Automation as documentation: programming machines, not humans

<sarcasm>
It's amusing to read some HOWTO documentation for the "mouse-oriented" operating system and other software infected by its "philosophy":
"Select item A from menu B. Type value C to field D. Press button E."

Whereas Unix users write scripts that utilize software tools, in the "mouse-oriented" world software vendors utilize the poor users.

Q: Where do you want to go today?
A: GOTO 10
</sarcasm>

Seriously, in SCM this decadenze is far too common: good old principles are forgotten and the process is little if at all automatized.
Automation is not only making things easier, it's about making things possible. More about that later...