Gilles Tran wrote:

>> History has never been something that really interests me, that's all.
> 
> Well, perhaps you should expand your horizons a little bit. Knowing how 
> things came to be is more than often very illuminating, even from a personal 
> perspective. You're missing a lot.

Perhaps.

People have told me I'm missing a lot by not liking jazz music. I'm sure 
I'll get over it. ;-)

> Of course, from a professional perspective, be very careful about displaying 
> your ignorance of trade matters. An employer just looking for some anonymous 
> codemonkey may not care, but if you're looking for something a little more 
> ambitious, not knowing who Steve Jobs and RMS are could be downright lethal 
> in an interview, because it would reveal a deep lack of curiosity and 
> interest *** in your own trade ***.

Well, that's what it comes down to. You keep mentioning the "trade". I 
have no interest in the "trade" at all. I am interested in abstract 
theoretical concepts, not mundane practicalities. This is a statement of 
fact; as to what an employer would want - well that is an entire other 
question...

[This is the big reason why I see myself as a programmer - not as, say, 
a sales person, product designer or manager. I don't have the necessary 
knowledge or motivation to do those jobs.]

> For instance, not knowing about Stallman 
> means that you never wondered and read about open source software licenses 
> and the world of issues surrounding them.

False.

I'm aware of the GPL. I'm one of the [I hypothesize] very few people to 
have read it end to end. I've looked at the things it allows you to do. 
And the things it doesn't allow you to do. I'm aware that some people 
consider it far too liberal, and others consider it cripplingly 
restrictive. I just wasn't aware of who wrote it. And if you're trying 
to pick a licence, or trying to use some software released under a given 
license, does it matter who wrote it? Not really. What matters is what 
the license actually says.

[I can't claim the same familiarity with, say the BSD license - although 
I hear BSDish licenses are the other popular group.]

> Not knowing about Steve Jobs means 
> that you never got remotely interested and read anything about Apple 
> software and hardware, even in mainstream newspapers.

False.

I'm curios about Apple hardware and software. [Altough I've never 
actually met any.] I'm aware their current OS is based on Unix, and that 
their hardware was originally M68k, then PPC, and now plain Intel Core 
2. [But with custom chipsets, BIOS, etc.] And I'm aware that Apple is 
rare but has a niche following in some parts. I just don't know who this 
Steve Jobs person is... (Does it matter?)

> Nothing wrong with that of course, but even if these particular points 
> wouldn't interest me as an employer, I'd be wondering about the many other 
> basic trade issues you'd be ignorant and unwilling to learn about, and that 
> would drastically decrease your employability - once I'd picked my jaw up 
> from the floor and sent a witty note my coworkers about the strange chap who 
> just left my office ;)

If you want somebody who knows about "trade issues", then no, I'd be 
completely useless for that. If you want somebody who knows technical 
stuff... well I probably know it or can learn it. And that's a good 
start. :-)

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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