Sellam Ismail wrote:
>
> On Sat, 7 Apr 2001, Jeffrey S. Sharp wrote:
>
> > It depends on your definition of 'kid'. I'm 22, but I am probably
> > near the young end of the distribution as well. The fact that we're
> > young, however, does not make us any less deserving of the pleasure of
> > exploring the history of computing through classic computers.
> > Granted, we might know less than the older gurus here, but we are just
> > as important. Lack of knowledge is a temporary obstacle; even the
> > gurus were neophytes once. If the traditions, folklore, and spirit of
> > computing in ages past are to survive, then at some point the flag
> > must be passed to the next generation.
>
> Nope, we intend to keep everything from you young whipper-snappers. Your
> first history lesson is to understand that computers used to sit behind
> big panes of glass, accessible only to the priesthood that maintained
> them. You communed with them only through a small hole where you passed
> your punched cards and got your results back (usually just error
> messages).
>
> So too it is with computer history. You can only have access to the
> knowledge we pass to you through the little hole in the window. Do not
> try to subvert our authority or we will find it fit to smite thee.
>
> And let's just get one thing straight, you were either born to compute or
> you ended up being some post-degree market-molded wannabee nerd who
> couldn't get a job in your chosen profession and just jumped on the
> bandwagon during the great Internet bubble economy of the late 1990s and
> "became" a programmer.
>
> So it is not true that "gurus were neophytes once". Gurus are born,
> not made.
>
> Ah, nothing like a good rabble rousing to start a Sunday morning.
Ah the BOFH! I was a BOFH and a BUFH (at the same time ;-)
Sellam have you ever had a disk drive try to sneak up on you while in
the temple of glass? ;-)
--
Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry_at_home.net
http://members.home.net/ncherry (Text only)
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http://linuxha.sourceforge.net/ (SourceForge)
Received on Sun Apr 08 2001 - 13:11:30 BST