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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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. > > -- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Consider registering as a bone marrow donor > http://www.bloodservices.ca/english/ubmdr > > > -- > To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
