Re: Tom Kyte a false idol?

On Tue, 03 Mar 2015 08:33:39 -0800, stevegwebber wrote:

> I just found this thread while trawling around looking for something and
> actually Geomancer, I agree with you.
>
> I find it extremely irritating how the self appointed select few come
> across as being better than the rest of us, but are they really? It may
> seem that way because they have a public platform from which to
> demonstrate their alleged superiority. However, there's nothing wrong
> with being a capable, smart, hard working Oracle pro, just going about
> your business quietly and efficiently without shouting from the
> mountain tops every 5 minutes about how brilliant you think you are. The
> sheeple who buy into this are even worse IMO. Some people just continue
> to gorge on the Oracle Kool-Aid and some don't. Personally, I don't and
> I don't think TK is some kind of Oracle messiah either. 3 reasons:
>
> 1. I've been to some of his so called presentations and he came across
> as having the personality of a rock. I was unimpressed. This is also
> true of some of the high profile authors who the sheeple also admire and
> adore.
>
> 2. A couple of years ago he agreed to participate in a 'performance
> tuning US tour' where the participants were billed as "performance rock
> stars". Seriously? I've been an Oracle DBA for 20+ years, do not
> consider myself an "expert" in any way and just try to do my best and be
> the best DBA I can be in my daily work. If I'd been approached with this
> gig, my response would have been, "No. That's extremely embarrassing and
> comes across as being unbelievably arrogant. Bad idea. Try again". TK
> and two of his buddies signed up and off they went on their jolly around
> the US. I didn't attend.
>
> 3. From time to time I have scanned TK's AskTom thing and I find many of
> his answers to be quite rude and condescending. That said, much of what
> I've seen is posted by people who very obviously have not read the
> documentation or even tried to figure it out for themselves. I'm sure TK
> gets frustrated with this and some of his replies reflect that. However,
> the sheeple's lazy incompetence is what fuels the ego and status of
> people like TK.
>
> I reserve an ounce of respect for TK on the basis I read somewhere that
> although he comes across as all knowing in his AskTom blog thing, he
> never makes any mention of how long it took him (or others) to arrive at
> a complete, correct and definitive answer. Fair enough.
>
> Bottom line, the Oracle world just like many walks of life, will always
> attract some who will seek to raise their profile because they want to
> be seen as leaders, the cream-of-the-crop, the A-Listers, whatever you
> want to call them. Equally there will be a section of the peasant class
> who'll hang on their every word and defend them to the death (ala the
> replies to Geomancer's 'heretical' post). I have little time for either
> group and prefer to be my own 'expert' (for want of a better word).
>
> Just don't get me started on the elitist Oak Table crowd of the annual
> 'love-in' known as Open World. ;-)
>
> Peace out,
> Steve.

I judge Tom by his books. His books revealed me information that I didn't have. So did the books from Jonathan Lewis. That means that both Tom and Jonathan know more than me. I don't idolize anybody. I don't want to be like Tom or Jonathan, I have my own ways and values in life. Judging Tom Kyte, Jonathan Lewis or Cary Millsap based on personality is utterly foolish. Why would I care about that? I am not Tom's wife and I don't live with him. I am only grateful for the knowledge he provides in his books and texts.
The years when I wanted to be someone else, typically Superman or Spiderman, are long behind me. And, condescending answers are warranted for stupid questions.

-- 
Mladen Gogala
The Oracle Whisperer
http://mgogala.byethost5.com
Je suis Charlie