at least as much blame for the proprietary format situation can be laid to the feet of the private sector folk who want to protect their little empire from some perceived threat to their profits. . . . make a file format (or a geometry decriptor) that is unique, and you create a 'company store' situation; once someone buys your software, he's stuck with whatever you give him unless he's willing to throw away a bunch of work and start over in someone else's company store.
and when some company signs up for a tax writeoff by 'donating' a software package to a school, often the profs are then contractually obligated (by the terms of the donation) to teach it. . . . perpetuating the company store. And, when your tax dollars are spent to purchase a software package, your freindly legislator often cuts the funding for maint and upgrades (by not mandating a cut in administrative costs, but instead making unfunded mandates about what (and how) things will be taught) so the software package is quickly out of date.
the solution? Open source. Like this board; it's open source hardware. So please don't muddy the waters for people who are at least willing to learn. . . . the ones who have the courage and the forsight to ask questions when they don't know the best way to tackle something. the ones that are truely a danger are the ones that are so sure they know everything that they refuse to ask. the Darwin awards are full of them.
I went to school with people aspiring to be automotive engineers who had never changed their own oil. I am sad for those people. I am sad for the people who will drive and repair the products my classmate designs.
yes, there are people who would be better off not trying the things that get discussed here.
Infants probably would be better advised not to learn to walk, either; the process is painful to them, annoying to others (who have to listen to the bawling) and even more frustrating because there's no-one to ask and no owners' manual to read. But infants learn to walk anyway. And they're better for the experience.
I certainly shouldn't have taken my first engine apart; Now I restore steam locomotives for a hobby.
my first electronic project started a fire because I didn't know how to tell when the PC board was etched sufficiently and the kit didn't mention anything about it; Now I build scientific prototypes for a living.
my first foray into reloading probably should have cost me a finger (at the least), but it didn't. . . . and now I have respect for chemical energy in all its forms.
I learned from each situation, and now I find myself moderately well equipped to survive as a tool-making life form.
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that not all of your projects have adherred to careful planning and strict safety guidlines, either.
Yes, there are people who are not tool users, and never will be. those people don't ask questions on BBSs like these; they watch sitcom reruns instead. they complain about gas prices on their cell phone while they sit in the parking lot with the engine running in their SUVs so the heater still works.
yes, people could be better spellers, and use better grammar. there are very few english/engineering double majors. anyone else can be expected to make the odd mistake (and some even ones, too. . .) the rest of us deal with it.
so, I encourage people to ask silly questions. better to annoy me with the question than annoy me by doing something silly because noone told them what they needed to know when they asked. Better a stupid question than a stupid mistake. As you point out, stupid actions can hurt more than the stupid person in question. I haven't heard of anyone being hurt physically by being asked a question.
'Nuff said.
to business:
the question was answered, I agree. but the answer was so buried in your rant that I skipped over it looking for useful information instead of negativity. I submit that you thereby defeat your own purpose.
and someone who asked a specific (if maybe insufficiently explained) question out of frustration with the same problems you so eloquently decry now has a slightly diminished opinion of amateurs and renewable energy hobbists. That someone might someday be in a position to do something about a situation that has you disgruntled. That someone might someday be in possession of information that I could use. But now, I doubt we'll see them again. They'll certainly think long and hard before asking any more annoying questions here.
Thanks.
-Dan
(And I was not assessing blame or taking offense to not having your e-mail address; I imagine you are happier knowing that you'll not get the likes of me berating you via e-mail, and that's certainly a valid arguement in my book. you'll notice that I don't post mine in my message headers, either. . . . In this case, I posted mine in case you wanted to take this private. Obviously not.)
Note to Editor: there will be nothing further from me on this subject.
