[clug] Why do we do what we do in Linux? [was Re: Text editor]

[Bryan Kilgallin]

Hi Scott:

> That's more an example of how a proficiency in one field (law) doesn't
> automatically translate into a proficiency in another (IT).
>> We're supposed to engage in lifelong learning!
> While I agree, your response doesn't seem to directly relate to what you
> are responding to. (puzzled)

I have certified learning in such as:
     * geology;
     * geophysics;
     * business administration;
     * tertiary education; and
     * public administration.
So I mean to say that it is not necessary to be constrained to one 
initial academic discipline. Rather, it is possible to develop 
understanding in several.

> By all means snip out irrelevant material - but please try not to remove
> the context.

I had been told to stop top-quoting (leaving an entire historical 
context of discussion).

>>> You limit your choices by choosing from a category
>>> e.g. shells - then make you decision on the basis of "fit for purpose" -
>>> only you can determine what weights to apply to that decision matrix.
>> Yes, I chose the fish shell.
> I'll take that as an agreement (to the now, trimmed out of context, point).

I don't know how to decide on a category of software, and then choose to 
replace the distribution's standard with something else. Whereas I have 
read of Arch's virtue of being thin, and so allowing for full 
customisation. However, I feel too ignorant to attempt such.

>>> In your case one of the "fit for purpose" definitions you 'might' employ
>>> could be "how much support/guidance can I get" (which may rule out
>>> blackbox and xnest).
>> Yeah--otherwise I spend forever with shelved, half-built projects!
> The pejorative is presumably the result of a misunderstanding.

At different clubs, I have run into emotive negative reactions! Thereby 
lacking peer support, I have felt disinclined to continue with projects 
there that were well under way.

> Neither
> of those projects are "half-built.

No, I meant that lacking peer support, my own projects have languished!

>> I understand that a great many published programs each consist of
>> someone's pet project!
> Starting with the kernel.

I do not have sufficient knowledge of this topic.

> Marketing (creating a desire) and Sales (commercial transaction) are
> distinct from Promotion (creating awareness).

Marketing is a subject that I have taught. It is academically said to 
consist of four `Ps':
     * product;
     * place;
     * price; and
     * promotion.

> But we digress... far from the original subject and even one of the
> subsequent tangents of "winning a desktop war".

I am confused by the unstated requirements of e-mail list etiquette.

>> Although supposedly "free"--I have found that trying to compute the
>> Linux way entails endless nights and a desk covered in scribbles on
>> Post-it notes!
> I suspect you stretch "free" too far when applying it to "free of
> effort". Don't you think?

Cost includes opportunity cost. I endeavoured upon Linux systems partly 
to avoid cash expenditure. My health would be better if I spent evenings 
in a gym, rather than sitting staring at a screen!

>>> A *commercial* point of view no doubt (and that person would hardly
>>> propose their job was meaningless). Did your "user analyst" "get" Linux,
>>> or were they distracted by market imperatives?
>> She had absolutely no idea how her agency's network operated!
> <gently>
> That wasn't my question.
> </gently>

I had asked the lady what operating system her department's servers 
used. Her response was "Uh?".

>>>> Adults learn based on comparison with their vast prior experience.
>>> All humans do (abstraction and leverage).
>> By analogy.
> I'm not sure what to make of your constant rephrasing.

One of the disciplines of my formal study, was adult learning. So (in a 
Linux context) for the analogy comparing operating systems with power 
drills.

>>> Your printer doesn't need to do "landscape" - the print software on
>>> linux is perfectly capable of turning the print 90 degrees before
>>> sending to the printer (Orientation).
>> The Printing application communes with my Brother HL3150CDN LED printer.
>> But I have been unable to get landscape orientation to work. Attempting
>> to print landscape--yields right-truncated portrait output!
> That's an issue that deserves a new post with an appropriate subject
> line to attract useful information and make the results accessible to
> others.

I have attempted courtesy by answering an e-mail response in full in one go.

> This thread has already veered off into too many tangents, which while
> interesting, would be more productive (to the many) if they were
> separate subjects.

I have occasionally retitled a response to someone. Though in another 
club I had been complained-to for not maintaining thread-consistency!

-- 
www.netspeed.com.au/bryan/