Hi CHARLES! :-)

 CA> I've not reviewed any Linux source code (none at all) but based
 CA> on past experiences with C source code how well it is
 CA> documented can make quite a difference. It took me over a month
 CA> to get familiar enough with the source to ATP OLR to be able to
 CA> add to it without breaking something else that was already
 CA> working. :-\ 
Sure, that happens with Linux code to. Some of it is well documented, some
is a mess. But at least having the source code available means you can try
to understand it if you really want to.

 CA> Having had some programming experience(s) long before
 CA> installing Windows I was very frustrated knowing that someone
 CA> somewhere HAD to have documented these oddities and Microsoft
 CA> just wasn't allowing them to release the information they
 CA> _already_had_ in-house. The trial and error thing really ticked
 CA> me off at times. Still does AMOFK when trying to 'fix' a
 CA> Windows install. 
Same here, and I have stopped trying to help people with their Windows
installs. Sometimes they ask me for help and think that I, as a computer
science student, should be able to fix their stuff. How could I, with
Windows not even giving me decent error messages or any way to really find
out what's going wrong inside the system. Even if I find out, then to find
the right GUI tool to fix it...

 CA> People are begining to follow the Microsoft 'logic' (if there
 CA> really is any) and can document Windows 'services' quite well
 CA> considering they have no source code to do it with. I am
 CA> impressed by their ingenuity and continue to be frustrated that
 CA> Microsoft holds as much close to their chest as they do. 
People around here have accepted the "trial and error" and
"sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't" style as being
normal. They think computing has to be this way by law of nature or
something. They think the operating system crashing from time to time is
normal and acceptable, nothing to worry or care about, just a fact of life.
:(

Ciao
Pascal

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