Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!convex!tchrist@convex.COM From: tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen) Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards Subject: Re: How do you tell a wizard? Message-ID: <2206@convex.UUCP> Date: 19 Oct 89 16:26:59 GMT References: <219@vsserv.scri.fsu.edu> <31@minya.UUCP> <69985@uunet.UU.NET> <955@umb.umb.edu> Sender: news@convex.UUCP Reply-To: tchrist@convex.COM (Tom Christiansen) Distribution: usa Organization: CONVEX Software Development, Richardson, TX Lines: 106 In article <955@umb.umb.edu> campbell@umb.edu (Jim Campbell) writes: >Some years ago, I saw a description of how to tell the >level of the individual with respect ot their UNIX knowledge. >ie: NOVICE: > Calls vi vye > etc First a minor flame, then the answer to this man's query. I would say that a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet. Do we not live in a pluralistic society? Judging someone's education, intelligence, or technical expertise based upon their particular accent is, although not atypical, hinging upon bigoted and narrow-minded. What does it matter if /etc/fsck is called 'fuzz-check', 'effess-check', 'fisk', or 'effessceekay', except that some of those choices are slightly more expedient than others? In the case of those people who call /bin/ed "ed" and /usr/ucb/vi "vye" and /etc/fsck "fisk", it would appear that they've chosen the path of expediency, a common theme in natural language evolution. There is no Royal Academy of the English Language, as exists for most of the Romance tongues. This is a feature, not a bug. There is no One True Way of pronouncing the words "route", "rout", and "root"; few people not of the same geographic region will agree on this, and to judge them as sub-intelligent because of this is simply wrong. There, that said, I present you with what may be the text you are looking for. --tom .po 1i .he ''Unix Hierarchy'' .sz 10 .lp .nf .na .b "NAME DESCRIPTION AND FEATURES" beginner - insecure with the concept of a terminal - has yet to learn the basics of \fIvi\fR - has not figured out how to get a directory - still has trouble with typing after each line of input novice - knows that \fIls\fP will produce a directory - uses the editor, but calls it `vye' - has heard of \fIC\fR but never used it - has had his first bad experience with \fIrm\fR - is wondering how to read his mail - is wondering why the person next to him seems to like Unix so very much user - uses \fIvi\fR and \fInroff\fR, but inexpertly - has heard of regular-expressions but never seen one. - has figured out that `-' precedes options - has attempted to write a \fIC\fR program and has decided to stick with pascal - is wondering how to move a directory - thinks that \fIdbx\fR is a brand of stereo component - knows how to read his mail and is wondering how to read the news knowledgable - uses \fInroff\fR with no trouble, and is beginning user to learn \fItbl\fR and \fIeqn\fR - uses grep to search for fixed strings - has figured out that \fImv\fR will move directories - has learned that \fIlearn\fR doesn't help - somebody has shown him how to write C programs - once used \fIsed\fR to do some text substitution - has seen \fIdbx\fR used but does not use it himself - thinks that \fImake\fR is only for wimps expert - uses \fIsed\fR when necessary - uses macros in \fIvi,\fR uses \fIex\fR when neccesary - posts news at every possible opportunity - write \fIcsh\fR scripts occasionally - write \fIC\fR programs using \fIvi\fR and compiles with \fIcc\fR - has figured out what `&&' and `||' are for - thinks that human history started with '!h' hacker - uses \fIsed\fR and \fIawk\fR with comfort - uses undocumented features of \fIvi\fR - write \fIC\fR code with `cat >' and compiles with '!cc' - uses \fIadb\fR because he doesn't trust source debuggers - can answer questions about the user environment - writes his own \fInroff\fR macros to supplement std. ones - write scripts for Bourne shell (/bin/sh) - knows how to install bug fixes guru - uses \fIm4\fR and \fIlex\fR with comfort - writes assembly code with `cat >' - uses \fIadb\fR on the kernel while system is loaded - customizes utilities by patching the source - reads device driver source with his breakfast - can answer any unix question after a little thought - uses \fImake\fR for anything that requires two or more distinct commands to achieve - has learned how to breach security but no longer needs to try wizard - writes device drivers with `cat >' - fixes bugs by patching the binaries - can answer any question before you ask - writes his own \fItroff\fR macro packages - is on first-name basis with Dennis, Bill, and Ken Tom Christiansen {uunet,uiucdcs,sun}!convex!tchrist Convex Computer Corporation tchrist@convex.COM "EMACS belongs in : Editor too big!"