Re: [tlug] Speaking of computer usage ....

[Curt Sampson <cjs@example.com>]

On 2008-03-02 10:53 +0900 (Sun), Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:

> Precisely.  "Professions" as conventionally thought of are represented
> by the medical profession and the legal profession.

Let's not forget engineering here.

> Both of which prominently feature ethical commitments as requirement
> of membership, specifically to keeping up with the state of the art
> and acting in a clients' interest.

Note that ethical requirements of doctors and Professional Engineers
(PEs, from this point on) are of a somewhat different nature than those
of attorneys. The difference is most clearly shown in the nature of a
PE's obligations versus an attorney's. A PE is required to place the
good of society ahead of the good of his client; an attorney is the
exact reverse.

> It's a kind of euphemism to call somebody a professional merely
> because they get paid.

Not at all; it's just a different use of the word. It's the exact
difference between an Olympic athlete and someone involved in
professional sports, in this different use.

I believe I understand your use of the word professional, but I
can think of common situations where it's not used in this sense.
For example, an Olympic figure skater is generally contrasted with
professional figure skater, and an art photographer is generally
contrasted with a professional photographer, even though in both cases
they do work of as good or better quality than their professional
counterparts, and often have stronger motivation to do good work.

> The magic of open source software is quite apparent when you consider
> how the aggregate of random responsible actions under voluntary
> coordination is something as reliable (ie, responsible on demand) as
> the Linux kernel.

Actually, I'd disagree with that. I've not found open source software,
in and of itself, to be any less or more reliable in some given instance
than commerical software. The main advantage I find in it is that when
something breaks, I have far more places to go for support, including
the option of doing it myself.

cjs
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Curt Sampson       <cjs@example.com>        +81 90 7737 2974   
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