Eric S. Raymond Quotes

A user interface should be so simple that a beginner in an emergency can understand it within ten seconds.

Do you know what I like about your program? Even when I'm running the vacuum, I can understand it.

OS X is sweet: it's simple and intuitive, and I think GNOME shares a lot of values with it.

I do everything in a straightforward manner.

I feel that it's lovely when, as a user, you're not aware of the complexity.

The tool user, provided the tool is made well, need not, and indeed should not, know anything about the tool.

What makes something simple or complex? It's not the number of dials or controls or how many features it has: It is whether the person using the device has a good conceptual model of how it operates.

Simple is the speech of truth.

-You're simple, straightforward and honest, a little bit on the primitive side, I should think. To interest you a woman would have to... -To lay her cards out on the table.

Computers shouldn't be unusable. You don't need to know how to work a telephone switch to make a phone call, or how to use the Hoover Dam to take a shower, or how to work a nuclear-power plant to turn on the lights.

Simple and intuitive design is what inspires and drives me.

You've heard of plug-and-play. This is plug, unplug and play. It's so simple to use, it's unbelievable.

Simple is the language of truth.

Too many escape into complexity these days. For it is an escape for persons to cry, when this question of the equality of peoples is raised in India or in our own South, 'Ah, but the situation is not so simple.' ... no great stride forward is ever made for the individual or for the human race unless the complex situation is reduced to one simple question and its simple answer.

The thing that I really want to try and do is just live my life really openly and honestly. I think there's so much power in that, as simple as it is.

I built a system simple enough to sustain itself.

Truth is too simple for us: we do not like those who unmask our illusions.

In my Corgan brain, I've decided it's almost as simple as 'All you need is love.' Almost.

She was as forthright and simple as the winds that blew over Tara and the yellow river that wound around it.

The innocent is the person who explains nothing

Any time you see signs or labels added to a device, it is an indication of bad design: a simple lock should not require instructions.

Be as simple as you can be; you will be astonished to see how uncomplicated and happy your life can become.

The problem is not software 'friendliness'. It is conceptual clarity. A globe does not say, 'good morning'. It is simple and clear, not 'friendly'.

The main thing is that everything become simple, easy enough for a child to understand.

All the great things are simple.