Re: Just an observation

["Michael Ryan" <michaelrtr@xxxxxxxxx>]

One track mind? :)

On Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 11:57 AM, DeLong, Eric <EDeLong@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> It doesn't?  My wife uses telepathy on me all the time!!?!  <vbg>
>
>  Eric
>
>
>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Michael Ryan
>  Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 10:54 AM
>  To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
>  Subject: Re: Just an observation
>
>
>
>
> Gotta start someplace...telepathy won't work.
>
>  On Wed, Apr 16, 2008 at 11:45 AM, Trevor Perry <trevor@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>  > Joe,
>  >
>  >  Doesn't this message itself constitute an impurity?
>  >
>  >  Trevor
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  >  On 4/16/08 11:28 AM, "Joe Pluta" <joepluta@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>  >
>  >  > I remember back when I was starting out programming (back in the early
>  >  > 40s) and how I loved learning new languages.  I started out with RPG,
>  >  > and then learned EDL (for the Series/1) and you couldn't stop me from
>  >  > messing around with the operating system (in the Series/1, the operating
>  >  > system was written in the primary HLL for the box; it was very cool).
>  >  > Next I started using assembly language and then Pascal and C.  Note that
>  >  > I had been introduced to all these languages previously, along with
>  >  > standard CS 101 languages like Fortran and BASIC.  But this was real
>  >  > programming, and I ate it up.
>  >  >
>  >  > Back then, it wasn't about staking turf for a specific language or OS.
>  >  > In fact, most programmers didn't argue about such things.  There were a
>  >  > few uber-nerds who argued about the superiority of the Z80 instruction
>  >  > set, or CP/M vs PC-DOS, but those were few and far between.  Not that
>  >  > they weren't vehement; one of my favorite ongoing arguments was the
>  >  > raging debate between Pascal and C syntax.  In Pascal, the equality
>  >  > operator is one character ("=") and the assignment operator is two
>  >  > (":=").  As you know, in C and its derivatives, assignment is one
>  >  > character ("=") and equality is two ("==").  There would be screaming
>  >  > matches about this, with the C advocates actually doing statistical
>  >  > analysis of code to prove that there were more assignments than
>  >  > comparisons, and thus C was more productive.
>  >  >
>  >  > Those people were considered... eccentric.  They were the guys who not
>  >  > only actually owned their own Star Trek uniform, but considered it
>  >  > appropriate business attire.  Meanwhile, the rest of us were just trying
>  >  > to figure out how to get the stupid cash register to answer the modem,
>  >  > or how to insert TTDs into a bisync data stream.
>  >  >
>  >  > Nowadays, these sorts of arguments seem to be the norm.  Rather than
>  >  > talking about solutions, discussion forums consistently devolve into
>  >  > arguments about syntax or the "rightness" of SQL vs. native or any of a
>  >  > million other issues that aren't really germane to solving business
>  >  > problems.  Thankfully David manages to keep these lists the best in the
>  >  > Infoverse, but we're not immune.
>  >  >
>  >  > I don't know how to fix it.  I have an idea, but it would take way more
>  >  > work than any one person could do.  I just wonder whether it's worth it
>  >  > to try and create a medium where the discussion is entirely about
>  >  > business solutions.  No threads about the name of the machine, or the
>  >  > impending death of RPG, or how ILE is better/worse than .Net, or indeed
>  >  > any sort of opinion-based discussion.  Instead, just a pure,
>  >  > unadulterated focus on problems and solutions.
>  >  >
>  >  > Joe
>  >  >
>  >
>  >
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