Linda Walsh wrote:
> The inability of someone, he felt, to explain it clearly was a reflection
> of non-mastery of the subject. In my own experience I've noticed this
> when trying to explain computer concepts to my parents or others
> who don't have a technical background. If I understand something
> thoroughly, I can break it down into everyday concepts that are
> understandably by all. ...
Conventional wisdom among tech writers is of course that programmers,
engineers, etc. couldn't produce a coherent paragraph if their lives
depended on it. They're just too far off in their weird space to
ever explain anything clearly.
My experience (I'm a tech writer, currently doing FreeS/WAN docs) is
that that definitely is not true of most good programmers. Most of
them can explain anything they're doing quite clearly. Of course,
they may not do so at the right level for some audiences, and there
can be all sorts of problems if they're writing in a second langauge
or if docs slip too far down the priority list or ...
> If only our idea of respecting someone included a basis on how well
> they transmitted their knowlege to others in addition to what they've
> actually done.
Hear, hear.
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