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Date:      Tue, 30 Sep 1997 00:40:17 +0200
From:      Peter Korsten <peter@grendel.IAEhv.nl>
To:        chat@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Microsoft brainrot (was: r-cmds and DNS and /etc/host.conf)
Message-ID:  <19970930004017.44751@grendel.IAEhv.nl>
In-Reply-To: <199709291321.JAA22447@gatekeeper.itribe.net>; from Jamie Bowden on Mon, Sep 29, 1997 at 09:24:04AM -0400
References:  <Pine.BSF.3.96.970928005949.17419A-100000@andrsn.stanford.edu> <199709291321.JAA22447@gatekeeper.itribe.net>

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Can't these FreeBSD-lists reply to themselves? It's quite a PITA
that everyone including the pope is in the 'Cc:' field, just to
get 'chat@freebsd.org' there. Noone seems to bother to edit their
headers. It's stupid that I receive many mails twice.

Jamie Bowden shared with us (and he didn't edit his headers):
> 
> When I worked for a CS dept., I ran into this attitude
> there among students.  How the hell does a CS student plan on getting a
> degree in a computer field without actually learning about a computer?
> What's worse is that some of them manage.  The grad students were worse
> than the undergrads.  Anyway, enough ranting for now.

Don't put off on computer science this way. Actually, the more
appropiate term would be computing science.

On the Eindhoven University of Technology, there's a very theo-
retical approach toward towards CS. In essence, a mathematical
problem can be rewritten - using boolean algebra and other
logical mathematics - into an algorithm. Also, you have to be
able to actually mathematically prove the correctness of that
algorithm.

Of course, in everyday life we won't be giving proof of our programs.
But it marks the approach that CS takes. You're more of a designer
than an actual programmer. There are other people that are better
in that, like, well, us. You don't need a computer in the designing
phase. And if you study Mathematics of Programming - a friend of
mine can call himself a doctor now on that subject - you don't need
a computer at all. In fact, it's a very interesting area that he
got his degree in, but it's hard to explain what it is about. Mostly
because I don't really understand it.

Remember: many people can write code. Few people really know how
to program.

Too bad I didn't finish my education there. Now I'm a hacker, just
like the rest of you. :)

- Peter



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