Missing: "How to install, use and administer Windows."
It is awfully sad how many of self-called "hackers" are unable to reconfigure an IP address on worlds most-popular desktop OS.
I have trouble trusting such "engineers" with ability to design great software when they couldn't even educate themselves on both major world perspectives on OS design.
For the sake of discussion, here's a counter argument to that. Windows is the most common desktop OS, as you note.
That means it is the one most likely to be officially supported everywhere you go. You get to your new job, you'll find a Windows box on your desk, set up by IT, configured the way they like it--and the way they want it to stay.
If you run OS X or Linux at home, and only use Windows on boxes provided and administered by someone else, why learn how to administer Windows boxes? None of us have time to become experts in every technology we encounter as users. Not knowing how to reconfigure an IP address on Windows seems no worse than not knowing how to change a spark plug on a rental car.
Are the more significant inabilities you are _actually_ complaining about here?
I don't have any idea how Windows 7's (or Vista, or OS X, etc. hell, I vaguely remember how to do this on my *nix box) networking software works, but I guarantee you I could google it and solve my problem in minutes.
People may be used to different technologies. Many of us just google or see the doc on the fly for such trouble shooting or configuring settings.
But these types of skills/knowledge is different from understanding a computer scientist would require. I would be more worried if someone who claims to know networking doesn't know popular protocols or algorithms like for example the sliding window protocol.
The issues you face in designing, understanding and analyzing such algorithms will change you more than understanding where windows stores the setting to configure one of their protocol parameters.
Comments
Missing: "How to install, use and administer Windows."
It is awfully sad how many of self-called "hackers" are unable to reconfigure an IP address on worlds most-popular desktop OS.
I have trouble trusting such "engineers" with ability to design great software when they couldn't even educate themselves on both major world perspectives on OS design.
For the sake of discussion, here's a counter argument to that. Windows is the most common desktop OS, as you note.
That means it is the one most likely to be officially supported everywhere you go. You get to your new job, you'll find a Windows box on your desk, set up by IT, configured the way they like it--and the way they want it to stay.
If you run OS X or Linux at home, and only use Windows on boxes provided and administered by someone else, why learn how to administer Windows boxes? None of us have time to become experts in every technology we encounter as users. Not knowing how to reconfigure an IP address on Windows seems no worse than not knowing how to change a spark plug on a rental car.
Are the more significant inabilities you are _actually_ complaining about here?
I don't have any idea how Windows 7's (or Vista, or OS X, etc. hell, I vaguely remember how to do this on my *nix box) networking software works, but I guarantee you I could google it and solve my problem in minutes.
People may be used to different technologies. Many of us just google or see the doc on the fly for such trouble shooting or configuring settings.
But these types of skills/knowledge is different from understanding a computer scientist would require. I would be more worried if someone who claims to know networking doesn't know popular protocols or algorithms like for example the sliding window protocol.
The issues you face in designing, understanding and analyzing such algorithms will change you more than understanding where windows stores the setting to configure one of their protocol parameters.