From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.ubuntu

On 2015-09-08, Marek Novotny <marek.novotny@marspolar.com> wrote:

On 2015-09-08, Dan Purgert <dan@djph.net> wrote:

Hm, haven't really looked into *BSD that much. Always looked like a
"you'd better have half an idea what you're doing" thing.

It is that. But it's good to get familiar with it.

Sounds like. I've stayed away from it mostly because I didn't have half
a clue about what I was doing.

Same here, though perl is "easy enough" to read through because of being
familiar (for some value of "familiar") with bash, and some other
languages. Helps too that at work, we tend to use perl scripts as the
majority of "fixes" (not that I'm writing them - but "real world"
examples are generally better IMO).

Sounds like Perl could be a focus for you. I like Perl a lot. But my
true focus has always been BASH and C.

Could be, but we use a mix. Perl is the "heavy lifter" for the scripts; although I think that just happened to be the language that my
predecessors were more familiar with.

From my position of knowing just enough to be dangerous with either
language, it should be a simple matter of programming(tm) to convert all
the perl scripts into bash (or vice-versa), and have them do the same
thing.

Honestly, I like bash/c better ... figure I'll get a "passable" skill in
perl, but really "work" is kinda secondary to "Learning because I want
to" (unless the last couple of guys who know the system leave, then I'm
up a creek).

Not that I expect to get onto one of the "big projects", but being able
to read and understand that code would be an accomplishment in its own
right. And who knows, maybe I could add in a patch or two along the
way.

I think most are not gong to want to learn C today. The big focus is
Java, Ruby, etc. But I have always wanted to learn C for myself.

I learned (for some value of "learned") Java in uni. I wouldn't want to
touch it with a 39-and-a-half foot pole these days.

Maybe after another few years, I'll look at it again. Thing is, the
"new stuff" looks a lot like poor implementations of the "old stuff",
and will probably be a fad language for a few years before people catch
on that it's stupid.

TBH, after dealing with two hipsters and their plan of "test in not
apache, then deploy tested and working code to prd apache" I wrote off
pretty much all the "new way" of doing things, and anyone who espouses
the virtues of the "new way" as an abject idiot.

Yeah, I'm loving my "Intro to Bash, for Dummies" book. It's definitely
solidified a few things that I've used without really thinking about
them, and has given me more tools for my toolbox. Maybe in the next
couple of weeks, I can upgrade from the "kid's toolbox[1]" to an
"adult's toolbox" :).

That said, I've also noticed that I've stopped thinking of (some) things
in the rigid contexts that the professors seemed to want (else you got
docked points on the assignment).

Often there are a few ways to do things. Sometimes it all boils down to
doing it the way that you know how to do it. Later on if you come up
with a better way, then employ that.

I meant it in that I can (now) take a look at a problem and actually
start breaking it down into manageable smaller problems, and solve them,
and then solve the "big problem" by proxy. Was significantly harder to
do this in uni, because between 3 teachers, I would need to "learn" 3
different programming styles.

Suffice to say, that experience was mentally jarring.

[snip]

I'm on Vim and recommend it. It's everywhere.

TBH, I'm not honestly sure /what/ I'm using. If I just enter "vi" at
the prompt, it says that I'm using vim; though all the links look like
I'm using vi.

Suppose it could be an extra layer of symlinks that I haven't bothered
looking for yet.

[snip]

Not that I am aware of. You can do what I do which I pretty much don't
listen to any opinions on the matter. Well, I hear them but they carry
very little to no weight with me. Instead I decided to learn it for
myself and decide for myself. Later on, perhaps I'll debate with someone
the pro and con but that cannot happen unless I understand it well.
Otherwise it's like listening to a debate spoken in French. I don't know French.

Yeah, I'm trying to do that myself. Hard to find things that aren't
insanely biased, AND that don't fly clear over my head...

Indeed. Being able to read code and fully understand (and make
improvements to) it in that matter is pretty much a gift. I'm at least
at the point where if I print it out and grab a pencil I can follow the
execution and read it well enough.

That's a start. Yeah, one day Aragorn posted this long script and I was
so happy because I could follow it. I felt pretty darn good that day.

Heh, I'm the same way when reading your (or BitTwister's, or whoever's)
code.

[snip]
I use an 84 x 33 terminal. Here is basic .vimrc these days. It changes somewhat often.

Think that would break my brain for a bit. Looks like my terminal
defaults to 80x22 (if firing it up from X), though a lot of the time if
I'm coding or even posting to usenet, I'll be on one of the text-only
screens.

Will definitely play with the .vimrc though.
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