Doug Thompson wrote:
I couldn't agree with you more than if I had written it myself. Well,
with the possible exception of the aspersions cast in my name. More on
that to come.
I freely admit that I have little use for people who are and choose to
remain what I call willfully ignorant. However, that cuts all
directions, because what is the difference between the non-geek who
avoids learning about things technical and the geek who avoids learning
about things of human behavior?
OOo is a nexus for these two groups, and it magnifies the gulf rather
than bridging it. Why? Because of installation dialogues and other
"geekisms" that are confusing to general users and are the topic of this
thread. Is there a solution? Possibly, but it would require a project
dedicated to cleaning up and clarifying the User Interface from the
programming side. Instead, the Documentation Project has the thankless
task of trying to explain in common language program features that the
developers probably have difficulty describing to one another in jargon.
Add to this complexity the fact that RTFM is the last action of the
truly desperate, and everything collapses under its own weight.
I was accused of thinking "that anyone who mis-interprets the dialog is
either oblivious of (sic) ignorant." That must be because I don't
explain some things as thoroughly as I could, but it probably doesn't
matter any more than the documentation. There is *nothing wrong* with
ignorance; it is merely the condition of lack of knowledge and can be
easily remedied by anyone who wants to make an effort. "Willful
ignorance" is eschewing learning for whatever reason (laziness, fear...)
and is the behavior I find most reprehensible. The people who are
*oblivious* are the members of the OOo developer community who
promulgate these dialogues without concern for how they will be
interpreted.
I don't mind being quoted, but please be accurate and don't put your
thoughts as words out of my mouth.
Doug
I sincerely apologize. I thought you were coming from the other side of
this argument. It's a long one that seems in no danger of collapsing.
Rod
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