TM> I've had at least one other complaint about node not having
TM> a prompt earlier and that too was (if my memory serves) from
TM> someone in the central european area used to things like
TM> Flexnet nodes and TheNetNodes. But I believe the rest of the
TM> world (us Finns included) are more used to the old
TM> TheNet/BPQ style. I think it's simple, clean, nice and
TM> elegant. And with the "empty line prompt" the are no
TM> ambiguities about when a command is terminated.
In the U.S., the average operator is not expected to see a node prompt. Most
of the time connecting to BPQ, for example, users are expecting to be answered
by a BBS. It is rare for users to go node hopping, and those who do are
experienced enough so that they can accommodate anything reasonable that the
software presents to them.
TM> I could of course write the whole thing again and put a KeWl
TM> prompt with maybe ansi colours, time of day and a cool quote
TM> (different every time of course). But I don't think I would
TM> want to be listed as the author anymore...
TM> If I get more complaints about this however, then maybe I
TM> need to reconsider some of the above...
At minimum, I would suggest defining a more verbose response for blank
commands. In my experience, if a user is confused by the absence of any
prompt, the user will hit the RETURN key and send a blank command. This would
be a fairly reliable indicator that the user wants some sort of help display.
-- Mike, N1BEE