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⬅️ Previous capture (2023-03-20)
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I was watching my girlfriend do some crummy grunt-work organization for her PhD research, moving files around and things like that. Curious, I asked what she was doing, and it was essentially just flattening a deeply-nested directory with tons of files, and sorting into time-based folders. I solved what was going to take her HOURS with a bash 1-liner. This makes me wonder why some basic scripting/programming is not commonly mandatory in college curriculums, regardless of your degree. It would be *far* more useful than some current requirements, in my opinion.
2 years ago · 👍 p13, isoraqathedh, wim, lykso, neuropirate
@mcoffin the whole point is that it's not about education. it's about incentive. you can make people memorize every bone in their body and when one breaks they still don't know which. you have to want it, be curious. I can build you software, I can't change a tyre. should that be in education? I don't think it should 🙃 · 2 years ago
@mccoffin I am able to do really basic stuff with the CLI by myself. I know that are much better most of time and I am always looking for snippets on internet otherwise are too much convoluted for me and I end up doing everything manually through a GUI. 🤷♂️ · 2 years ago
@isoraqathedh - But then wouldn't it just be more productive to fight for change in the education? I hadn't thought about it much before, but it seems like a no-brainer to me now. · 2 years ago
@gnuserland - That was kind-of my point. I think that a LOT of people could be a lot more productive at what they do professionally on a daily basis just by learning a few basic shell scripting skills, even if not any more complex programming. Obviously, it's easier for me to whip that up than her, but wouldn't learning that be a good use of time, especially relative to some of the other things that are common required classes at most educational institutions? Once I sat down to think, I was shocked that it hasn't become normal to have mandatory CS-esque intro curriculum. It's useful in almost every job. · 2 years ago
I've been told of a theory that most people only know how to operate a computer in terms of fixed scripts. Computer education sometimes amounts to simply (ahem) programming these scripts to the students, and not actually asking them to think about how to put the ideas behind the scripts together. · 2 years ago
Because it is easier for you but totally abstract for the majority. · 2 years ago
It's quite common to see this.
I can't recount how many times i've automated simple tasks for people. It's common to see requirements like "MS office" or whatever on job postings, but i've never seen basic scripting or programming as a required skill for any non-IT related job. · 2 years ago