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Ron Sering CDS <ronaldse -at- MANX -dot- CDS -dot- TEK -dot- COM>
>About half of the developers hate Windows and refuse to use i
>bet soup of file formats: .TXT files,email postings, .RTF >files, and documents produced with the UNIX vi editor (?!?). I >write my docs in Interleaf, and so have to use several >different paths to get the basic info from where it starts to >where it ends up in Interleaf. It is absolutely maddening....
I agree that some standards are needed. I also agree that these Holy
Wars should not escalate to the point where they disrupt the workplace.
However, with all respect, I suggest that the issue is one of
conflicting standards.
On the one hand, there's the need to get the job done. From this
viewpoint, almost any standard is better than none, because too much
variety interfers with the job.
On the other hand, there's the desire to do it well, and to use the best
possible tools in order to do so. I suggest that there are very good
reasons to prefer UNIX to Windows, or FrameMaker to MS Word (for
example, it would be impossible for my present company to run its
operations for clients using Windows - certainly not in the time it
needs to). These preferences are not simply elitist snobbery, although
they can certainly get in the way if carried too far.
Trying to be as fair as possible, I have to say that both imperatives
matter,
"Then fareweel ye banks o' Sicily,
Fare ye weel ye valley an' shaw,
There's nae Jock will mourn the kyles o' ye,
Puir bluidie swaddies are weary."
- Hamish Henderson,
"The 51st Division's Farewell to Sicily"
