Subject: Re: The "user-developer gap" myth
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From: Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>
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Date: Fri, 30 Jun 2000 11:15:21 -0500
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Jeff Blakeney writes ...
> 
> On Thu, 29 Jun 2000 05:21:04 -0500, Rubywand <rubywand@swbell.net>
> wrote:
> 
 ....

> If people create new stuff for the Apple II then I will call them a
> developer.  Whether they are active developers or not is another
> story.
> 
> > Your so-called "gap" is clearly bogus. To believe in such a thing (if
> > you really do) requires a _wish_ to believe. Why would you wish for
> > there to be a gap between users and developers?
> 
> I don't wish for there to be a gap between users and developers.  I
> just know that there is a gap between users and developers.  That gap
> is due to different levels of knowledge.  How many users know how to
> write programs?  If they know how to write programs and have released
> it, then I would consider them a developer.  Maybe a small one and
> maybe not a very active one but a developer none the less.
> 
> Do you not see the gap there?  One knows how to program and the other
> doesn't.  One can create new software for the Apple II and the other
> can't.
 ....

     More "doesn't" than "can't". Programming isn't all that hard.

     The main problem with your analysis is that it is beside the point. No
one ever questioned that a user who produces programs might well, in most
cases, have skills not possessed by a user who does not produce programs.

     The original contention was that a "gap" between "users" and
"developers" exists in the sense of two sides separated by feelings of
mistrust and animosity. The listing of numerous developers who get along fine
with 'end users' on Csa2 demonstrates that the contention is in error.

     No doubt, there are a few developers who have problems getting along
with end users; but, then, these people seem to have problems relating to
just about everyone else, too. Being a good programmer does not equate to
being a social cretin. More often than not, quite the opposite is true.



Rubywand