on content versus presentation [ was: Re: Why the FreeBSD license will not be changing ]

[KAYVEN RIESE]

On Tue, 18 Mar 2008, jonathan michaels wrote:
> On Mon, Mar 17, 2008 at 07:42:49AM -0500, Astrodog wrote:
>>
>> int func() {
>>     if (blah == 2) {
>>         otherfunc(blah2);
>>         return 0;
>>     }
>>     else {
>>         return 1;
>>     }
>> }
>>
>> is MUCH easier to understand than:
>>
>> int func() {if(blah==2){otherfunc(blah2);return 0;}else{return 1;}}

INCORRECT ANALOGY

>> Just as "I really enjoy drinking heavily then driving like Mario
>> Andretti, Officer Smith" is much more understandable, and can be read
>> faster than, "ireallyenjoydrinkingheavilythendrivinglikemarioandrettiofficersmith"

EXAGGERATION

>>
>> These rules do not exist for your, personal, outgoing communication's
>> benefit. They exist to assist people reading what others have written.
>> I know of very few people who follow these rules when writing notes
>> for their own use. While you can elect to ignore these rules in
>> communication with others, doing so makes understanding things you
>> write more difficult. These kinds of mistakes also make ambiguous
>> sentences more likely to occur, as the building blocks of the sentence
>> are not recognizable by others.
>>
>> Needless to say, fluency with these rules will not be consistent
>> across a large group of people. However, the fact that some people do
>> not know the rules as well as others, is no excuse for not working to
>> make your material easier to understand. Soccer players cannot pick up
>> the ball and run with it... even if a majority of people are not aware
>> of the rule. If they elect to do so, they will encounter problems. I
>> do not begrudge someone learning English for not understanding these
>> rules or someone with a disability that prevents their use, and
>> mistakes happen, though I certainly frown upon someone reveling in
>> doing it incorrectly.
>>
>> In as far as Jonathan's point of, "not everybody read writes presents
>> american english in teh way 'some' americans read write and present
>> thier version of english."... The various rules of American English
>> are not something that individuals in the population are able to alter
>> for personal reasons. The fact that someone is unable, for whatever
>> reason, to follow the rules of the language doesn't change the fact
>> that they are using the language incorrectly, nor does that incorrect
>> usage necessarily reflect negatively upon the thoughts that person is
>> attempting to express.
>>
>> --- Harrison
>
> a best as i can work out whats been written is mostly what i tried t
> say
>
> thank you fro translating the 'jonathanesque' into something it is, in some
> senbalance, that others may be able to understand. i true wish i could
> communicaet like a normal person but no amount of wishing is going to
> fix the skill set that i (and those like me) operate with on a daily
> basis.
>
> if i may be permited to add a little postscript, i think it was said
> earlier perhaps we should spend more time worrying about the content
> and less time about the presetations esp if its consistantly wrong,
>
> lazy people are just that lazy they are so lazy that they do not
> consistantly make the same "mistakes" whereas somebody like me makes
> teh same "mistakes" consistantly not because  i like to be consistant
> in my lasziness rather this is how my data processing system makes the
> same errors, consistantly, sees teh same cobination of characters and
> triggers the same kind of responces ..
>

TIME FOR ALLCAPS.  OH NO, SOMETHING SEEMS TO BE WRONG WITH MY
CAPSLOCK.

A LONG TIME AGO WHEN ON WINDOWS SYSTEMS USING RLOGIN AND 
TELNET I WAS TOLD THAT SSH SECURE SHELL WINDOWS APPLICATION COULD
GREATLY ALLEVIATE THE PROBLEMS I WAS HAVING WITH MY VI EDITOR. AT TIMES,
SOMETHING HAPPENS WITH KEYSTROKE THROUGHPUT AND I MIGHT BE TYPING
FAR FAR AHEAD OF THE INPUT BUFFER.  I AM SURE WE HAVE ALL HAD
THAT EXPERIENCE.  WE JUST KEEP TYPING HITTING RETURN IN AGILE
FAMILIARITY WITH THE COMMANDS.  WHEN COMPOSING COMPLEX THOUGHTS
IN A VI EDITOR WITH BUFFERING PROBLEMS ERRORS CAN HAPPEN IN
REAL TIME.  IT CAN BE IMPERATIVE TO CONTINUE, BUT BECAUSE
KEYSTROKES ARE NOT ECHOED IN REAL TIME, IT BECOMES EXCEEDINGLY
DIFFICULT TO CORRECT MISTAKES WHILE AT THE SAME TIME IT IS
EXCEEDINGLY IMPORTANT TO MOVE ON WITH URGENT ACTIVITIES AND
MANY OF THE TYPOS REMAIN BECAUSE OF THE EXTREME DIFFICULTY
OF PROPERLY POSITIONING THE CURSOR WITHOUT REAL TIME
FEEDBACK.

> it is easy to say i didn't know, but its harder to justify treating
> people like jcw did, as per example, i'm not picling on ou jason, your
> post and responce is teh best example of this process that i have seen
> since a few nolonger present in public freebsd community made sport of
> broken people and those fro whom english is not a second or third or
> even a fourth language.
>
> thankfully, its no longer a bad as it used to be for teh "different".
>
> take care all and keep up teh good work
>
> most kind regards and sincere best wishes
>
> jonathan
>
> ps, thanks gk, much appreciated and yes i'm still using, freebsd, amonst
> other things
>
> -- 
> ================================================================
> powered by ..
> QNX, OS9 and freeBSD  --  http://caamora com au/operating system
> ==== === appropriate solution in an inappropriate world === ====
> _______________________________________________
> freebsd-chat at freebsd.org mailing list
> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-chat
> To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-chat-unsubscribe at freebsd.org"
>

*----------------------------------------------------------*
   Kayven Riese, BSCS, MS (Physiology and Biophysics)
   (415) 902 5513 cellular
   http://kayve.net
   Webmaster http://ChessYoga.org
*----------------------------------------------------------*