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God help me, I know I shouldn't bother, but sometimes it gets a bit
much...
> 17th billion time the ire of many has been raised over the inane debate
> over which tool is better.
>
Ire? Who was irate?
On other points:
Neither bacteria nor humans are tools. I don't like using the wrong
hammer for a job any more than I like using the wrong software. And if
there were a monopoly hammer supplier that mandated we all had to use a
12-pound sledge for all hammer applications, you can bet the very
powerful construction industry would run them out town on a rail.
> The factors that make these complex systems
> useful (or useless) are far too complex for a few mouthing fools (including
> yours truly) on a tech writer board to figure out.
>
Really? Those of us who use the tools are not capable of figuring out
whether they are userful or not? We may not have the same criteria, and
therefore may not agree with one another, but we do _have_ criteria, and
can therefore figure out whether a tool is useful. If I couldn't figure
out whether something were of use to me, why would I buy it?
MS Word is useful to me to satisfy those clients who require me to
deliver in that format. Of course I can use it to make a decent
document. If I don't believe it can do a certain job, and the client
insists, then I offer three choices: change requirements (simplify
formatting, for example), or change tools, or change authors.
A true professional is able to assess requirements and the possibility
of meeting those requirements. A true professional will suggest
alternatives where he or she believes those alternatives will be of
benefit to his/her client. Most clients ask me to use Word for mid-sized
documents, I say fine, no problem. When a client asks me to DTP
marketing material, with specified process colours and complex graphic
designs in PowerPoint (had this happen), I say, no, I think we should
consider some alternatives, and here's why...
And I can discuss the technical and political merits of a tool or
anything else without the argument being based on emotional attachment.
Show a little respect sometimes (even to those who haven't earned it),
and stop assuming that everyone is a whining idiot. It makes life
easier, really it does...
