On Tue, Dec 11, 2012 at 01:53:59PM +1300, Chris Bannister wrote: > On Mon, Dec 10, 2012 at 02:33:56PM +0200, Nikola Petrov wrote: > > > > The fact that I don't know how the engine of my car works doesn't make > > me a newbie. That's what abstractions in our world are for. > > Umm, in the "car world" yes you'd be a newbie. Don't consider it a > derogatory term. We are all newbies somewhere.
I think what I should have said is that: If you want to get involved in the "car world" i.e. subscribe to a mailing list where they talk about your model of car, or you enrol in a course so that you can do some repairs to your car so as to save on some repair bills, then you are a newbie until you reach a certain level of competence. Of course, if you are not interested in fixing or chatting about your car then whether you are a newbie or not is probably something for the academics to debate about around the smoko¹ table. ¹ AKA morning or afternoon break. -- "If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing." --- Malcolm X
