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How I, a non-developer, read the tutorial you, a developer, wrote for me

anniemueller.com

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Re: How I, a non-developer, read the tutorial you, a developer, wrote for me

#51

Post by Nition »

evanjrowley wrote: post #9

I followed this tutorial but ran into an issue where shamrock portal kept crashing. When I checked the logs, I found it would start a beep but never finish a boop. After a few hours of Googling I discovered my Debian 12's Klingon troglodyte emulator had a known centipede reported in 2013 that's never been squashed because hoobastank 34.100-6x00 actually requires it, and Debian can't move to the newer version of hooba…

It's easy to blame Hoobastank, but in my experience with these issues, most of the time the reason is you.

Re: How I, a non-developer, read the tutorial you, a developer, wrote for me

#52

Post by owlbite »

maplethorpe wrote: post #13

This is how I, a web developer, feel whenever I'm required to build something using cmake. I guess I need to go read a book about it or something because the instructions seem different every time.

The main advantage of cmake is it's slightly easier to use than autoconf so long as you stick to the path. Do not attempt to leave the path. Also the path is poorly signposted.

Re: How I, a non-developer, read the tutorial you, a developer, wrote for me

#53

Post by Nition »

shmerl wrote: post #6

The funniest part, lol it might be in library/library/library/llibrary/liiiiiibrarrrary/llllliiiiibrary/hidden/hidden/hiding/you can’t find me/hidden/nope/never/hahahahereiam.file.

I went to library/library/library/llibrary/liiiiiibrarrrary/llllliiiiibrary/hidden/hidden/hiding/you can’t find me/hidden/nope but I don't seem to have a /never/ folder at all.

Re: How I, a non-developer, read the tutorial you, a developer, wrote for me

#54

Post by marklubi »

onion2k wrote: post #14

One of the things I've tried to teach people I've mentored over the past few decades is the principle of "Sharing is better than assuming." If you know something, share it with other people. Don't assume that they know something. If they do know, and you tell them, then you've only really confirmed what they already knew. If they don't know whatever it is you've helped them immensely and made whatever it is much more…

> One of the things I've tried to teach people I've mentored over the past few decades is the principle of "Sharing is better than assuming." If you know something, share it with other people.

Definitely agree with this in principle. My son and I play pool (billiards) competitively. As you get better, almost nobody shares any tips because it's very competitive. I've taught him to be better than that and we have a great league team where everyone is helping the others grow.

In the mentoring (not just teaching) realm, I like to guide them into asking the questions that gets them to the answer they're looking for. When the connections in their mind light up, it's amazing.

Re: How I, a non-developer, read the tutorial you, a developer, wrote for me

#55

Post by acuozzo »

chickenzzzzu wrote: post #33
acuozzo wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HPC? Windows NT? GCC? Video games? I'm a veteran C programmer with a deep dislike of C++, but to say it's not used for valuable software is just wrong.

The language committee only makes it harder and more astronauty every year. How many Unreal Engine developers from 2007-2013 understand CPP20/23?

I agree with you. I'm no fan of C++.

With that being said, it is (and has been) used to produce valuable software.

Re: How I, a non-developer, read the tutorial you, a developer, wrote for me

#56

Post by protocolture »

Most docs I read have their prerequisites spelled out.

This is the version of this OS with this plugin that this guide is written for.

So when I find that, inevitably, something has moved, I can figure out how my setup differs and search for the difference.

If you cant stand up the prerequisites, then the doco isnt for you, you should be searching for documentation on how to stand up the prerequisites.

Re: How I, a non-developer, read the tutorial you, a developer, wrote for me

#57

Post by ViscountPenguin »

shmerl wrote: post #6

The funniest part, lol it might be in library/library/library/llibrary/liiiiiibrarrrary/llllliiiiibrary/hidden/hidden/hiding/you can’t find me/hidden/nope/never/hahahahereiam.file.

On Fedora you'll find it in: library/library/library/llibrary/liiiiiibrarrrary/llllliiiiibrary/hidden/hidden/hiding/you can’t find me/hidden/nope/never/hahahahereiam.file.d/boop_settings.cfg

Re: How I, a non-developer, read the tutorial you, a developer, wrote for me

#60

Post by Swizec »

lukan wrote: post #36
Swizec wrote: post #4

Most tutorials are not for non-developers, they’re for other developers who are also in the ecosystem. They’re more like academic papers (peer-to-peer communication of new discoveries) than they are like a pop sci book or show meant for a general audience. And that’s okay! Great even! As a fellow peer I benefit greatly from those tutorials. Sometimes even from my own notes published and forgotten years ago. This is w…

"Most tutorials are not for non-developers" That has been repeated in the comments many times now, but the very headline says that this tutorial was indeed also intended for non developers. Like some open source Github project that the author merely wanted to install, not starting to mess with the code. Basically, it is complaining in a satirical way about installation readmes, that maybe they could be made easier, t…

> it is complaining in a satirical way about installation readmes, that maybe they could be made easier, that also non developers can follow some simple steps

See I missed that context :D

Installation readmes are an interesting example – they shouldn’t exist. Put that effort in an install script instead.

If you want me to mechanically follow some steps, perhaps with a decision tree attached … computers are really good at that!

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