Re: Carpentry (was: learning languages)

[Adam Turoff <address@hidden>]

On Sun, Mar 16, 2003 at 01:57:39AM +0100, Francois-Rene Rideau wrote:
> Actually, I'd guess this list would be about making better hatchetts.
> Except that carpenters don't make hatchets -- toolsmiths do.
> On the contrary, programmers make both the furniture
> AND the tools with which to build the furniture,
> and something the house in which to put it all, too.

Sorry, but your straw man does not stand up to even the mildest
scrutiny.

Carpenters (cabinet makers, whathaveyou) don't make saws, drills or
routers.  But hackers don't make CPUs, hard disks or ethernet cards
either.

> We manipulate universal machines, and that distinguishes our activity,
> for better or for worse, from most other activities.
> And this list is _precisely_ about the specificities of universal machines.

Carpenters *do* make some of their own tools.  While they don't
make the powertools, they do fabricate jigs, templates, blanks,
clamps, braces and work tables out of the same material as they
build their finished products.  Many times, they buy prefabricated
versions of these common wooden tools to save time. 

The analogy to programming and programmers is obvious.

Z.