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by amelius 2966 days ago
You mean:

Teach me how to build a compiler binary, and I'll be building compiler binaries for a lifetime.

which is somewhat less inspirational. Even less so when replacing "compiler binary" by "other people's code".

I think the main problem with your analogy is that in IT, the "fish" are free.
1 comments
lisper 2966 days ago
No. I mean: Teach me how to build a compiler binary, and I'll be able to build pretty much whatever binaries I need whenever I need them for a lifetime. (What's the point of having a compiler at all if you're not going to build your own binaries?)

> the "fish" are free

That's true. But if you know how to build them you can make new kinds of fish. That can come in handy if you don't like the free fish.

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Fnoord 2966 days ago
> (What's the point of having a compiler at all if you're not going to build your own binaries?)

By 1) minimising the times you need to compile yourself 2) making it easy to compile yourself (e.g. easier than autoconf/automake but even those are examples which have said goal in mind).

> That's true. But if you know how to build them you can make new kinds of fish. That can come in handy if you don't like the free fish.

Its not difficult to learn how to make these new fish, but learn it when its the best or required (ie. only) solution.

A better analogy is that you have a hammer at your disposal, but you refuse to use it because when you learn to use your feet instead that's a useful practice. Its not; its only useful the time you don't have a hammer (which you usually have around). Instead, try to keep your hammer with you.

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bdowling 2966 days ago
Spending all day on a fishing boat when all you want is a fish is an apt analogy to building GNU cross toolchains for embedded targets.
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lisper 2966 days ago
Indeed so. And fishing is not for everyone. But some people find value in it.
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Kamshak 2966 days ago
So more like teach me how to build a fishing rod?
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lisper 2966 days ago
No. That would be teaching you how to write a compiler.
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amelius 2966 days ago
Yeah but if you are downloading a compiler, then that sort of implies that you know how to build binaries :)
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lisper 2966 days ago
Sure, if you count knowing how to type "make" as "knowing how to build binaries."
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xfer 2966 days ago
Yes, because every project uses the same build tools, right?
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