Re: [Groff] Introduction

[Miklos Somogyi]

On 19/10/2005, at 3:18 PM, Clarke Echols wrote:
> The problem is that these engineers don't have managers with
> sense enough to lean on them to learn to use better tools to
> get more done in less time.  By learning to use the tools, and
> nothing more complicated than simple shell scripts (I don't
> have the skills to get fancy because I don't think they're all
> that necessary when an easier approach works well), I was
> able to consistently get more done than any 4-10 people
> around me without straining myself.  This is not to brag, but
> people waste an incredible amount of time and productivity
> by not learning to exploit the capabilities of a Unix-like
> machine instead of really dumb PCs.
Clarke, you don't have to sell me the advantages of tools. I've been 
using Unix
since the Sun-3 and made lots of tools during the last decades.

But not everyone is a toolmaker or even user, especially managers are 
not.
I can imagine that the CEO of a software/hardware company knows what
Unix is all about and may be able and willing "to lean on" recalcitrant 
employees.
Not so at other types of companies.
In my case, I had to lean on lots of managers to get the tools I needed.
With hardware I was successful, with software, I "only" got Unix, vi, 
troff and f77 and GL.
Not specific engineering tools, are they?

So I built up a huge library of fortran routines, a huge library of 
PostScript routines
(including 3d), and a GL fluid flow animation package to be able to do 
my job.
But only one of my colleagues was interested in them, and my managers 
were only interested
in the final (engineering) product, they did not have the slightest 
interest in what was behind them.

If troff and Co is to survive,  then changes are necessary. No use to 
tell managers to lean on
engineers to use proper tools. They would rather lean on someone who 
wants something
else, not a PC.

To close it with an appropriate joke:

The Zen master bought a $2 hot dog and paid with a $10 bill. He was 
waiting and waiting for
his $8. The vendor looked-up and realized what was going on in his 
mind, but said to him:

Hey, you are a Zen master. You know that change must come from within...

Miklos