

Why how is boring and how why is awesome - tghw
http://blog.bitquabit.com/2011/04/28/why-how-is-boring-and-how-why-is-awesome/

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zwischenzug
Maybe I'm fick, but I do these in my company routinely using CVS:

"...identified what I thought were two of DVCS’ killer scenarios: maintaining
multiple versions of a product without dropping bug fixes, and being able to
reliably develop new features of a product while always being ready to ship a
bugfix in a heartbeat."

I use git for my own projects, FTR.

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chime
It's pretty coincidental that I read the headlines on the front-page and
noticed 4 of the top 10 articles are Why this or Why that instead of How:

* Why Instapaper Free is taking an extended vacation (marco.org)

* Joel Spolsky on Why Lunch is So Important at Work (joelonsoftware.com)

* Why we need an Open Wireless movement (eff.org)

* Silk: why we use Haskell (typlab.com)

So I searched for "why" in my browser and found this article just down the
page. Hows add to my technical skill set, whys help me make better judgments
in the future. I personally prefer the "how" more than "why" because everyone
can have a different reason for why. Why marco prefers not to make Instapaper
free or why Fog Creek devs prefer DVCS certainly help me decide if I want to
go down that part or not. But in the end, how interests the hacker in me more.

~~~
thyrsus
"How" is necessary, but I think "Why" is more fundamental. There is always
more to know about the universe than we can stuff in our heads (I can't even
tell you the contents of my desk), but "Why" provides the motivation - a
framework or outline on which to hang all the details involved in "How". If
the detail doesn't move me toward the goal, I ignore it.

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donofrip
I look at this and can't help but think how important it is to entrepreneurs.
"Why" is fundamental, the building blocks for your implementation/execution,
the "how".

The fundamental question for a venture is: Why are we doing what we are doing?
Expressed market demand. We can make money providing the supply for that
demand.

Interestingly, "why" is also where all "how" questions eventually lead when
you dig deep enough. How are we going to provide a solution? Through a mobile
application. Why a mobile app?

If you are not asking a why question, you haven't thought enough about a
particular topic. And if you think long enough, all your "why" questions
should eventually lead back to the fundamental answer, "because there is
demand for this".

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dublinclontarf
I was a little disappointed that this wasn't about _why

