Re: PG: Hackers and Painters

[Bruce Lewis <address@hidden>]

Geoffrey Knauth <geoff@knauth.org> writes:

> I've heard "old-timers" express one beef about some young'ns:  CS
> professors lament some of their students do things they insist are new
> that were first done ages ago.  When children learn to walk or talk,
> do we parents squash their joy (and ours) with a "You aren't the
> first!"  Hardly.

Children see others walking and talking, but it doesn't squash their joy
to see that they aren't the first.  I think it depends on the attitude
with which old-timers tell the story.  You remember someone coming up
with the same idea 30 years ago?  It must be a really good idea to be so
memorable.  All the more credit to someone who reinvents it.