Has anyone else ever experienced this?

I know a guy who works in IT, and always is name dropping Linux. Linux this, Linux that. This would make you think this person is really big into Linux and very skilled with it.

The funny thing is, if you were to sit this person down in front of a Linux machine, this person wouldn't know what to do...

I know a BUNCH of guys in IT that name-drop Windows---some of them also know something about it.
Most people that try to impress you with their knowledge of something turn out to be 3rd-stringers at best.

Nah, out of my friends there are like 3 people who know I use linux instead of Windows. Not many of my mates are very computer literate but the ones that are only are because have done some IT stuff at TAFE so they had to do a week on linux and they all hated it

I must admit to doing this. I've been lucky thus far in finding actual solutions (mostly right here in LQ) to what I claim Linux can do. Thanks to the wealth of expertise available, I haven't stuck my foot too far in my mouth yet.

From my own experiences most folks in IT fall into three categories:

1. Oldtimers who don't keep up on their craft. I call these the 'waterfall' crowd - because they invariably choose to use the waterfall lifecycle model for every project. Every tool is a hammer and every problem is a nail. Unfortunately an inordinant number of these hold CIO positions - and control projects and spending. Most of these guys play it safe -- and it is never safe to use FOSS in their minds - unless it can be proven to them ... forget agile (extreme) design paradigms.

2. People who got into IT because of the money. I call these the .com wannabes. These are the guys who went out and got their Windows certs and those who went the MIS route in college (most MIS degrees give you enough skills to be dangerous). Their ineptitude is only matched by their cluelessness regarding their craft. These are probably your Linux name-droppers, although most of these are usually Windows bigots - taking cues from the waterfall oldtimers (who they are attempting to emulate - because that is where the dollar$ are).

3. The remainder are skilled computer science and network wizards. These, sadly, are few and far between. A good chunk of the wizards are involved in FOSS projects (such as Linux). These are the guys who keep everything humming along when the oldtimers and wannabes put up roadblocks. These are the guys and gals innovating - when others pay lipservice to invention.

In my carreer I've encountered about %20 waterfall oldtimers, 79% wannabes, and .05% wizards. The remainder can be attributed to sample error.

Granted all attempts to pigeonhole people is fraught with error - because people are not one dimensional entities - so don't complain about the boundaries I set! I recognize people can overlap those areas to varying degrees and that different industry and FOSS segments produce different outcomes.

Corollary:
(percentages depend on the specific problem area/discipline)

X% do the work
another Y% watch
The rest don't know anything is happening

In computers, the last group is frightenly large--given our dependence on the stupid things..........

Jay Leno "man in the street": How many would know that there is an alternative to Windows? To IE? to MSWord?
In my organization (5000 employees--engineering and science, lots of PhDs) the answers to the questions would not give you a warm feeling.

It's astonishing. We would think they lived on another planet. Of course, they think *we* live on another planet. It's only a matter of perception.

Same here. I force anyone who comes over to my house who wants to use the computer to use Linux, and they've all survived.

I've found the same to be largely true with the engineering (other than the CS and EEs) students here as well. It's a little disheartening, but that's why we have to keep plugging along and like your sig says open the world one Windows at a time.

"Name dropping of linux" could be an unfair statement.

I will mention linux among people to bring out anyone who may use it or know about it. I would not broach the subject to make myself seem superior which is the prime directive of name droppers.

Once I realize there is no interest and no knowledge I do not pursue the subject. This happens 99.9 % of the time.

The last time I mentioned linux I was called a geek, which I considered a compliment.

In college I was running Linux on my computer in my room. It was both because I liked it more than Windows and because my major required easy access to a unix-like system. Now, I was a very poor college student so all I really has was my online documentation. I also had a couple hard copy "Interactive Unix" user manuals I managed to "pick up" a while before. But if you went into my room you would not find anything "Linux" until you were working on my computer.

