Any newbie Linux forums 4045

Peter T. Breuer

OK, I agree. People are lazy. But it's not just that.

I'm clumsy with my hands. I'm just not "neat", the only way anything I build will come out plumb and level is if I spend the entire day checking and rechecking. Most of my hammer strikes will miss, and that's in spite of many years of practice I had working with my Dad (who could build anything). I'm lucky if I don't hurt myself, too.

So when something needs building, I don't even try. It's too difficult, too consuming of my time, too expensive: it's really far cheaper for me to hire a professional than to do it myself.

Some of the people who ask moronic questions here are like that. Computers have beaten them, confused them, frustrated them. They just don't "get it". What's easy for us is pure pain for them, just like the pain I feel trying to repair a deck. I can DO it, but it takes way too long and it angers me and affects everything else I do. Forget it, let someone who is good at it do the job.

I agree. I tell people that all the time. It is not magic. But it IS skill and prior knowledge and native ability.

That's where we part. I don't think you really can teach this to someone who doesn't have ability. My Dad tried to teach me his skills - he was a guy who could build a spiral staircase, could (and did) construct an entire house by himself with absolutely no help, etc. He tried to teach me, but I just didn't "get it". I could beat him at chess when I was seven, but I never could build even a bird house that wasn't sadly amateur.

Some of us earn our living doing exactly that, Peter :-)

people. Stupid people put me where I am today". The only change I'd make to that is to note that just because someone is "stupid" about computer problems doesn't necessarily mean they are stupid about everything. They may in fact be a lot smarter than I in a LOT of other areas, and I keep that thought firmly in mind.

-- Tony Lawrence