[sf-lug] Who done it? ; -) Re: updated: Re: Status of SF-LUG / Linux meeting(s) @ Noisebridge? & SF-LUG web site (mis?)information thereof

[Rick Moen]

Quoting Michael Paoli (Michael.Paoli at cal.berkeley.edu):

> Well, as I'd also edited it (at least once now?), that'd be at least
> two persons who'd edited it - at minimum - thus far.
> http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/sf-lug/2019q2/014118.html

We all have to do with dumbness examples not of our creation, so this is
absolutely not aimed at you, but just for giggles:

Isn't the obvious solution to look at the version control history?

Oh, _no_ version control.  Got it.

So, memo to the assembled:  Step zero:  Add version control.



I was just talking yesterday to someone on the telephone about typical
conversations I kept having in early days with Windows users coming to
LUG installfests, and am reminded of that on account of thematic
similarities.

User:  I want to do dual-boot.
Me:  You must have been very bad.
User:   Pardon?
Me:  Sorry, I was almost-but-not-really joking.  Dual-boot unavoidably
     introduces complications that personally I make a point of doing
     without, and personally I think it'd be smarter for you to avoid
     complicating your expensive, cutting-edge, and indispensible 
     Windows box, and instead play with Linux on that old machine
     in your closet?
User:  How'd you know I had a Pentium II in the closet?
Me:  Because I'm writing this imaginary dialogue.
User:  Oh, good point.
Me:  Anyway, if you're sure you need dual-boot on _this_, then we at
     the LUG will cheerfully not only help you hang yourself but also 
     furnish the rope, the beam, and any rope-making factories you 
     might want in case you run out of rope.  Plus a book on
     knot-making.
User:  Wow, your sense of humour's rather dark.
Me:  Yeah, that's what Mom says, too.
User:  But, can you reassure me that non-destructive partitioning
     software is absolutely safe.
Me:  It almost certainly isn't.  But that doesn't matter, because you 
     have a thoroughly tested backup regime and can confidently and
     without worry restore if something bad happens.
User:  No, I don't.
Me:  Shocked, shocked.  Shocked, I say.  (Gambling.  Casinos.  All that.)
     So, basically, now you know the very next problem you need to 
     solve before you do anything at all with your computer, let 
     alone take a figurative meat-axe to the C: drive.
User:  Why would that be an emergency task?
Me:  How much would you spend to buy a doorstop?
User: Maybe a buck or two.  Why?
Me:  What would it cost to replace all of your files from scratch
     and completely rebuild from nothing the entire contents of your
     hard drive?
User:  A lot.  But what's this about doorstops?
Me:  You just said, basically, if this or anything else blows 
     away the drive contents, the resulting loss would be a lot,
     but the good news is that you could still use it as a doorstop, 
     so that's a lot less a couple of bucks.  Joy.
User:  As I said, rather dark.
Me:  That's what she said.

Backups, yay.  Version control, yay, because backups.