[OT] Debian mailinglists [was: RE: Debian or Ubuntu?]

[Derek Broughton]

Avi Greenbury wrote:

> But if I'm editing something where I *know* the value I want, and where
> I want to put it, I really can't think of anything more efficient than
> opening the file up, putting the right value in the right place and
> saving the file.

A web page with a drop down box and a text field would be more _efficient_.

> For a GUI tool to be powerful enough to satisfy the needs of the 'power
> users', it must also be powerful enough that idiots can break their
> systems. 

Why?  That smacks of really poor programming in the first place.  Computer
programming is deterministic - whenever "X" happens, then "Y" (OK, not
entirely true, as you can add randomness, but the whole purpose of config
files is usually to enforce determinism).  Any deterministic system can be
completely modeled, and so there should, in theory, be _nothing_ that a
power user would want to configure that can't be done with a config tool
that would prevent him doing it incorrectly.

> That's one way people stop being idiots - they break and they learn.

Idiots _never_ stop being idiots.  You surely know the saying: "The
difference between ignorance and stupidity is that the former is curable"
(Twain, I think).
-- 
derek