[Gllug] Controversial Joel Spolsky article

[Bernard Peek]

In message <200312152232.16629.chrisehunter at blueyonder.co.uk>, 
Christopher Hunter <chrisehunter at blueyonder.co.uk> writes
>On Monday 15 Dec 2003 8:19 pm, Richard Jones wrote:
>> http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/Biculturalism.html
>>
>> He's a Windows fanboy, so you have to excuse him. Most of the stuff he
>> writes is insightful.
>
>Sorry Rich, but most of the article is drivel!  "Auntie Madge expects output
>from her programs" (to paraphrase) - what she mostly expects to see (in the
>Windoze world) is useless error messages and blue screens!
>
>He's slightly right in so much as we often write code that's only
>comprehensible to others like us - that's usually no bad thing, as I wouldn't
>want his "Auntie Madge" let loose with a partitioning tool or even trying to
>do backups!

I spent last weekend listening to "Aunt Madge" complain about how she 
had lost her data. She hadn't taken any backups because she didn't know 
how. I can understand not letting her loose with a partitioning tool, 
but end-users using a computer at home must be able to take backups. I 
don't want to spend any more time fixing Madge's computer while everyone 
else is tucking into the party food and drink.

A lot of what Joel says rings true for me, but I came into computing as 
an end-user when someone put a terminal on my desk and walked away 
thinking their job was done. Since then I've worked around the outside 
of IT departments, working between the geeks and the lusers. That 
includes some time spent as a tech author and a trainer.

I particularly liked Joel's comments about manuals. Good software 
doesn't need a manual, or on-line help. As a technical author I like to 
see a well-written and comprehensive manual. As a developer I like to 
see a good healthy layer of dust on top of the user manuals.



-- 
Bernard Peek
London, UK. DBA, Manager, Trainer & Author. Will work for money.

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