[ale] Documents and VCS (was Re: Anyone looking for a new gig?)

[George L. Allen]

> 
> I don't know, I pretty much agree with you for the most part, then 
> again, I've pretty much treated documents as simply another piece of 
> source code and managed it much the same way.

Exactly!

That's why LaTeX, vi, sed/awk, etc. are such beautiful things...

I just wish the masses could be taught the same, not the tools, but at
least the mindset. Want more from your candidates for office (software).

I think wikis are great, and the Army (where I work) has a few different
projects in that vein (changing mindsets is an understatement), but... it
just doesn't work out.

I got into a discussion about several systems (including sharepoint)
compared to wikis - arguing that the limitation in content types (only
articles and supporting graphics, content contained by the page) was a
strength of wikis as opposed to a weakness - because it forced users to
worry about the darn content, and not to get caught up in the nuances of
'Document Workspaces' and hierarchies upon hierarchies of lost cruft.

Plus with all content in a indexed searchable namespace rather than buried
in the cruft, the management of the pages themselves, as opposed to the
content within the pages, looks logarithmic instead of linear (at best).

I dunno - maybe we just get the tools we ask for, hence the *nix CNC-mill
with welding and smelting options for those who seek it, and one hammer
fits all for everyone else.

> 
> -- 
> Until later, Geoffrey
> 
> Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little
> temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
>   - Benjamin Franklin
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