“Periodically — well, regularly, as long as we’re being honest
— I find myself in the midst of conversations in which I am
completely out of my depth. Even for someone like myself, who
manages to keep her various Linux systems running without any major
mishaps, there are incredibly intimidating levels of techno-babble
that wash past me without the faintest hope of comprehension on my
part. Sometime I even think some of my friends think in
prompts, grep options, and vi commands….“
“A friend suggested a car analogy. The more I’ve thought about
it, the more it makes sense. No one questions that a car is a car,
despite the many different automobile manufacturers out there.
Whether Ford or Buick or Mercedes, cars are cars. The difference is
in the details — and one buys a certain type of car for certain
reasons. You certainly don’t want to buy a Jaguar convertible or
Geo Metro if you’re planning on offroading. Nor would you want an
SUV if you live in a city with narrow streets and limited
parking.”