[geeks] The One True Rant (was: um, hi. I'm new.)

[Jonathan C. Patschke]

On Wed, 26 Jun 2002, Joshua D Boyd wrote:

> Chasing parens is a tell-tail sign that someone wasn't using the one
> true editor.

I know you mean that partly in jest, but...

<rant level="moderate">

This whole "one true" (editor|os|architecture|brace style) shit that's
been going on for the last week or so is really making me sick.

My perspective:  I use XEmacs, vim, pico, sed, MS Edit, PFE, Code
Crusader, and xedit, all for different things.  I use Windows 2000, MacOS
8.6, IRIX64 6.5, NetBSD 1.5.2, Solaris 9, and DOS 5.0, all for different
things.  I code in C, Scheme, Java, awk, Pascal, Bourne shell, Visual
BASIC, and occasionally C++, all for different things.  I use OpenGL and
Java3D, for different things.  I use the Win32 native toolkit, GTK+, MFC,
AWT, Swing, and Turbo Vision, again for different things.  I run MySQL,
PostgreSQL, and even MS Access, again -for- -different- -things-.  I run
X, I have serial terminals, and, yes, I even use GUI consoles, depending
on my mood.  I browse the web in IE, Netscrape 4.79, Mozilla 1.0, and
Lynx.  I use both LaTeX -and- MS-Word, although, I'm >< close from writing
off Word completely.  I do not own a vector-processing machine, but I do
understands the type of computations that benefit from them.

No one of -any- of those tools/programs/OSes/langauges can do
-everything-.  Both sides are always wrong, and it's -always- about what
gets the job done in a way that is optimal to the end user (typically
optimizing for rapid-protoyping, correctness, speed, and/or usability),
and rarely does that "what" resolve to an immutable value.

Emacs sucks, Suns suck, Scheme sucks, C sucks, Windows sucks, PCs suck,
vim sucks, SGIs suck, and even Unix SUCKS[1].  All software sucks, and all
hardware sucks.  Firmware sucks twice as much because it lies between the
two and can wedge both when it gets fouled up.  Of the software and
hardware that doesn't suck, it sucks--or Elvis is using it right now to
send memos to the US government from his wing of the ISS.  90% of the
hardware and software out there sucks because it is crap, 5% of it sucks
because it's never used for the right thing, and the remainder sucks
soley because it is vindictive.

If my lack of a flag to wear in the holy war strips me of my geekdom, so
be it, but this crap is just lame.

</rant>

We now return you to your regularly-scheduled chatter.

--Jonathan
[1] No informed opinion on VMS, but it is software, and, therefore, must
    suck.