Subject: New pine user :) Please help

From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 29 Oct 1995 17:10:42 -0700

Hi,
I just opened this pine account at my university and use my computer at 
home to sign on.  I'm trying to learn
how to use pine.  I'm VERY new to computers and really lost.  The only 
other e-mail/internet system I've used is America on line.  Is there any 
way to set pine up so that I can use windows and a mouse? Any suggestion 
about how to get it more user friendly would be wonderful.
Also, how would I join the same e-mail listst that I used on AOL?
I'm trying to join vetmed-l, but don't know how.
 THANKS.
Jill
[email-masked]

---

From: "Richard P. O'Sullivan" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 30 Oct 1995 23:10:02 +0000

On Sun, 29 Oct 1995 [email-masked] wrote:

> Hi,
>
>     I just opened this Pine account at my university and use my
> computer at home to sign on.  I'm trying to learn how to use Pine.
> I'm VERY new to computers and really lost.  The only other
> e-mail/Internet system I've used is America On-Line.  Is there any
> way to set Pine up so that I can use windows and a mouse?  Any
> suggestion about how to get it more user friendly would be wonderful.
> Also, how would I join the same e-mail list that I used on AOL? I'm
> trying to join vetmed-l, but don't know how.
>
> THANKS.
>
> Jill
> [email-masked]

Jill,

    Take heart, Pine is the most user friendly email system for the old
style keyboard approach to computers, so your learning curve with Pine
will not be more difficult than necessary.  Coming from a Graphical
User Interface (windows and mouse), as you do, there will be some
frustrations but not too many, I hope.

    I'm a mouse guy from way back in '88 when I brought home the Amiga
I'm using now.  I'm also a heavy keyboard guy too; since I do a lot of
networking.  As you have discovered, many 'dial-in' computers only
support keyboard access.  They do this because it is easier to
implement and it makes the fewest assumptions about the workstations
they serve.  The advantage of learning both is you will broaden your
skill base, learn the differences between the two interfaces, and be
able to judge for yourself when one may be better to use than the other.

    As for Pine, you will not find (I don't think) a window/mouse
interface.  Pine was intentionally designed to be controlled from the
keyboard and works on almost every type of computer: Amiga, UNIX, Mac,
etc.  Pine has a philosophy about being user-friendly: the beginner
should be protected from making mistakes.  This is a common approach to
user-friendliness but there is a problem with this approach.  As users
of any program become more proficient, the protections become a
nuisance.  Pine's solution to this is to provide a large number of
configuration options in its Setup list.  At some point in your
learning adventure, you may wish to visit this area and use the '?' to
read more about each feature. Many features may not mean anything to
you but learning about them will allow you to solve problems as you go
along.

    If the email list 'vetmed-l' is distributed by a list server you
can send a request to that server asking for distribution to your new
email address.

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Altofirma Web Works                                Richard P. O'Sullivan
http://www.aww.com/                                      [email-masked]
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