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A bit reminiscent of Alice in Wonderland, I have struggled over the years with remembering when to STOP learning something.
There are people who know Apache inside and out. Who can dream up complex settings and ways to make a web server do Conway's Life using nothing but http redirects. And then there's me who still thinks that it would be cool to build an 8088 processor out of several thousand miles of cable, light bulbs, light switches, and forced human labor. We could use Colorado as the display and get shots of it from a geosync satellite.
So.... today I am installing a new AIX system and I had to run a command to allow it to mount an NFS share on a linux box that had some patches I wanted. Up springs the White Rabbit.
Twitching his nose, he looked at me and said, "You know you want to know more about why you have to use the reserved ports setting in AIX."
I replied, "I am fully aware that its because AIX defaults to not use reserved ports."
"Ah, that may be, but do you know which ports the NFS protocol is supposed to use? Or who is the one at fault here -- the IETF, Red Hat, or IBM? You know you want to know. Here, let me pull up www.ietf.org and you can read the RFC on NFS," teased the Rabbit.
Being from the South, at this point I banished the Rabbit with threats of making a stew.
But... I could waste my life away chasing these sort of things down. While important, yes, there is a point at which I think we have to realize that the rabbit hole chase has to end. At some point, you have to stop chasing that rabbit. I think we SHOULD stop chasing once we have functionality that we need. But I WANT to stop chasing when I hit the end of the hole. Such as when I used RFCs way back when to get my head around how SMTP actually works.
fried rabbit
boiled rabbit
baked rabbit
bbq rabbit
rabbit on a stick
rabbit pot pie
rabbit nuggets
rabbit samich
rabbit and biscuits
rabbit and corn bread
rabbit and corned beef w/cabbage
rabbit and cabbage
rabbit with cole slaw
rabbit jerky
rabbit and little white potatoes
rascly rabbit
and rabbit stew
Distribution: Ubuntu 11.4,DD-WRT micro plus ssh,lfs-6.6,Fedora 15,Fedora 16
Posts: 3,233
Rep:
Quote:
Originally Posted by DennisC31
While important, yes, there is a point at which I think we have to realize that the rabbit hole chase has to end. At some point, you have to stop chasing that rabbit. I think we SHOULD stop chasing once we have functionality that we need.
as my dad would say, perfect is the enemy of good, and boy he was right.
as my dad would say, perfect is the enemy of good, and boy he was right.
I'm working on the idea of capturing smaller chunks of as yet imperfect (but usable) value on the way to making things perfect. Since usually there are many things less perfect than what I have just done that need fixing... I don't always pursue any one chunk to perfection.
However, following the white rabbits of knowledge is not actually a Bad Idea.... you just have to alternate creating value and chasing rabbits. Gives direction about which rabbits to follow and how far.
Not to mention I keep finding, getting with very very useful ideas and tidbits of knowledge whilst chasing the Rabbits.
Hmm. Currently chasing the Large White Rabbit of Building / Modifying / Submitting patches to Ubuntu / Debian Packages from Source. Anyone know which is The Best Rabbit Hole to plunge down to catch this pesky, but large critter?
I'm working on the idea of capturing smaller chunks of as yet imperfect (but usable) value on the way to making things perfect. Since usually there are many things less perfect than what I have just done that need fixing... I don't always pursue any one chunk to perfection.
However, following the white rabbits of knowledge is not actually a Bad Idea.... you just have to alternate creating value and chasing rabbits. Gives direction about which rabbits to follow and how far.
Not to mention I keep finding, getting with very very useful ideas and tidbits of knowledge whilst chasing the Rabbits.
Hmm. Currently chasing the Large White Rabbit of Building / Modifying / Submitting patches to Ubuntu / Debian Packages from Source. Anyone know which is The Best Rabbit Hole to plunge down to catch this pesky, but large critter?
See -- I think you get it. There really is a white rabbit of knowledge. And he can be deadly and he can be beneficial as well.
in your case you have just listed some BIG rabbits. You can't chase them. I have tried. You have to pick one patch / package to work on and then do your work within that package.
This rabbit realization has been a huge problem for me. I know he is there, I know he CAN be caught sometimes but the price is high in terms of time invested.
And when the work is PERSONAL (ie. a game you may be writing, or a pet utility, a pet perl program, or even a novel), its painful to give up the chase. It reminds me of heroine hero. anyway, my copy is finishing now. back to vio.
Very true; but don't confuse excellent w/ perfect, or mediocre w/ good.
The way I heard it was & it was used as a justification for stopping at mediocrity; rather than pushing on to elegance or excellence or beauty.
<sarcasm>I hate you.</sarcasm> Seriously. I do. 8) And I mean that in the most "wow, good point, now I am never going to finish anything again, don't take me seriously, i admire your wisdom" way.
Good will have to suffice in lieu of perfect. and that sucks.
Distribution: Ubuntu 11.4,DD-WRT micro plus ssh,lfs-6.6,Fedora 15,Fedora 16
Posts: 3,233
Rep:
Quote:
Originally Posted by archtoad6
Very true; but don't confuse excellent w/ perfect, or mediocre w/ good.
The way I heard it was & it was used as a justification for stopping at mediocrity; rather than pushing on to elegance or excellence or beauty.
meh, the way i heard it it was that if you spend TOO much time trying to achieve 'perfect' you're gonna pass up many really good solutions to a problem, my dad for instance would never accept mediocre, but wasn't exactly a perfectionist either.
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