However, I've personally seen a project where the aim was essentially to let non-programmers program, and the result was horrendously messy. So what? The goal

However, I've personally seen a project where the aim was essentially to let non-programmers program, and the result was horrendously messy. So what? The goal of turning every user into a programmer is perfectly reasonable. Almost all users of the early systems and computers were also programmers. Even today, business users make use of Excel/Access and some macros to do some programming (even though it can be seen as basic). Don't you remember a time when operating systems came with programming languages and compilers and actively promoted them to the user? Oh, and HyperCard. There was another great example of "user's" programming. I've also seen some hideously ugly GIMP script-fu scripts but they worked and did the job of the "user" that wrote them. In the end, the distinction between a user and a programmer is artificially created by software that doesn't view anybody else as smart enough to enter the monastary of the programmer.