Mailing-List: contact cygwin-help@cygwin.com; run by ezmlm List-Subscribe: List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: , Sender: cygwin-owner@cygwin.com Mail-Followup-To: cygwin@cygwin.com Delivered-To: mailing list cygwin@cygwin.com Subject: Re: Beginnings of a patch: /etc/hosts From: Robert Collins To: Randall R Schulz Cc: cygwin@cygwin.com In-Reply-To: <5.1.0.14.2.20020911162837.02a7c438@pop3.cris.com> References: <5.1.0.14.2.20020911162837.02a7c438@pop3.cris.com> Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha1; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="=-2soW5GkxVV7OD3wcFWJ9" Date: 12 Sep 2002 15:39:20 +1000 Message-Id: <1031809161.22457.117.camel@lifelesswks> Mime-Version: 1.0 --=-2soW5GkxVV7OD3wcFWJ9 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable On Thu, 2002-09-12 at 09:35, Randall R Schulz wrote: > Rob, >=20 > That rule is only apt if the user knows what external state is used as=20 > input to the program they're running. If that input or dependency is made= =20 > explicit somehow (documentation might suffice), then you're right and it'= s=20 > a matter of user control. However, if the user must examine the program's= =20 > source code to know why it's not behaving in the manner its authors=20 > describe, that's not cool. >=20 > As you may know, I don't subscribe to that "Use the Source, Duke" busines= s.=20 > If one must understand the internal workings of a thing just to use it,=20 > it's not very good technology. It virtually negates the concept of automa= tion! I agree completely. My point (which I think you may have missed) is that buliding the internal workings on the basis that 'someone may override foo and we must prevent that' is not good technology. Rob --=-2soW5GkxVV7OD3wcFWJ9 Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name=signature.asc Content-Description: This is a digitally signed message part -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.0.7 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQA9gCiII5+kQ8LJcoIRAuAMAJ0SrzPsgs2UWhI0FZ7lPp6WWaTfsQCfbv7M LY5EIxRYhfkllJyOI5I9d1Q= =67xT -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --=-2soW5GkxVV7OD3wcFWJ9--