Re: Tools

[Jeff Read <bitwize@geocities.com>]

On Fri, Jan 07, 2000 at 01:36:36PM -0200, Andrei de A. Formiga wrote:
> 	Well, I say yeah... I like the command line, I like to edit 
> configuration files manually, to write scripts and all these things, 
> and I like GUIs too, but I'm a kind of enthusiast for computers 
> (geek, if you wish) and I have a craving to know better what's 
> happening with my machine. But let's switch the subject to cars... I 
> learned to drive and it's very useful. However, I'm almost 100% 
> ignorant of the inner workings of a car; well, I think I ended up 
> knowing more than most people because of my formation as an 
> engineer, but still I am not interested very much in cars. In fact I 
> don't care very much how does a car work, I want to get in, push 
> the ignition and go out driving, and that's it. If my car has a 
> problem, I send it to repair. That's completely different of what I do 
> with computers: I've had seven or eight computers in the last five 
> years, and I've never sent any of them for repair, repairing them 
> myself. 

When a device becomes sufficiently complex, it can't be guaranteed to work at the push of a button. I'd say cars and computers fall into this category, whereas radios and toasters don't. There really is no excuse for not knowing on a very basic level how a car works or a computer works if you intend to use such a device. I don't know about Europe but out here in the good ol' backward U.S. of A. we have a problem with auto mechanics cheating their customers. Most automobile owners don't know a damned thing about their car, and will believe anything their mechanic tells them, even if it's complete BS.

Knowledge is power. :)