Down the hall lived a friend of mine. You open the door to his room and are greeted by his collection of half a dozen linux books (proudly displayed), his stress relief squeezable Tux, Linux related stickers all over his tower and more on his monitor. Everywhere you looked in his room was Linux. Except his computer. He was always running Windows on his computer. I just assumed he was dual-booting, for the longest time. Finally I asked to see his Linux install. He turned a little red and admitted he didn't have one. You want to talk about Linux Namedropping.

Aside from him, I have met many namedropping types in the past. I find some simple conversation can usually sort out those who know what they're talking about and those who don't.

Unfortunally those 'oldtimers' are everywhere. In management positions and in teaching positions. I had a RDBMS class in 2002, and the guy teaching it had NO understanding of it, but was an expert in Cobol and the 'waterfall' methodology.


Ha ha...funny...I just finished my masters in MIS in December. I am one of the few Linux folks in the program and I found out from school the comp sci people hated us. In my career, it is helpful to have an understanding of the tech side, but don't oversell it cause you can find yourself up the river without a paddel really fast.


Very true, I think this is because these guys are so in demand and so valueable...

This is a very common phenomenon in all area's of life. People throw technical words around to make themselves look clever.

I have a good tactic to deal with this. Pretend to be very stupid and ask them to explain exactly how <insert technical term> works. While continuing to pretend you know nothing about it ask very pointed questions to expose that they, in fact, know evem less.

Also, on the off-chance that you have got a genius you might learn something.

Supplies me with endless entertainment in meetings.

The key - which many of the oldtimers and wannabes don't comprehend - is it is better to have a high level understanding which translates to any specific technology - rather than specific knowledge which is perishable.

For example, it is better to have a deep understanding of the SQL standard and the idea of how to properly develop a normalized schema than it is to be an expert on the dusty corners of Oracle RDBMS. It is easier to overlay your knowledge of SQL onto Oracle, than it would be to learn that you are building non-portable queries without knowing any better. When your company desides to move to Postgre - you may be in trouble.

Better yet is to keep up on your craft in order to see the utility of emerging technologies (e.g. object databases and hybrids).

Even better still is to transcend your 'specialty' to encompass every key aspect of computer networks (Databases, Computer Architecture, Network Architecture, Programming and tools, associated standards, and emerging technologies and methods (extreme programming, quantum computing, holographic memory, convergent networks, etc - see what is on the horizon and how it may impact your current network)).

I know way too many people who are 'only a DBA' or 'only a programmer' etc... They do not completely comprehend the implications of their actions in all circumstances (for example, the DBA who bounced a terabyte database during peak activity - and wondered why our network operations center was paging them; or the programmer who did not scale his application properly to support the processing or storage resources needed - crashing the production server - both true stories I've experienced in the trenches).

Most important of all is to develop a philosophy that puts quality, efficiency and cost effectiveness above delivering cruft on time. There is already plenty of that in the world - and legions of mediocre 'technologists' and 'architects' pumping out more every day. As the old saw says, "it is better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission". Be the guy that begs forgiveness after your project saves the company $500,000...

Okay -- I'll get off my soapbox now.

You forgot a section of people. Those who really wan't to learn, but haven't gotten to the wizard stage yet.(me)

lodragan>

I agree. Rather than memorizing how an inner join vs. outer join work, it's better to know that say, for example, a particular solution should be best implemented in a stored procedure rather than be in the code, and look up the syntax for the inner vs. outer join.

Likewise, I don't memorize the format of bind files. I usually refer to a template. I edit the things frequently, but in spurts. I might have to deal with DNS for a few days here and there, and then go months without touching it. Why memorize it when I know where to go to get the information?

And CAT-5 cable? I've been wiring RJ-45 connectors since I was 16. I STILL have to look up the color order. The thing is: I know where to find the info, and I know how to make a solid connection. The order in which the wires go is a minor detail.

And to tie back to lodragan's point: if you're programming Windows. why memorize the entire win32 api when it might be deprecated in 3 to 4 years? Focus on architecture, clean design, abstracting data, and a good schema; the specific API you will use (or even the language or back end you will use) is a minor detail in comparison.