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Re: Spinoff: Using Linux for work? was RE: Why Tech-Writers Should Know About Open Source Technologies
Subject:Re: Spinoff: Using Linux for work? was RE: Why Tech-Writers Should Know About Open Source Technologies From:Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axion -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Thu, 15 Sep 2005 11:05:51 -0700
On Thu, 2005-09-15 at 19:40 +0200, Sean Wheller wrote:
> Thanks Bruce for that narration. So, what does this demo imply relating to
> the "Should Know About" in the subject. Well, you need to learn a new lingo,
> new tools and new set of rules.
I just finished sending a private message that brought up another point:
the UNIX tradition of software development and use isn't the same as
Windows.
Linux and other UNIX-like operating systems assume a do-it-yourself user
who likes to keep informed and poke about. By contrast, Windows
applications tend to do everything for you, not tell you what's
happening in any detail, and discourage users from rummaging around.
These are not absolutes, of course. In the last five years, Linux on the
desktop has become more Windows-like. Similarly, you can learn how to
read the Windows registry and become more hands-on. But the point is,
the assumptions behind the operating systems are really quite different.
Some types of technical writers -- certainly, the type I always tried to
be -- welcome the hands-on approach of open source and Linux. Others are
going to find that their Windows-based expectations aren't met, and
recoil at the difference.
If you're the second type, you might take heart to know that the
aversion to difference works both ways. I know several UNIX system
administrators who find Windows unbearable. They want to know what's
going on with the system in a way that Windows discourages. They feel
out of control and vulnerable when using Windows.
Anyway, the point is: if you're going to use Linux or other open source
software, you have to be prepared to get your hands dirty in a way that
you're not used to.
"When a person has a poor ear for music he will flat and sharp
right along without knowing it. He keeps near the tune, but is
not the tune. When a person has a poor ear for words, the result
is a literary flatting and sharping; you perceive what he is intending
to say, but you also perceive that he does not say it.'
- Mark Twain
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