Thread: Unix Popularity
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Old 5th July 2008
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ephemera ephemera is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by silverback011 View Post
The bottom line is that we have to get work done and publish results. We use whatever will help us achieve this the best. In general we don't care about the software or who makes it as long as we can afford it and it gets the job done. We want it to work as quickly as possible as cheaply as possible.
that reminds me of an article i read somewhere where this guy David Chisnall talks about the difference b/w an astronomer and a telescope builder (though in a slightly different context):

Quote:
There’s a difference between a telescope builder and an astronomer, of course. A telescope builder is likely to know more about the construction of telescopes and less about the motion of stellar bodies. But both will have a solid understanding of what happens to light as it travels through the lenses and bounces off the mirrors. Without this understanding, astronomy is very difficult.
For an astronomer, celestial bodies are studied using a telescope. A telescope is an important tool for a scientist—but is merely a tool not the focus of study.
here the telescope builder can be a metaphor for a computer programmer or IT professional and the astronomer a metaphor for a scientist.

i am just glad the scientists are using (or atleast try to use wherever they can) linux/unix.

Last edited by ephemera; 5th July 2008 at 10:27 PM.
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