Re: Should arrogant, self-important people be encouraged to use L inux?
It's not *that* hard. I was able to do it and I'm relatively new.
Just takes a little reading and a lot of effort (and this list)
Cameron Matheson
On Sat, Apr 14, 2001 at 12:39:21PM -0400, Brenda J. Butler wrote:
> > On Thu, 12 Apr 2001 tom@tomd.org wrote:
> > The thing that got people like Karsten riled is the fact that this
> > guy expected everyone else to provide him with wonderful documentation,
> > on top of excellent software (something many are already trying to
> > do), but in the same breath told everyone that he had no intention
> > of actually helping with the same. Basically, suggesting that we should
> > all be grateful to accept parasites into the Linux Community who
> > are unwilling to contribute, but will suck up everything that the
> > community gives - and complain if it's not to his taste.
> >
> > The fact is, most people coding Free Software do it to satisfy a need
> > that they have - and then they give it away to help others do the
> > same. They coded it, so they really don't benefit from writing the
> > documentation much - they already know it. Also many, but not all,
> > good programmers are not very good at documentation. Most of them
> > do try - and I'm sure it grates on them when someone comes along
> > and says "Hey, what you've given me already isn't good enough -
> > I need handholding! I refuse to search for documentation. I refuse
> > to contribute any if I figure it out myself! You'd better improve
> > this or I'll quit using it!"
>
> Ahh, did you actually read the post that started this thread?
> The above is a knee-jerk reaction to a stereotype "parasite" which
> this guy isn't (although he shares one or two characteristics).
>
> Anyway, the chap who started the thread is right. The open
> source collection now isn't the same as it was when we-all learned
> linux. These days, it _is_ really confusing to try to learn it by
> reading what comes on the system (all several gigs of it and
> badly organised, and directed to people who want to run web
> servers and other servers, and each new document features a reason
> why an older simpler package can't be used and this new, more complicated
> and more-integrated-with-other-stuff package should replace it).
>
> I'm not complaining about open source stuff (on my home systems
> that's all I use and I'm very grateful for it), but open source
> has changed from when we learned it. It's hard to learn it
> that way any more, because lots of people now write this stuff
> for a living. A hobbyist can't keep up any more.
>
> So don't look down your noses at newbies. They face a different,
> much more challenging world than you did when you learned it.
>
> --
> bjb@achilles.net
> Consider registering as a bone marrow donor
> http://www.bloodservices.ca/english/ubmdr
>
>
> --
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