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>
> Being a geek has nothing to do with the degree a person has. It has
> everything to do with how the person approaches technology. A person is a
> geek long before they get a degree. Geeks, "Technical Enthusiasts," approach
> towards technology differently. They model the application. These are the
> people that don't read the manuals.
I agree that geeks experiment. But I disagree that they don't read
manuals.
I work with people who could rightly be called uber-geeks. Many are
Debian GNU/Linux developers. They all participate actively in free
software projects, which means that, when they're off work, they do much
the same as what they're doing at work. Several maintain over a dozen
packages apiece, and a shelf of the books written by people at the
company would be at least a metre long. I'm talking hardcore coders
here.
Last October, I visited the head office on my monthly visit. Several of
the coders had just come back from the Atlanta Showcase for Linux. All
of them returned with at least half a dozen manuals on subjects rangng
from emacs to perl programming. From the condition of the books on
subsequent visits, these books have not only been read, but re-read and
poured over, with their spines cracked and their page corners turned
down.
> And, after a round of what looked like age discrimination here in Austin, I
> know what it feels like when people start to discount your ability to think
> and learn, which, I agree with you, is one of the core competencies of TW.
> And, by learn, I don't care how you accomplish it.
Of course, the flip side to ageism (if you're a victim) is that you can
get some amusement out of shocking the twentysomethings by showing that
you didn't fall into senility once you hit thirty. A vicious amusement,
but my own :-)
--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- progeny -dot- com
"All the federales say
They could have had him any day,
They only let him slip away
Out of kindness, I suppose."
- Townes Van Zandt, "Poncho and Lefty"
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