Documentation is good, so therefore more documentation must be better, right? A few examples where things may have gotten out of control.

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Why don’t unix commands have any vowels in the name? cp and mv are obviously devoweled standins for copy and move. But they’re less intuitive for new users. The user wants to copy a file. Why shouldn’t the name of the command be exactly the operation the user wants to perform?

What exactly does the user want to do? Instead of copying files, maybe I want to link two files. What does that mean? In unix, we have hard links and symbolic links. If I replace the “original” file, do I want the link to refer to the original file or the replacement? Or maybe what I mean by link two files is to combine two object files into an executable. Do we call that loading instead? ln is the name of a command, but link is the name of a concept. And sometimes the concept evolves over time. The linker is called ld because it used to be the loader. (I think.)

grep is a remarkably useful tool, but with a most unintuitive name. Why not call it find like Windows does? I want to find some text, I run find. So obvious. But some users may want to find files in the filesystem, not strings in a file. What command do they run? Probably locate.

There may be a great deal of historical accident in the names of commands (what if the inventors of awk had different initials?), but that doesn’t mean we can’t recognize the value of unique and precise identifiers.

The Solitaire cipher is perhaps the best known encryption algorithm implemented with a deck of cards. Ignoring security, it has a few drawbacks. It’s pretty complicated. I can never quite remember the rules. Sure, with practice it’s possible to memorize, but ideally we want something easy to teach. It’s also pretty slow. Even with practice, the shuffling and cutting manipulations take time.

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Unlike other languages which have one preferred means of signalling an error, C is a multi error paradigm language. Error handling styles in C can be organized into one of several distinct styles, such as popular or correct. Some examples of each.

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From AT&T

From: "AT&T" <att@e.att-mail.com>
To: ted.unangst@gmail.com
Date: Fri, 18 Nov 2016 17:07:07 -0500
Subject: Ted, Action required.

We're writing to confirm that this is your current email address.
If this email address is still current, you don't need to do a thing.

Translation: action required -> no action required. Jerks.

Stuff happened, things changed.

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A fun iPhone (and many more) game. Your job is to build and manage an ever growing subway system, until eventually unhappy riders revolt. The gameplay is fairly simple, with very few different types of resource to manage, but each play through is different. I’m still working out a few strategies, but just when I think I’ve nailed it, I’ll get an uncooperative map. It’s both like and unlike Flight Control. In many ways better. More variation. The intensity builds up over time, but it never demands unblinking concentration. More strategy than action. The game strikes a very good balance between abstraction and realism. Station types and passengers are just shapes like circle and square, but it’s easy to imagine them as residential and commercial districts.

I rarely comment about politics, and rarely regret not posting, but this is one of those times I thought about saying something earlier and didn’t, and now I regret it. This should have been said months ago, but there will be more elections to come, so better late than never. It’s about talking to people, but don’t worry, it has nothing to do with respect.

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A few thoughts on what it means for software to be production ready. Or rather, what if any information is conveyed to me when I’m told that something is used in production. Millions of users can’t be wrong!

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Hello there, inquisitive friend! I’m pleased to announce the newest Links As A Service offering. It’s called inks which is like links, but without the L for loser. Basically Reddit or Hacker News, but without the disagreeable trolls and military industrial complex shills downvoting everything to hide the truth.