Re: libglade frustration

[wallace owen l-3com com]

I just love this car analogy!

CARS
The technical service manual is available for those that need to service
the car.  It doesn't come with the assembled car.  Maybe it comes with
the car if you buy it in kit form.  Your repair mechanic needs to refer
to it, but if the car's well-made, the user shouldn't need to know about
it.
          --but--
The users manual should be provided with every car.  The user's manual
should provide sufficient instruction on how to drive the car.  If a
driver finds himself needing to refer to the technical service manual to
drive the car, the user's manual is inferior and should be amended with
sufficient user instructions, including examples of where to find the
fluid fill caps, the dome light switch and the overdrive button.

LIBGLADE
The source code is available for those that need to modify libglade.  It
doesn't come with the packaged distribution.  It is available from the
same web site as libglade binary packages.  A libglade extension writer
needs to refer to it, but if libglade's user manual is sufficient the
user shouldn't need to look at the source.
          --but--
The users manual should be provided with every copy of a packaged
distribution.  The user's manual should provide sufficient instruction
on how to operate libglade.  If a developer finds himself needing to
refer to the source to run libglade, the user's manual is inferior and
should be amended with sufficient user instructions, including examples
of deriving from classes that implement interfaces, using signals in
GObject, etc.


  // Wally

On Wed, 2007-02-14 at 16:55 -0500, Tristan Van Berkom wrote:
> On Wed, 2007-02-14 at 13:28 -0800, Rick Jones wrote:
> [...]
> > > So you want to know how to use it and you intentionally
> > > avoid one of the most efficient ways to learn it.  Well, if
> > > it works for you...
> >
> > Well, I didn't go tearing-down the engine and transmission in my car, 
> > but I still learned how to drive it :)
> >
> > I agree that if one really, Really, REALLY wants to know not just how 
> > something works, but why it works that way, source code is best.  Still, 
> > that hasn't meant that I was or continue to be able to just tell people 
> > asking about netperf to read the source, I still either explain things 
> > to them, or make sure I ammend the manual.
>
> I'm going to have to bite my tongue soon and just drop this, only
> I'm getting the impression that your still arguing that people
> should remain too lazy to consult the tarball, which is fine,
> I'm just going to try - again - to change your mind.
>
> So lets continue to speak in metaphores since it happens to suit
> me today. Lets say that you downloaded your new car from your local
> dealership, and still have a hard time figuring out how to use
> this new car, maybe the dealership wasnt responsable enough to
> provide you with the box & manual that the manifacturer distributed
> with the new car, maybe the dealership decided that that part
> of the car was irrelevent. Even if the box didnt come with a complete
> set of blueprints on how the car was made, it might come with a
> manual and/or a set of tips, those tips might be usefull to you
> even if the dealership didnt think so.
>
> The tarball is the complete package that comes from the manifacturer,
> if the manifacturer wanted you to have something that was just a side
> dish to the main meal (like an example program), then look in the 
> package for additional information, thats where it comes from, thats
> where to look for.
>
> Ammending the documentation is one thing, people actually pulling 
> the documentation out the box and reading it is another thing
> entirely.
>
> Cheers,
>                   -Tristan
>
>
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-- 
Wallace Owen L-3Com com
Office: 619.278.2084
Cell:   619.990.2286