do the exercises in the textbook then to waste my time listening to a prof that couldn't teach.

The better teachers find ways to engage students by asking them questions then to simply spew useless facts.

So did the government at one time:

"Hemp For Victory"
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hemp+for+victory

If only that "annoying" constitution hadn't used it ... :-) (I jest, I jest.)

--
Only cowards use censorship

> Name the products, which will of course also tell us the companies

Exactly. Name and Shame.

If companies won't treat their (potential) customers with respect then it is our duty to spread the word to that they don't deserve to be financially supported.

It seems to be the only way to get the to pay any attention.

Don't worry ... it has more greed :-/ i.e. "Main St built America. Wall street destroyed it."

What it needs is more honesty and more openness; sadly too many are too apathetic

--
Only cowards use censhorshop

On all my systems I replace hosts with this nice updated ad/spy/trojan blocking one:
        http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.txt

Can fellow /. readers recommend any other good ones?

> I wish there were something like the GIMP, but for music production.

Could your describe your work-flow including type of assets you need to manipulate along with the operations needed so we could better understand the problem please?

Also, could list what open source audio programs have you tried? What functionality did they fail to provide? What UI problems did you run into?

You try running a small tech business when in the 80's IBM threatens to take you to court over 7 "alleged" patent infringement and forces you to "settle" for $20 million.

http://www.forbes.com/asap/2002/0624/044.html

Agreed.

Only cowards use censorship.

Sounds, like you've found the balance point between bleeding edge (things are broken/buggy) and outdated (no longer supported/available).

I wished more people would favor this approach. It would save money and time down the road. i.e. Planned Upgrade Path.

Touchee :-)

While /. certainly has it group-think I find it to be less then reddit ... although maybe that is in part due to the smaller number of topics discussed?