nfoTools
N070801: The Craft in Toolcraft
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1. Overview
For deeper, practical understanding of nfoWorks topics, it is important to work with a personal computer and available software tools. Some tools are provided with nfoTools. Other tools are recommended. Additional tools are required for building the nfoWare tools, if you choose to go that far. To explore, construct, and modify the nfoWare tools, you’ll need an understanding of the tools that are used to do that. That’s where Toolcraft comes in.
1.1 Toolcraft is about Craft
Toolcraft is about the peculiar details of different families of computer and software tools. Although you might understand the concepts of such tools, working smoothly with them requires fluency in the associated toolcraft.
Toolcraft is not often recognized as such. Toolcraft is simply understood to some degree by those who have been immersed in it. To a practitioner, it is automatic. To an observer, it is all mystery and error-prone dangers.
Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Windows users live and operate in different toolcrafts. Unix and GNU/Linux users have yet another set, as do Java developers. In my early career, there were quite different toolcrafts, including everyday technical language and nomenclature, between programmers for Univac systems and programmers for other computers, whether from IBM, Burroughs, or many other, mainly long-forgotten, computer manufacturers.
Toolcraft and its automatic and reflex-like reliance is a barrier to communication and shared understanding. Practitioners often don’t realize that they have picked up a toolcraft, and are actually unable to explain it to others (not unlike a parent attempting to teach another family member to operate an automobile). In addition, toolcraft interferes with recognition of the common principles, practices, and fundamental concepts of information processing.
It doesn’t seem possible to eliminate toolcraft. Instead, here are tutorials and documentation that support initial experience and self-guided exploration of some popular toolcraft. In seeing the principles behind a few toolcrafts, you may find it easier to recognize and teach yourself other ones. Here are the main topics identified so far. You’ll quickly notice that nfoWare has some of its own toolcraft:
Woops, not filled in yet
There’s no craft like toolcraft craft.
Efimova, Lilia. Rethinking Apprenticeship. Mathemagenic (web log), 2004-02-06 (last updated 2005-06-27), accessed 2007-08-29. Quoting Jim McGee: “As craft work, knowledge work fits more into apprenticeship learning models than in conventional training approaches. Making the work process and its intermediate products more visible will make the apprenticeship process more effective.”
McGee, Jim. Knowledge Work as Craft Work. stories, McGee’s Musings (web site), 2002-04-01 (last updated 2004-03-03), accessed 2007-08-29 (via Lilia Efimova). “One unintended consequence of today’s technology environment is to make the process of knowledge work less visible just when we need it to be more so.”
Victoria and Albert Museum (web site). What Is Craft? Available at broken link Accessed 2007-08-29.
Discussion about nfoTools is welcome at the Discussion section. Improvements and removal of defects in this particular documentation can be reported and addressed in the Issues section. There are also relevant projects from time to time.