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Date:      Wed, 2 Apr 2003 13:58:21 -0700
From:      "Thomas Connolly" <tpconnolly@frii.com>
To:        <freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org>
Subject:   RE: OT Humble Pie (was hardw words)
Message-ID:  <000001c2f95a$98f6d000$5608a8c0@ceesi.com>
In-Reply-To: <000a01c2f9a5$7458ec60$867d4382@tocom>

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Enough already!

Thomas P. Connolly
Senior Development Engineer
Colorado Engineering Experiment Station Inc.


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org
[mailto:owner-freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org] On Behalf Of Lal Manavado
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2003 10:54 PM
To: freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org
Subject: Re: OT Humble Pie (was hardw words)


----- Original Message -----
From: Johnson David <DavidJohnson@Siemens.com>
To: <FST777@phreaker.net>; <freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org>
Sent: Monday, March 31, 2003 11:13 AM
Subject: Re: OT Humble Pie (was hardw words)


> On Saturday 29 March 2003 07:35 pm, Frans-Jan v. Steenbeek wrote:
>
> > Sometimes I even find the manuals too complicated.
> > Open-Source-fighters should write all their text (especially their
> > manuals) in understandable english for the "other part" of the
> > community. That's what came up in my mind while reading this.
>
> If there is jargon in the documentation, it should be removed. But
> reducing its verbiage to the lowest common denominator is excessive.
>
> In the US (and maybe even in other English speaking nations), there =
has
> been a movement to "dumb down" communication so that we do not offend
> those who might have failed the second and third grade. We even have
> newspapers written to that level. The sarcastic responses you have =
seen
> here are merely visceral reactions to against a perceived goal to dumb
> down the FreeBSD documentation to the level of "USA Today".
>
> David

How heartening it is to see someone perceive a point, which one may not =
have
set forth with the greatest possible clarity.  David  has indeed hit the
giant rivet on the head with a sledgehammer!

 People's ability to grasp complex issues and nuances depends on their
mastery of a language.  Of course, there are hackademics who hotly =
debate
this point, primarily because they are forced to churn out 'research =
papers'
in order to hold onto their tottering totems at some educational wigwam.
Moreover, their understanding of epistemic logic is non-existent.

One sincerely hopes FreeBSD documentation will never become a parody of
itself through  rampant simplification.
As Xenophon said so long ago, "high thoughts require high words", or =
words
to that effect. And he was not an academic!

May the blessings of Bacchus be upon all those who fight the 'language
simplifiers' who are hell bent on turning the herd into a flock of our
ancestors from the Neander valley.

L. M.


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