4 ms·

The Koan implies Knight was able to fix the machine by power-cycling because he, unlike he novice, understood what was going wrong.

• ZenoArrow 13y ago
  But Knight and the novice were using the same approach to fixing it, weren't they?
  • alialkhatib 13y ago
    At greater risk of exposing my misinterpretation of it than jat850, my understanding was that his domain knowledge allows him to solve the problem directly rather than fumbling around with generic solutions (perhaps solving it accidentally). Some quality of the action affects the outcome, even though the approach is pretty much the same. Some problems with my router call for a simple power cycle; others call for a power cycle with ~30 seconds unplugged from power. Someone without much knowledge of the router might do the same thing as me (power cycle), and it might even occasionally work (if s/he unplugs it, goes to make lunch, and comes back), but my domain knowledge enables me to solve the problem more consistently (seemingly magically).
  • JamesArgo 13y ago
    Yes, that's the joke. It's not my favourite. A good hacker Koan should end with a non-trivial insight - this one is just trying to be funny, unless I'm missing something deeper.
    • ojiikun 13y ago
      I always interpreted it as a commentary on the difference between tool and application. You can both start and stop a wildfire by setting a single bush alight. It takes a fireman to know the difference.