On comp.lang.c [was Re: declaring defines.]

[Blair P. Houghton]

In article <1991Jun18.092200.13541 at herald.usask.ca> nesbitt at herald.usask.ca (Murray Nesbitt) writes:
>Don't count on it.  This newsgroup is completely and probably
>irreparably out of control.  What was once a Good Thing is now a Big
>Joke.

Y'know, the funny thing is that I haven't noticed a
sparrow's tit of difference in the level of content or S/N
ratio from the vox populi in this group.  There's just
many more populi voxing, just as there are many more
machines spreading the news (in fact, I dare say the
net itself has grown about twice as fast as this group).

I think Doug et al simply matured (as I have) beyond their
earlier state of awareness and simply didn't notice (as I,
on the other hand, have) that the fat part of the
bell-curve is getting farther below them because they're
reaching into the thin part above (e.g., I think it's
conceivable that Doug, Karl, Henry, and Chris could be
shown to know more now about C than Dennis Ritchie and
Brian Kernighan knew about it in 1978, when they probably
first learned it, modulo enhancements due to standardization,
but they'd never be able to admit it to themselves; I could
admit it--because I've got an ego the size of the average
Carolinian island golf resort, a fact I've never hidden nor
denied--though I haven't, because I think I'm still shy
a nuance or two, but I'm a damn sight heftier a hacker
than the day I entered this evanescent realm).

>My grandfather used to say: "All the world isn't an IBM PC" and "Just
>because you're coding it in C, doesn't make it a C problem."

Classical customer engineering paradox:  if the customer
is lost, he can't tell you how to find him, even if he
recognizes he's not where he's supposed to be.

>Oh God, are they ever.  Are the remaining gurus paying attention?

Shhhh.  Wait until they're all croaking pretty good, then
if you shine your flashlight out across the water of the
pond, you can see their eyes shining back at you...

				--Blair
				  "If I get to be a guru, do I
				   have to get the Beatles hooked
				   on pot and sitars?"