[SunRescue] Q on "optimal" OS for Sun4c machines, now that Solaris 8 won't run

[Ed.Mitchell at centigram.com]

Hey, I use the manual lots. :P,','',',',',',  I can't help it if my memory
sucks!!!!!  Like one old grisled admin from v7 days once told me, "It's
about knowing where to find the answer, even if it means RTFM for the third
time."

And I can vouch for the accuracy of that statement, being college educated
in something not even remotely related to computers.



From: Chris Drelich <hyena at interport.net> on 07/13/2000 04:39 AM GMT

Please respond to rescue at sunhelp.org

To:   rescue at sunhelp.org
cc:    (bcc: Ed Mitchell/US/Centigram)
Subject:  Re: [SunRescue] Q on "optimal" OS for Sun4c machines, now that
      Solaris 8  won't run




My friends, and myself, have all been computer geeks from an early age, and
now
in our late teens to early twenties, we are all unix users, and mostly unix
and
network admins.  We've been using computers all our lives and know how to
take
one apart and put it together.  We can  even do this with computers we've
never
heard of before, because we get the basic similarities, and our engineering
skills help us fill in the rest.  Most of us never went to college or went
and
dropped out after a few days/semesters/years, some have been on "hiatus"
for
years now.  We know our stuff, do good work, and our well paid for it.
However, recently we have noticed that a lot of the people our age, who
learned
their knowledge through college instead of life have a different view of
computers.  Sure, they can code well, and some of them even know a thing or
two
about UNIX.  Open a computer in front of them, and they won't know what to
do.
Its a case of "We never learned that in college."/"Im too good for that,
call
tech support/technician."  I mean, back in the real glory days of
computers,
even the college educated ones could take apart a computer, sometimes
better
then the life educated ones.  Today though its not the case, and this is
sad.
All companies I've been with have had the tech department divided among
three
lines: Hackers(college or life educated, they can take apart a computer and
love to tinker), College Boys(college educated, they may think some
computer is
neat, but for the most part the are 100% Windows at heart, at most they
might
have built a computer once and brag about it a lot, they also used the
manual a
lot), Others(they may or may not have college education, but if they do,
its in
another field, they switched to computers after having decided what to do
with
their life once before, they are in it for the money or a love similar to
the
hacker.)  Either way, this current state of affairs is sad.
Chris

Dave McGuire wrote:
>
> On July 12, Roger Walkup wrote:
> > Apple did the samething in the k-12 schools.  From my personal
experience as
> > an *old* (40) student and a part time worker in one of the tech offices
at
> > University of Wisconsin-Superior, the people who run the labs, maintain
the
> > network, and take care of the staff/faculty offices are pretty ignorent
about
> > unix of any sort and, in some cases, little better than power users of
MS
> > software (eg. they know how to install a custom version of Office
2000).  The
> > computer science dept has bought *an* Ultra 10 which will be used as a
server
> > for compsci classes next year.  Most of the comp sci profs are big fans
of
> > NeXT, but that's dead.  A recent grad donated 4-5  classics, but
they're not
> > all running yet.  Looking around on the internet, I don't see much
difference
> > in other UW campuses.  It's a wasteland.
>
>   Wow.  Is it possible that we are the last generation of people that
> will know how computers actually *work*?  No computer *science* will
> be learnt on Windows boxes, in my opinion.
>
>          -Dave McGuire
> _______________________________________________
> Rescue maillist  -  Rescue at sunhelp.org
> http://www.sunhelp.org/mailman/listinfo/rescue
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