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Mail Archives: cygwin/2005/01/06/22:42:50

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Date: Thu, 6 Jan 2005 22:42:18 -0500
From: Christopher Faylor <cgf-no-personal-reply-please AT cygwin DOT com>
To: cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Subject: Re: Obscene content in cygwin file.
Message-ID: <20050107034218.GK16048@trixie.casa.cgf.cx>
Reply-To: cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
References: <20050107020605 DOT 542EC122ABC AT majesty DOT pobox DOT com> <000e01c4f45e$819e12a0$5709a443 AT c40624a> <20050107025715 DOT GH16048 AT trixie DOT casa DOT cgf DOT cx> <000e01c4f466$ca49eb20$5709a443 AT c40624a> <20050107032111 DOT GJ16048 AT trixie DOT casa DOT cgf DOT cx> <001101c4f469$34483f70$5709a443 AT c40624a>
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On Thu, Jan 06, 2005 at 07:30:13PM -0800, Raye Raskin wrote:
>>Huh?  The name "fortune" is close to what it does.  It sort of displays
>>fortune cookie like stuff.  Labelling a program like grep with a English
>>word that has no bearing on its functionality is not a correct analogy.
>
>Sorry my remarks went over your head.  I don't think a filthy
>limerick is in any way "sort of like" a fortune.  Do you?

I'm sorry that your remarks went over your head, too.

The point is that, for the most part, fortune does do what it claims to
do plus it does other stuff.  The fact that some of the "fortunes" that
are displayed are filthy limericks does not mean that the name is
invalid and should be changed.

(I know it wasn't really a serious suggestion)

The bottom line is that you don't stop calling something a dessert
topping just because it can also be used as a floor wax.

Program names like "grep" and (to a lesser extent) "ls" are really
nonsensical.  If you wanted to make some kind of analogy for fortune, I
guess you could suggest calling it "finf" (Finf Is Not Fortune) and
claim that you were following a UNIX tradition.

cgf

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