Yes I Still Want To Be Doing This at 56
 

Yes I Still Want To Be Doing This at 56
http://thecodist.com/article/yes_i_s...ing_this_at_56

Me too at 53. Or 83.

Lynn

Re: Yes I Still Want To Be Doing This at 56
 

Hi:

I *am* doing it (i.e. coding in a C-Based language, building CGI
servers, running Apache from my home ofice, web mastering 3 web sites) ---
and am 80.5 yo :((

Top-posting is anotrher of my growing fault lines.

But, I won't be around much longer ...

-Mel

"Lynn McGuire" <lmc@winsim.com> wrote in message
news:k4v9ed$iki$1@dont-email.me...
> Yes I Still Want To Be Doing This at 56
> http://thecodist.com/article/yes_i_s...ing_this_at_56
>
> Me too at 53. Or 83.
>
> Lynn

Re: Yes I Still Want To Be Doing This at 56
 

On 10/8/2012 2:17 PM, Mel Smith wrote:
> Hi:
>
> I *am* doing it (i.e. coding in a C-Based language, building CGI
> servers, running Apache from my home ofice, web mastering 3 web sites) ---
> and am 80.5 yo :((
>
> Top-posting is anotrher of my growing fault lines.
>
> But, I won't be around much longer ...
>
> -Mel

Are you *THE* Mel?

http://catb.org/jargon/html/story-of-mel.html

Re: Yes I Still Want To Be Doing This at 56
 

On 10/8/2012 2:44 PM, red floyd wrote:
> On 10/8/2012 2:17 PM, Mel Smith wrote:
>> Hi:
>>
>> I *am* doing it (i.e. coding in a C-Based language, building CGI
>> servers, running Apache from my home ofice, web mastering 3 web sites)
>> ---
>> and am 80.5 yo :((
>>
>> Top-posting is anotrher of my growing fault lines.
>>
>> But, I won't be around much longer ...
>>
>> -Mel
>
> Are you *THE* Mel?
>
> http://catb.org/jargon/html/story-of-mel.html
>

Never mind. I never read the footnotes to that story...

Re: Yes I Still Want To Be Doing This at 56
 

Lynn McGuire <lmc@winsim.com> wrote:
> Yes I Still Want To Be Doing This at 56
> http://thecodist.com/article/yes_i_s...ing_this_at_56
>
> Me too at 53. Or 83.
>
> Lynn

When home computer become available there was more of a need to program as
there was a general lack of problems. Then when shareware and freeware
programs were available once again there was less need to write a program
for the computer as someone had already done it for you. It seems that only
due to personal needs that you need to write a computer program. But there
is still some enjoyment of writing your own program and being able to
modify it. I would never want to be under pressure at my age to write a
program within a set time.

--
Regards Brian

Re: Yes I Still Want To Be Doing This at 56
 

On Oct 9, 7:29*am, Brian <bcl...@es.co.nz> wrote:

> When home computer become available there was more of a need to program as
> there was a general lack of problems.

a lack of problems?

> Then when shareware and freeware
> programs were available once again there was less need to write a program
> for the computer as someone had already done it for you. It seems that only
> due to personal needs that you need to write a computer program.

I get paid to do it, so I guess someone disagrees with you!

> But there
> is still some enjoyment of writing your own program and being able to
> modify it. I would never want to be under pressure at my age to write a
> program within a set time.

at the very least there will always be scripts and things, little jobs
that need automating

Re: Yes I Still Want To Be Doing This at 56
 

Nick Keighley <nick_keighley_nospam@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On Oct 9, 7:29 am, Brian <bcl...@es.co.nz> wrote:
>
>> When home computer become available there was more of a need to program as
>> there was a general lack of problems.

OK that should read 'programs'
>
> a lack of problems?
>
>> Then when shareware and freeware
>> programs were available once again there was less need to write a program
>> for the computer as someone had already done it for you. It seems that only
>> due to personal needs that you need to write a computer program.
>
> I get paid to do it, so I guess someone disagrees with you!

