Omg I feel like the author (Julia Evans) is my doppelganger somehow. I have constantly complained about unhelpful explanations and frequently had to dig through a lot of literature before coming back and writing the explanation I wish I had [1].
In fact, once I got through the first few paragraphs, my reaction was "oh, yeah, like the time I was trying to learn git, and the explanation started with an unhelpful diatribe about other VCSes" ... and that turned out to be her first example! (Not just the pattern, the excerpt about git.)
I could go on but my remaining comments would amount to quoting each pattern and saying "yeah! That's what I've been saying all along!"
[1] Specific examples:
A) Bitcoin, which became http://understandingbitcoin.us (disclaimer: still long Bitcoin), and
B) A result in economics that the carbon tax is inefficient if implemented alongside an income tax, due to tax interaction effects, which a PhD economist endorsing it couldn't give in insight into the dynamics for ... but who later said my explanation was correct:
http://blog.tyrannyofthemouse.com/2013/11/i-explain-tax-inte...
(edit: I still think the result is hinky but I at least understand what drives it, and revealed the implication that it would mean tradeable fishing quotas would be inefficient as well, which that economist likes.)
