Wednesday, November 03, 1999, 12:11:59 PM, Kevin wrote:
>> Actually, it would be better to have a variety. Makes viruses kind of
>> hard to propagate, doesn't it?
> Probably, but I wouldn't make my choice of OS at home based on that. :-)
No, but it is about as valid a reason as any other. IE... not all that
valid.
> I would *guess*, that most of what you know about Unix too, you learned
> through experience, not though formal training.
O-Bing. I just happen to have more formal training on Unix and I've
actually read books (O'Reilly) about it compared to Unix and Mac which I have
done neither of those.
> I would tend to disagree. If you live, eat, and breath computers all day,
> every day like some of us do, it becomes easy at some point to instinctively
> understand things and know what's going on behind the scenes.
No, all it takes is a little common sense. I understand computers at
about the same level that I understand my car. Granted, I can't build a car
from component parts, but then that is just a difference of scale. I
understand my VCR at the same level. I understand a lot of things at that
same conceptual level. All it takes is some basic observation, reasoning,
memorization and logic. Computers are no different than anything else in that
regard.
> Now... you guessed it, they complain because they have to wade through so
> many hits. They want only the hits that they can use right then and they
> and want the software to weed out the rest, but how in the &*#^ is the
> software supposed to know?
Exactly. And people wonder why I prefer Yahoo! to Altavista or Excite.
35,000 hits looks impressive but it is exactly as useful as 0 hits. Try
telling that to a lot of people, however.
> So, we try to modify and enhance software, not necessarily to coddle these
> people, but maybe to make life easier for those of us who have to do the
> support.
No, it is coddling, plain and simple. Call it what it is.
> If we gets calls about something enough times, we figure we'd get less calls
> if we make a change (if it makes sense). Now I guess M$ has tried to do this
> but they seem to have made a mess when they did it. That doesn't mean that
> everyone has to make a mess when they do it though.
No, it does. By playing that game, by catering to every little newbie
whim you end up with a system that is not internally consistent and is
annoying to the majority of people. This isn't just M$, it is M$ and Mac and,
as you pointed out, yourself. It doesn't happen only in technology, either,
it is just in technology people equate it to magic. "Why can't it do it? I
can imagine it!"
> Those developers that finally do it the right way... maybe by having good
> judgement and not trying to put in everything including the kitchen sink,
> but, instead, putting in the things that make the most sense... are the ones
> that have the best software.
Amazingly enough, that best software happens to be the ones that started
this whole discussion. The ones that are "hard to learn" and "cryptic."
I can boil down this down to a statement I heard a while ago. "NT is
designed so an idiot can administer the server. Make it so an idiot can do
that and only idiot's will."
NT is the laughing stock of IT, trust me on this. It is the baby of
managers because they figure if *they* could do it, surely their techs would
appreciate something so "simple." What they don't realize is that something
"simple" is really complex. Sure, setting it up may be "easier" (I don't
agree, actually, after using Debian) but to do complex things means a *lot*
more work.
"So simple and idiot could do it" and "powerful" is a holy grail that will
never, *EVER* be found. Ever. Yet we still try to cater to that idea instead
of putting our foot down and saying, "Look, it does the job. Get off your
fat, chicken-wing-eating-ass, *READ* a little bit, try engaging your *BRAIN*
for once and find out that with a little effort you will be *more* productive
with things the way they are now than if we tried to make it jump through
every hoop your 2-neuron brain can come up with to avoid work!"
"All I want to do is turn it on and do work."
Tough, you need to learn a little bit.
--
Steve C. Lamb | I'm your priest, I'm your shrink, I'm your
ICQ: 5107343 | main connection to the switchboard of souls.
-------------------------------+---------------------------------------------
--
--------------------------------------------------------------
View the TBUDL archive at http://tbudl.thebat.dutaint.com
To send a message to the list moderation team click here:
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To Unsubscribe from TBUDL, click below and send the generated message.
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
--------------------------------------------------------------
