1237cebedb58
tech



Hello Roy - 

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CA>>> The guy who thought he was 'slick' enough to repackage
CA>>> SlackWare v3.5 into a mini install wasn't slick enough to
CA>>> figure out how to put back the standard PPPDial files and
CA>>> get them configured properly. 

RJT>> You expected that person to cover all eventualities? 

CA>> The standard PPPDialer is not "all eventualities", it is a
CA>> standard. He admitted to me in email that he had a shell
CA>> account  and had never tested his PPP login using EZNET
CA>> because he had no way to test it. He did _not_ admit to
CA>> this in any public forum and instead proclaimed me to be a
CA>> fool because I could not get EZNET to work and the author
CA>> of EZNET refused to even try to help. 

RJT> I guess program authors are kinda limited in terms of
RJT> being able to test stuff to what they have available. The
RJT> dialup I have going here uses a "login:" and "password:"
RJT> set of prompts, 

You are using SLIP. 

RJT> other setups use PAP or CHAP, or the m$ variant of that. I
RJT> have my setup working, but have no way to test things out
RJT> on those others... 

The point was that he was trying to make me appear stupid
because his automated non-standard EZNET wouldn't work here but
he had never gotten it to work himself and had no way of
knowing that it would have worked for him either. 

--8<--cut 

RJT>> Software, whether it's an operating system or an
RJT>> application, is trying to take things to higher levels of
RJT>> abstraction, and remove some of these things from the
RJT>> average user needing to deal with all those messy details
RJT>> that you used to _have to_ deal with. 

CA>> You may not realize it but you have paraphrased Bill Gates
CA>> reasoning when users complained about Windows versions. ;-) 

RJT> Euw.  

RJT> The thing is, though, that his tactics take away the
RJT> choices. I'd rather have the choices, myself. 

When Linux 'distros' stop documenting where the config files
are and what each line is used for then Linux users will have
the same 'mystery' that Windows users face when editing the
registry and fewer 'choices'. 

RJT>> At least in the case of linux, I have the choice to dive
RJT>> in there and deal with some of those details, if I want
RJT>> to or need to for some reason. 

CA>> Based on my own expriences manaully editing the Windows
CA>> registry to reset the configuration is no more mysterious
CA>> than reading manpages and trying to sort out Linux.
CA>> Neither is easy and the odds for success seem more-or-less
CA>> equal so far. ;-) 

RJT> I've had worse luck in terms of registry editing. :-) 

There used to be others who edited the registry and Microsoft
MVPs who had ways to determine what codes to replace with what
other codes who posted information on FIDO. 

CA>> These are not things 'average' users ever intend to do if
CA>> they can avoid it. 

RJT> Probably. 

RJT> The thing is, I (and probably you and some of the other
RJT> folks in here as well) are much more technophilic than the
RJT> average person. Most people can't relate to the first
RJT> personal computers that came out there, where the wow
RJT> factor was just the fact that you could _have_ a computer,
RJT> never mind what you  could practially _do_ with one. Most
RJT> people don't feel this way, and just care about _using_
RJT> the thing. Never mind the details, never mind trying
RJT> different ways to do things to evaluate them and decide
RJT> for yourself which is better, they're just not interested
RJT> in that all that much. 

Was the same thing for 'hotrodding' of automobiles back in the
50's. Now kids 'hotrod' the sound system of their cars and
ignore the transportation functions of the automobile. I find
it amusing but then I don't really want a bunch of kids with
200mph+ automobiles out there killing themselves either. 

>
>        ,                          ,
>      o/      Charles.Angelich      \o       ,
>       __o/
>     / >          USA, MI           < \   __\__
 

___ * ATP/16bit 2.31 * 
... DOS the Ghost in the Machine! http://www.undercoverdesign.com/dosghost/

--- Maximus/2 3.01