Before you think of being a do-gooder...

Walter Dnes waltdnes-SLHPyeZ9y/tg9hUCZPvPmw at public.gmane.org
Sun May 28 05:49:30 UTC 2006


On Sat, May 27, 2006 at 10:56:40AM -0400, Evan Leibovitch wrote

> What's pathetic is that IT design, support and maintenance isn't really 
> a profession, it isn't even up to the level of being a "trade". Of 
> course, many IT vendors like things this way because accountability 
> would expose them.

  A couple of points...

  1) Unlike bricklaying, or carpentry, or metalworking, etc, there isn't
a century or two of publications and knowledge handed down from
generation to generation.  C and Java are two of the "oldest" languages
currently in major use for new development.  Stuff like Python, Ruby,
PHP is almost brand new.  How many "centuries of practice" are there for
these languages?

  2) Be careful what you wish for.  A "profession" means that only
"certified professionals" can practise it, e.g. medicine.  I remember
back in the early 80's how some greybeards reacted angrily to the
thought that snotty-nosed kids would be able to program on their "toy
computers".  The old farts were *DEMANDING* that all programmers be
licenced.  I don't know whether you'll laugh or cry, but take a look at
http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/12.09.html#subj5 back in 1991.  That was
about a bill that would require all "software engineers" in New Jersey
to be licenced, for a *VERY WIDE* definition of "software engineer".
The initial draft would've required every secretary or clerk who created
a Word or Excel macro to be licenced as an engineer.  Fortunately, the
bill was eventually laughed out of the legislature.

     Now imagine back in 1992, that it was illegal for a university
student and a bunch of snotty-nosed kids to collaborate over the net to
write a new OS.  And even licenced programmers who attempted to do so
would've faced discipline for "programming malpractice", because they
dared to use a macro-kernel, when "everybody knows" that a micro kernel
is the holy grail.

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes-SLHPyeZ9y/tg9hUCZPvPmw at public.gmane.org> In linux /sbin/init is Job #1
My musings on technology and security at http://tech_sec.blog.ca
--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://tlug.ss.org
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://tlug.ss.org/subscribe.shtml





More information about the Legacy mailing list