personal efficiency and how to work (was OT from Re: [tlug] Docbook XML for documenting database tables)

["Micheal E Cooper" <mcooper@example.com>]

"Stephen J. Turnbull" <stephen@example.com> wrote:

> Don't get me wrong.  Docbook (and XML in general) is a GoodThang[tm].
> But it's one of those things that you should seriously think about
> paying somebody (or downloading a program ;-) to create for you,
> rather than dealing with it yourself.  Postpone learning about it
> until you need to do something you can't beg, buy, or steal.

Man, this is one of those eye-opening posts that back-slaps you with the
Asahi shimbun.

I have a major tendency to try to learn things from the ground up in order
to understand them fully, but that is not always the way to go in
computing.

My neurotic dedication to learn from the inside out worked well when I got
to Japan and taught myself Japanese, and it allowed me to get a good
foundational understanding when I started my second degree in Comp Sci,
but it is not so good for day-to-day work. I find that don't have enough
time to begin at the core, and in the end, I end up doing some kind of
really sloppy hack because I am out of time.

An expedient and practical fix would be one way to give myself time to
develop a real fluency in a programming language or technology, instead of
being pulled in a million directions.

On a further, and even more OT line of thought, this thread is one of
those non-tech gems I find in TLUG. Outsiders think that a linux list
would be all about ephemeral, specific technologies for a certain task,
but there is a lot to be learned from others' experience in
problem-solving, like when to hunker-down and go deep, when to grab a
quick fix, etc.


This kind of wisdom can apply to anything.