[G4] Dantz Retrospect

[Snoke Jay S NPRI]

oh, for crying out loud, Alex...
Joe simply stated that for the various levels of users that read these threads, some might find it easier than others and that the response might have been a bit snotty - I don't think he or anyone meant/read it as a personal affront.  I read your response as an experienced user being a little less than gratuitous to those who don't have the same experience level as you.  We all need one another on this list.  We all have varying levels of experience WRT our usage of Macs and the OS variations that exist, as well as the applications and utilities that are available.  This list is here so we can HELP one another, not slash and burn those who don't understand what might be simple instructions to others, whether it's for unfamiliarity with the OS, the Mac itself, or an application provider's dictionary of terms.  it's really easy to sit back and say, RTFM - but comprehension is going to depend on one's level of experience.  I see this list as an easy forum to get help on things that
don't make sense - not as a forum to criticize the inexperience of others.  but then again, YMMV. ;o)


> ----------
> From: 	Alex
> Reply To: 	Power Macintosh G4 List
> Sent: 	Wednesday, January 21, 2004 11:38 AM
> To: 	Power Macintosh G4 List
> Subject: 	Re: [G4] Dantz Retrospect
> 
> 
> On Wednesday, Jan 21, 2004, at 08:39 Canada/Eastern, Joseph B. Gurman 
> wrote:
> 
> >> All I want to do is drive to the supermarket and get the groceries.
> >> Can't do it without learning to drive...
> 
> > It may not have been meant that way, but this just comes off sounding 
> > more than a bit snottty.
> 
> It was meant exactly as it sounds; whether it sounds to you the way it 
> sounds to me, that's a different issue.
> 
> > I had performed backups for years on Digital OpenVMS systems before I 
> > started using Retrospect ten years or so ago, and the documentation 
> > was as impenetrable to me then as it is lucid now --- it all depends 
> > on your experience.
> 
> Any documentation for an unfamiliar complex tool will be at first 
> difficult. The comparison to driving a car is -- of course, IMHO -- 
> apt. Forget that you're an American, and therefore you were familiar 
> with cars even before you could walk. For a great many people in ROW 
> (the rest of the world), cars are not at all familiar, and for someone 
> from rural China (or, like me, from a less-than-privileged background 
> in Eastern Europe) something as simple as driving to the supermarket 
> might be a daunting task.
> 
> > (In my case, familiar terms were used in an unfamiliar, and even 
> > counterintuitive way....since, as Sir Peter Medawar once put it, "All 
> > intuition is based on experience.") If you have none, the 
> > documentation may be so much gibberish.
> 
> Not necessarily. It seems to me you assume something is either 
> 'cryptic' or 'intuitive'. But that is not so. For instance, compare 
> Chaucer's lines
> 
> "Whan that Aprille with hise shoures sote/The droghte of March hath 
> perced to the rote [...]"
> 
> to e.e. cummings'
> 
> "spring is like a perhaps hand/(which comes carefully/out of 
> Nowhere)arranging/a window [...]"
> 
> I find Chaucer difficult but not cryptic. I don't need a dictionary for 
> cummings -- but I find him cryptic, to say the least. Retrospect's 
> manual is well written; it's difficult -- if one is not familiar with 
> its concepts -- but not cryptic. Settle down with it as you would 
> settle with any manual or textbook and you're in business pretty soon.
> 
> >  Is it worth it to me? On systems we use as backup servers for several 
> > machines, yes (even though I gag at the prices for Workgroup Backup 
> > and [aargh] Server Backup) --- the work preserved is worth much more, 
> > to us.
> 
> [...]
> 
> > For a home/small office user unused to unix shell commands, though, 
> > Retrospect Express is a very nice solution.... once the user 
> > understands the terms in the documentation as Dantz uses them.
> 
> This -- and several other posts about SilverKeeper or CCC -- seem to me 
> to be a different issue. Not, "How to use Retrospect", but "Is 
> Retrospect the best backup tool for me?" or "What's a good back up tool 
> for the Mac?", to which, of course, there will be different answers.
> 
> f
> 
> 
> 
> ----------
> G4ist, a listserv for discussion of everything G4.
> FAQ at <http://www.themacintoshguy.com/lists/G4.html>.
> Send a message to <G4-DIGEST at themacintoshguy.com> to switch to the digest.
> 
> XRouter | Share your DSL or cable modem between multiple computers! 
> Dr. Bott | Now $139.99      <http://www.drbott.com/prod/xrouter.html>
> 
> Dr. Bott LLC   4-port USB Hub in translucent Graphite!
> Dr. Bott LLC   <http://www.drbott.com/prod/ghub.html>
> 
> Small Dog Electronics   http://www.smalldog.com  | Canon Digital Cameras |
> --Quicksilver & refurbished G4's arriving daily! |   and Camcorders!!    |
> 
> MacResQ Specials: LaCie SCSI CDR From $99! PowerBook 3400/200 Only $879! 
> Norton AntiVirus 6 Only $19! We Stock PARTS! <http://www.macresq.com>
> 
> OS X News, Dr.Mac, Forums, Tutorials, Tips, Hints, FAQ?s - http://www.osxfaq.com
> 
>