SB is so infuriating when he's right. 
Seriously, what's the BFD about having to master syntax elements when they could just be programed into an editor app. We have text expanders, spellcheckers, template tools, code generators, autoformatters, grammar checkers, voice recognition, and just about everything else built into word processors thes days. And that's just to deal with composing everyday language. What's so special about wiki that it doesn't feel the need to offer user amenities. Is it simple geekiness? Elitism? Or are they just trying to deter some of the riff-raff?
Back when I first learned to code, one of the first things they taught us was:
"For data entry, if specific characters or control sequences always need to be entered in order to do something, then they should never need to be entered at all. Don't be a lazy programmer and make the user do it. Let the system put them in instead. Boring, arbitrary, repetitious tasks are what computers are designed and built for."
-40hz
Haha, thanks. Well, if I were to really explain this, it would be like this:
I don't actually think the crux of the issue is the elitist attitude, although that's a part of it. But the primary reason, at least the one that makes the most sense based on my perceptions is that the programmers just stop the development once it gets to the point where it's pretty functional. So once the program is able to do the goal that the programmer set out to accomplish, then the motivation to go the extra step and really polish things up is gone. Especially freeware stuff like the video tools. For example, let's say the goal is to convert a dvd to an avi file. First the program will probably be some command line thing. Why? Because it's easy. It's pure code. You just write a couple of lines to do the job, and you're done. But then, as a few people start using it repetitively, the demand for a gui comes in. So, a gui is made, but it's bare minimum. There's no real motivation or demand to do more (other than "difficult" people like myself). So some gui is created, you know the type...there's some fields and dialogs and boxes, but when you click "start" or "run" a command line window pops up and does the work. basically, it's just a fancy form for putting in command line parameters. Again, the bare minimum. Not many people are going to go the extra step of removing the command line dialog popup, like integrating it into a window-looking dialog. Most of the people using the program are computer geeks, so a little command line doesn't bother them that much. Anyway, that's the idea. It's almost waaaaaaay more work to polish up the interface vs. just writing a simple code to do the job. There's simply no motivation for it from a practical standpoint. If I were to say something, the response in most developer's head would be "Dude, just type in "/n run echo pstart-c-t-w" and it will do it. It's going to take me a week to program a button for that. You can type it in in 2 seconds. Why bother." That, in my opinion, is why a lot of the good programs out there have terrible UI's. Unfortunately, the bad programs will tend to have better UI's...for the same reason. A good UI masks the poor program engine. So it fools non-computer people.
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