On 9/13/2013 9:44 AM, Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Fri, 13 Sep 2013 06:20:50 +0100, Stephen wrote:
>
>> On 13/09/2013 5:43 AM, Jim Henderson wrote:
>>> But a microchip is just a tad more complex than a combustion engine,
>>> too.
>>
>> Not any more it's not. ;-)
>>
>> I used to service my own cars and bikes. Other than check the fluids all
>> I can do with the engine nowadays is check that it is still there. :-)
>
> Well, some cars have computers in them now, that's true.  But the
> mechanical parts are still basically the same.  Patrick's analogy is
> flawed because he's comparing physical items in the boot to data on a
> hard drive.  The two are so /not/ comparable it's not even funny.
>
> Jim
>
Give me a break. It was supposed to be a bit of a joke. But, it is never 
the less true anyway. "Reinstall" is practically a #1 solution in 
Windows, when things break bad enough, and, even if you don't throw out 
everything in the trunk when you do that (instead of the equivalent of 
taking it out, then putting it all back in again), the process of 
"fixing" a problem by doing such a thing goes a bit beyond replacing the 
air freshener. Its more like stripping the car down to the body shell, 
then having to "reinstall" every single part, from the ground up, just 
to fix a loose wire, at least.. under Windows anyway. Linux is a bit 
less stupid about it. But, if you want a better example, how about a 
motor home, instead of a car? Those things are, from what I brother 
says, built with no clear plan, beyond the chassis, everything tacked on 
where ever it fits, and damn near no intention/design-considerations, 
with respect to, "How the fuck is someone supposed to get at this part 
of the vehicle, to fix it, when it break, without literally removing 
half of the entire vehicle, and everything installed in it?"

So, yeah, there can be some valid comparisons you can make.

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