...Unless you want to watch pirated DivX movies, "backup" MP3s, edit video, do any kind of serious audio mixing, any kind of print-quality work with Photoshop, or of course 3D gaming. So, like, if all you use your computer for is web surfing and email, why even bother with Linux and everything else?
The same thing applies to programs. But iwth programs you have both the code and the whole program. People have different opinions about what is good code and what is bad code. It starts with formatting, and it ends with algorithm choice. People complain about squigly braces on the same line as ifs, and people complain about use of recursion (or lack of it) when they feel it's not appropriate. And there's other things. The other side is what the code produces - the final program. It's easy to complain about objective things (bugs) here, but there are again many subjective elements (user interface design, for example).
That just means they're incompetent. It amazes me the number of people these days who think that sound higher mathematics have nothing to do with programming. They have everything to do with programming. Just read Knuth's seminal The Art of Computer Programming series. There is an algorithm for a given situation that will perform better than another algorithm. There is a basic level at which there can only be one concrete reason why a certain section of code is faulty. There is a mathematical basis for all of this. People who call programming an art are at the same level of understanding about computer science as the people who think that magic makes their garage doors open are about mechanical engineering.
(Surely painting and music are 'explicitly constructed by man', and each of these have distinct rules that allow one to do it well too?)
Can you objectively deconstruct them? I don't think you could get any group larger than, say, four people to agree on what, specifically, is wrong with a particular painting or musical piece, or even if it is wrong at all. Art is, by its very nature, a subjective pursuit. Programming produces quantifiable (and hopefully consistent!) results.
Hey hey! Way to go, you fucking racist. Since when do the Japanese or Chinese never innovate? Have you ever played a video game before? And where the fuck did compasses and fireworks come from, anyway?
Oh, but I forgot, not everyone's human, only your own ethnic/cultural group.
I'd correct you on this while providing alternatives, but, since I do not have my Longman's Handbook with me at the moment, you will just have to trust me that that, too, is wrong:-)
Traditionally, the non-gender-specific terms were "his", "he", etc. However, according to the Handbook, these may be considered sexist and therefore offensive (their opinion, not mine), so they suggest instead to arrange the sentence in such a way, I think, where the pronoun is no longer necessary. Don't quote me on this, though, because I don't really remember all this crap with 100% lucidity.
Painting is an art. Playing a musical instrument is an art. Programming, like everything else explicitly constructed by man, has distinct rules to it that allow one to do well, and can be objectively deconstructed to what makes it good or bad. Calling programming an "art" is just self-congratulatory tripe that people spew to fool themselves into thinking that they have a human side.
...that you're comparing legitimate competition with outright theft? Last I checked, downloading a "backup" and burning it on CD to play in your chipped PS was still stealing.
Oh, yes, like anybody is under the illusion that the vast majority, or even a sizable minority, of modchips are used solely to play games written in languages that most American consumers don't even understand.
It was actually shut out of the Oscars because Palestine wasn't/isn't considered a nation by the Academy. You can find out more about it here, at their distributer's site.
No, the *BOOM* is my boot breaking the sound barrier, the *CRUNCH* is the shattering pelvis as the boot, with steel-reinforced toes, impacts its target.
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...Unless you want to watch pirated DivX movies, "backup" MP3s, edit video, do any kind of serious audio mixing, any kind of print-quality work with Photoshop, or of course 3D gaming. So, like, if all you use your computer for is web surfing and email, why even bother with Linux and everything else?
"Haven't we met before?"
That just means they're incompetent. It amazes me the number of people these days who think that sound higher mathematics have nothing to do with programming. They have everything to do with programming. Just read Knuth's seminal The Art of Computer Programming series. There is an algorithm for a given situation that will perform better than another algorithm. There is a basic level at which there can only be one concrete reason why a certain section of code is faulty. There is a mathematical basis for all of this. People who call programming an art are at the same level of understanding about computer science as the people who think that magic makes their garage doors open are about mechanical engineering.
Can you objectively deconstruct them? I don't think you could get any group larger than, say, four people to agree on what, specifically, is wrong with a particular painting or musical piece, or even if it is wrong at all. Art is, by its very nature, a subjective pursuit. Programming produces quantifiable (and hopefully consistent!) results.
What we have here is a classic case of "telling programmers what they want to hear". I wonder if this guy is selling something?
Oh, but I forgot, not everyone's human, only your own ethnic/cultural group.
Wow, so it's like a metaphor for your life, where you never use paragraphs or effective punctuation, huh?
Traditionally, the non-gender-specific terms were "his", "he", etc. However, according to the Handbook, these may be considered sexist and therefore offensive (their opinion, not mine), so they suggest instead to arrange the sentence in such a way, I think, where the pronoun is no longer necessary. Don't quote me on this, though, because I don't really remember all this crap with 100% lucidity.
Painting is an art. Playing a musical instrument is an art. Programming, like everything else explicitly constructed by man, has distinct rules to it that allow one to do well, and can be objectively deconstructed to what makes it good or bad. Calling programming an "art" is just self-congratulatory tripe that people spew to fool themselves into thinking that they have a human side.
That's called a "memory leak". It comes from the Mozilla team not freeing allocated memory when they are supposed to.
You think Japan is somehow part of the Third World? Were you dropped on your head as a child?
This kind of cooperation with the bourgeoisie exploiters cannot be tolerated! I demand an immediate reversal of direction by the FSF!
...that you're comparing legitimate competition with outright theft? Last I checked, downloading a "backup" and burning it on CD to play in your chipped PS was still stealing.
Oh, yes, like anybody is under the illusion that the vast majority, or even a sizable minority, of modchips are used solely to play games written in languages that most American consumers don't even understand.
I hope you're happy, putting your local video game stores out of business, you thief.
You misunderstand me.
I think one could argue that this is also a major selling point. It keeps the rabble out!
Jack really brings the morons outta the woodwork for everyone to see. Like a duck call that works on idiots, I suppose.
Welcome to the Nanny State.
It was actually shut out of the Oscars because Palestine wasn't/isn't considered a nation by the Academy. You can find out more about it here, at their distributer's site.
No, the *BOOM* is my boot breaking the sound barrier, the *CRUNCH* is the shattering pelvis as the boot, with steel-reinforced toes, impacts its target.
That is the sound I wish I was hearing as I kick every single one of you in the balls. You are the most humorless, literal-minded dorks on the planet.
Or stupid.
Yeah, you're right. Obviously, we are not using it right now.
ESR, do you mean to tell me you haven't gotten a Slashdot account in all these years?