Example: If I want a word processor I don't need to write one as there are
plenty to download off the internet
>
>> But there
>> is still some enjoyment of writing your own program and being able to
>> modify it. I would never want to be under pressure at my age to write a
>> program within a set time.
>
> at the very least there will always be scripts and things, little jobs
> that need automating


--
Regards Brian

Re: Yes I Still Want To Be Doing This at 56
 

On Wed, 2012-10-10, Brian wrote:
> Nick Keighley <nick_keighley_nospam@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> On Oct 9, 7:29 am, Brian <bcl...@es.co.nz> wrote:
....
>>> Then when shareware and freeware
>>> programs were available once again there was less need to write a program
>>> for the computer as someone had already done it for you. It seems that only
>>> due to personal needs that you need to write a computer program.
>>
>> I get paid to do it, so I guess someone disagrees with you!
>
> Example: If I want a word processor I don't need to write one as there are
> plenty to download off the internet

Those word processors aren't writing themselves -- real people like us
do it. Either as volunteers, or they get paid.

I may be missing the point of this discussion, if there is one ... but
even if you write for "personal needs", that doesn't imply that the
result is only useful to you.

/Jorgen

--
// Jorgen Grahn <grahn@ Oo o. . .
\X/ snipabacken.se> O o .

Re: Yes I Still Want To Be Doing This at 56
 

Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> wrote:
> On Wed, 2012-10-10, Brian wrote:
>> Nick Keighley <nick_keighley_nospam@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>> On Oct 9, 7:29 am, Brian <bcl...@es.co.nz> wrote:
> ...
>>>> Then when shareware and freeware
>>>> programs were available once again there was less need to write a program
>>>> for the computer as someone had already done it for you. It seems that only
>>>> due to personal needs that you need to write a computer program.
>>>
>>> I get paid to do it, so I guess someone disagrees with you!
>>
>> Example: If I want a word processor I don't need to write one as there are
>> plenty to download off the internet
>
> Those word processors aren't writing themselves -- real people like us
> do it. Either as volunteers, or they get paid.
>
> I may be missing the point of this discussion, if there is one ... but
> even if you write for "personal needs", that doesn't imply that the
> result is only useful to you.
>
> /Jorgen

It's usually how shareware starts. I wrote a program for myself as I can't
find a program on the internet that exactly fills my needs. Then I think
that my program maybe useful to other people that have similar needs so I
make it available as shareware or freeware.
One example is that I have a voucher that expires in 30 days from the time
it was issued and I need to calculate what date it will expire on. As I
need to do this often I would consider writing a utility that can calculate
what date the voucher expires on.

--
Regards Brian

Re: Yes I Still Want To Be Doing This at 56
 

On Thu, 2012-10-11, Brian wrote:
> Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> wrote:
>> On Wed, 2012-10-10, Brian wrote:
>>> Nick Keighley <nick_keighley_nospam@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>> On Oct 9, 7:29 am, Brian <bcl...@es.co.nz> wrote:
>> ...
>>>>> Then when shareware and freeware
>>>>> programs were available once again there was less need to write a program
>>>>> for the computer as someone had already done it for you.
>>>>> It seems that only
>>>>> due to personal needs that you need to write a computer program.
>>>>
>>>> I get paid to do it, so I guess someone disagrees with you!
>>>
>>> Example: If I want a word processor I don't need to write one as there are
>>> plenty to download off the internet
>>
>> Those word processors aren't writing themselves -- real people like us
>> do it. Either as volunteers, or they get paid.
>>
>> I may be missing the point of this discussion, if there is one ... but
>> even if you write for "personal needs", that doesn't imply that the
>> result is only useful to you.
>>
>> /Jorgen
>
> It's usually how shareware starts. I wrote a program for myself as I can't
> find a program on the internet that exactly fills my needs. Then I think
> that my program maybe useful to other people that have similar needs so I
> make it available as shareware or freeware.

Or free software. The term "freeware" pretty much fell out of use in
the 1990s when people discovered there were standard licenses you
could apply, and users wanted to know what their rights were.

(Haven't seen the "shareware" term much recently either, but perhaps
it survives on Windows.)

> One example is that I have a voucher that expires in 30 days from the time
> it was issued and I need to calculate what date it will expire on. As I
> need to do this often I would consider writing a utility that can calculate
> what date the voucher expires on.

Good example. Once you start looking, there *are* lots of small problem
for which no standard software exists.

Although in this case it does. With Gnu date(1):

tuva:~> date --date '2012-10-11 + 30 days'
Sat Nov 10 00:00:00 CET 2012

/Jorgen

--
// Jorgen Grahn <grahn@ Oo o. . .
\X/ snipabacken.se> O o .