From owner-freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Apr 2 12:58:25 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B5F1537B408 for ; Wed, 2 Apr 2003 12:58:23 -0800 (PST) Received: from deimos.frii.net (deimos.frii.com [216.17.128.2]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id ED36743F75 for ; Wed, 2 Apr 2003 12:58:22 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from tpconnolly@frii.com) Received: from tconnolly (g8denver.org [207.109.48.8] (may be forged)) by deimos.frii.net (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h32KwN6Q033220 for ; Wed, 2 Apr 2003 13:58:23 -0700 (MST) From: "Thomas Connolly" To: Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 13:58:21 -0700 Message-ID: <000001c2f95a$98f6d000$5608a8c0@ceesi.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook, Build 10.0.4510 In-Reply-To: <000a01c2f9a5$7458ec60$867d4382@tocom> X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106 Importance: Normal Subject: RE: OT Humble Pie (was hardw words) X-BeenThere: freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: Gathering place for new users List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2003 20:58:25 -0000 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 To: ; 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. _______________________________________________ > freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-newbies > To unsubscribe, send any mail to = "freebsd-newbies-unsubscribe@freebsd.org" > > _______________________________________________ freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-newbies To unsubscribe, send any mail to = "freebsd-newbies-unsubscribe@freebsd.org"