From: rbs{at}snippets.org
To: c_echo{at}yahoogroups.com

OK, for the sake of the audience, this probably needs to be said...

Charles and I have crossed paths many times over the years. If you reread
some of our exchanges, it quickly becomes obvious that he considers me an
arrogant a**hole and I consider him a belligerent fool. Our positions seem
to have moderated little over the years. Hence, when either of us makes an
appearance, if the other is around, the sniping usually begins shortly
after.

Perhaps this whole thread make a bit more sense now...

On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 CHARLES ANGELICH wrote:

>  * Author: CHARLES ANGELICH
>
> JB> how would that be mutually beneficial?
>
> It wouldn't be mutually beneficial they would be misrepresenting their
> agenda.

Charles, everyone who knows me knows that about the most WYSIWYG person
alive. If you see a hidden agenda, then I suggest you take a Psych 101
course and read up on "Projection".

> CA>> There is no "sense of chauvinism" here
>
> JB> look it up. (why did you mention American?)
>
> #1 We _used_ to be able to say "buy American" without having to
> apologize for it.

There's still no need to apologize for it. However, inherent in the slogan
itself are the concepts of both enlightened (financial) self-interest and
excessive patriotism. Another word for excessive patriotism is chauvinism.

If you say your promotion of the slogan is based solely on economic
considerations, no one can really argue with you unless they can read your
mind. However, since the concept does include an element of chauvinism,
it's hardly surprising to see someone interpret it that way.

> #2 Bob apparently is in the US. He stated that the publishers won't sell
> the book to him because they are in Europe and he is not. Following this
> so far? Therefore if he selected an American author (the same country
> Bob resides in) that would no longer be an issue? Is this good for you?

Actually, I was reporting what the company purchasing lady told me. It
turns out that the reason she couldn't buy it from Amazon UK or Amazon
Germany is that they were out of stock as well. :-(

> No, actually you're wrong. Bob has said many times he already has a copy
> of the book and "guards it jealously". Bob wants to double
dip and sell
> the flyer referencing the book _and_ the books required to decrypt the
> flyers.

First of all, company or departmental coding standards can hardly be
described as "flyers", but first let's look at the economics involved...

The reason technical books exist is so that experts can convey their
knowledge succinctly to a wide audience. The book in question undoubtedly
took Straker many months to write, proofread, etc. Few companies could
afford to pay standard consulting rates for all the work he put into it.
By publishing it as a book, his time is paid for and everyone gets to
benefit.

If the book isn't available, it will take me longer to generate the coding
standards document and will require more defense of my recommendations.
Sure I can go back to his book and its bibliography for reference, but the
ultimate result, in terms of information availability, is the same. The
only difference is that I will have to spend more time writing and in
meetings. Since all my time is billable, that makes the process
economically attractive to me, but not to my client.

If the book is available, everyone wins - the client's cost is minimized
and I have to spend less time doing non-programming (i.e. non-fun) tasks.
If I were able to arrange republication rights, there is no difference to
the client, they will have to spend the same money whoever they buy the
book from. The only economic impact is that I will make considerably less
money, both gross and net, than if I were to do as you suggest and write
the whole document from scratch without referencing the book.

The economics is really simple. Perhaps your problem in comprehension
stems from your not being able to consider that a consultant might do
something which actually minimizes his client's costs.

> You have a real problem with this don't you.

Well, someone does, and I don't think it's him...

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