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Every time I read an article or infographic by Julia Evans, I can't help but feel a bit of excitement, because even after 15+ years of linux/programming experie

Every time I read an article or infographic by Julia Evans, I can't help but feel a bit of excitement, because even after 15+ years of linux/programming experience, I still learn something new every time. I genuinely hope there are awards/accolades for people that bring this much value to the linux/programming/computing community.

mirimir 8y ago
Yes, I also loved this. Bookmarked it. Amusing anecdote. I'm entirely self-taught about computer stuff. I mean, it barely existed when I was a student. So anyway, descriptions of packet structure seemed so abstract and handwaivy. So for a few Ethernet and TCP/IP packets, I used Wireshark to get bytes from each field as hexadecimal, and crunched the data in Excel. It was incredibly tedious, but ultimately satisfying.
rconti 8y ago
I love her style. She knows a lot, but is VERY open to being wrong or not knowing things fully. That is to say, she's happy to say something that might not be 100% correct but is the way she understands it, or to admit she only knows 10% of this one thing. There's utterly zero arrogance but also there's not really a lack of confidence. It's almost a childlike wonder/excitement about things. In using that approach, it makes the reader appreciate the subject as well, feel happy about the things they know in common with Julia, feel happy about the things the reader knows that she doesn't know YET, and also feel comfortable that "hey, here's somebody else who ALSO doesn't understand this topic that well!" In every way, it's the exact opposite of imposter syndrome, both for the writer and for the reader. I think too many of us (at least, based on my own experience) don't feel like we know enough to share with people. You both don't realize what you know that others don't, but are also anxious about being wrong or presenting yourself as an expert when you are not, for fear of ridicule or judgement or whatever. She's such a great asset to the community.

mirimir 8y ago

Yes, I also loved this. Bookmarked it. Amusing anecdote. I'm entirely self-taught about computer stuff. I mean, it barely existed when I was a student. So anyway, descriptions of packet structure seemed so abstract and handwaivy. So for a few Ethernet and TCP/IP packets, I used Wireshark to get bytes from each field as hexadecimal, and crunched the data in Excel. It was incredibly tedious, but ultimately satisfying.

rconti 8y ago

I love her style. She knows a lot, but is VERY open to being wrong or not knowing things fully. That is to say, she's happy to say something that might not be 100% correct but is the way she understands it, or to admit she only knows 10% of this one thing. There's utterly zero arrogance but also there's not really a lack of confidence. It's almost a childlike wonder/excitement about things. In using that approach, it makes the reader appreciate the subject as well, feel happy about the things they know in common with Julia, feel happy about the things the reader knows that she doesn't know YET, and also feel comfortable that "hey, here's somebody else who ALSO doesn't understand this topic that well!" In every way, it's the exact opposite of imposter syndrome, both for the writer and for the reader. I think too many of us (at least, based on my own experience) don't feel like we know enough to share with people. You both don't realize what you know that others don't, but are also anxious about being wrong or presenting yourself as an expert when you are not, for fear of ridicule or judgement or whatever. She's such a great asset to the community.