
Taking a year to explain computer things - zdw
https://jvns.ca/blog/2019/09/13/a-year-explaining-computer-things/
======
DVassallo
There are things we do for the reward. And then there are things we do just
for their own sake, driven purely by internal motivation. It looks like the
latter is the case for Julia when it comes to teaching computer things. Being
able to choose a lifestyle where you can pursue things that intrinsically
motivate you is probably the ultimate form of professional satisfaction.
Congrats Julia! I'm really looking forward to see what comes out of this.

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jasoneckert
While I've never bought anything from Julia, I smile every time I see her
illustrations online. Those of us who are attracted to tech fields also have a
sense of wonder and intense desire to learn and share information. So, when we
see others sharing information in ways to help them learn, we respect them
tremendously!

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jimmcslim
In the 1980's I learnt to program on a Commodore 64 with one of Usborne's many
computer books (see at the bottom of the page on [1]). Julia's zines remind me
of a similar aesthetic and I hope she is also successful at inspiring the next
generation of software developers!

[1] [https://usborne.com/browse-books/features/computer-and-
codin...](https://usborne.com/browse-books/features/computer-and-coding-
books/)

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thruhiker
I saw Julia speak at KubeCon last year in Seattle. She’s a talented engineer
who has found a unique and approachable way of teaching DevOps/SRE tooling and
concepts. I wish her much happiness and success in the next year!

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siscia
I don't want this to be read badly, so let me start with stating my greatest
admirations for the author.

I have never bought any of the zines she produces, I am aware of that, and I
also check them out several times. What I don't understand is why people
bought them.

Do you find them informative? Do they help you somehow? Do you find them cute?

I may not be in the target market, but I don't find them informative, they are
so undense of information, moreover are very easily available informations.

Really, let me restate my admiration for her and the ability to run a
business, but again I wonder why people consume that kind of content.

Can somebody please explain?

~~~
jvns
The main reason I hear that people buy zines from me is that they find them
informative.

I've honestly learned a lot about this from writing zines -- for example my
bite size command line zine ([https://wizardzines.com/zines/bite-size-command-
line/](https://wizardzines.com/zines/bite-size-command-line/)) is mostly
composed of things that feel "obvious" to me after using Linux for 15 years
("how to grep recursively"). And I initially also doubted that it was really
worth it to write these things down ("won't people just read the man page /
google for it instead?")! But:

1\. it turns out that things that seem "obvious" when you're experienced are
definitely not obvious to beginners, and the man pages are much easier to read
when you already understand the tool :)

2\. figuring out what the right things to learn even _are_ is difficult, you
can't Google for something if you don't know it exists yet

3\. many people who aren't beginners still sometimes have some gaps in their
knowledge, for example this tweet about CORS has a lot of experienced web
developers replying to it saying that they've really struggled to understand
CORS and that even a small simple explanation helps them.
[https://twitter.com/b0rk/status/1162392625057583104](https://twitter.com/b0rk/status/1162392625057583104)

I think of my main audience as being developers who have a couple of years of
professional experience but are still missing a lot of fundamental knowledge
that can really help you out as a programmer. (like "how does HTTP work?")

~~~
acqq
I can confirm that I had to show some pages of yours to some people who worked
for more than a decade, exclusively writing C++ on Linux but never learned
what you so nicely presented in some of your articles.

A lot of people simply stick to the minimum needed to do something. And then
they need something condensed enough (and reliable) to make them doing
something a bit differently.

In short, I'm very glad you're doing that work. Nobody who hasn't tried know
how they poorly most of them would do it: everybody can write long winding
rants about some minuscule detail of their own work. Writing a good, reliable
and effective broader summary is much harder.

Please also consider having the dates on your work, or connection to the
versions of the stuff you write about, you can also sell the new versions with
the same title when the topic changes due to the new developments.

That's another weak point of internet: there's so much outdated information
still floating as "the" solution.

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lathiat
If you want a taste of her style check out her rb-spy presentation it’s a
great watch. [https://youtu.be/o6wWSPxYueU](https://youtu.be/o6wWSPxYueU)

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rammy1234
Congrats and these steps will help redefine who we are. Will keep buying your
zines to support you. Least I can do

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rammy1234
For our own sake. Can't beat it.

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mantoto
Never knew she sold anything. Never knew that she is earning money with it
also.

Anyone here bought something from here? Just out of curiosity why?

~~~
naraic0o
one potential motivation i would personally consider is to support her work.
her style feels somewhat refreshing for the content she delivers.

diversity in the approach of tech teaching, i believe, can only be a good
thing.

i also think that the alternative method she imploys, with cartoons and
colloquial language, helps engage some people who find traditional teaching
formats unengaging.

~~~
Vaslo
Yeah - especially for those of us that get lost on the big picture when the
material gets too deep too fast. Hard to find creative ways to teach GIT for
example.

