From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: main.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Juri Linkov Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.devel Subject: Re: typo in frame.el Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 01:54:02 +0300 Organization: JURTA Sender: emacs-devel-bounces+emacs-devel=quimby.gnus.org@gnu.org Message-ID: <87k70n41cx.fsf@mail.jurta.org> References: NNTP-Posting-Host: deer.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: sea.gmane.org 1081658262 5594 80.91.224.253 (11 Apr 2004 04:37:42 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@sea.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 11 Apr 2004 04:37:42 +0000 (UTC) Cc: Drew Adams , emacs-devel@gnu.org Original-X-From: emacs-devel-bounces+emacs-devel=quimby.gnus.org@gnu.org Sun Apr 11 06:37:33 2004 Return-path: Original-Received: from quimby.gnus.org ([80.91.224.244]) by deer.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian)) id 1BCWir-0005qc-00 for ; Sun, 11 Apr 2004 06:37:33 +0200 Original-Received: from monty-python.gnu.org ([199.232.76.173]) by quimby.gnus.org with esmtp (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian)) id 1BCWir-0000e2-00 for ; Sun, 11 Apr 2004 06:37:33 +0200 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.30) id 1BCWZg-0005Ni-QG for emacs-devel@quimby.gnus.org; Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:28:04 -0400 Original-Received: from list by monty-python.gnu.org with tmda-scanned (Exim 4.30) id 1BCWZX-0005NI-FV for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:27:55 -0400 Original-Received: from mail by monty-python.gnu.org with spam-scanned (Exim 4.30) id 1BCWWq-00057g-53 for emacs-devel@gnu.org; Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:25:42 -0400 Original-Received: from [66.33.219.4] (helo=spork.dreamhost.com) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.30) id 1BCWWE-000535-4J; Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:24:30 -0400 Original-Received: from mail.jurta.org (80-235-32-66-dsl.mus.estpak.ee [80.235.32.66]) by spork.dreamhost.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2AFDD11DC0B; Sat, 10 Apr 2004 21:24:26 -0700 (PDT) Original-To: David Kastrup In-Reply-To: (David Kastrup's message of "10 Apr 2004 00:37:19 +0200") User-Agent: Gnus/5.110002 (No Gnus v0.2) Emacs/21.3.50 (gnu/linux) X-BeenThere: emacs-devel@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.4 Precedence: list List-Id: "Emacs development discussions." List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , Errors-To: emacs-devel-bounces+emacs-devel=quimby.gnus.org@gnu.org Xref: main.gmane.org gmane.emacs.devel:21469 X-Report-Spam: http://spam.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.devel:21469 David Kastrup writes: > "Drew Adams" writes: >> Hmmm... I suppose so. But two silly counter-arguments, then I'll rest: >> >> 1) The unwashed masses seem to have digested ":)" OK... > > "Digested"? I'd say they created it. I doubt that hackers need > explicit warning labels for nonobvious humor. :-) is nothing more than a symbol to indicate an emotional state of the sender. And as in RL one can make jokes with a different face, using smiley makes the same difference as for making jokes with a smile or with a Good Friday face :-) > I said that non-matheticians/programmers/logicians use "if" in the > meaning "iff" more often than otherwise, so they get more than half > of its meaning. > > Anyway, in this case, the doc string is unclear anyway. > > It should be > > Turn cursor blink mode on if ARG is positive, off otherwise. Rephrasing it will undoubtedly help to reduce misunderstanding for non-mathematicians/programmers/logicians, and it even don't have to fit on one line in the given case, because it's not the first line of a docstring. But anyhow, it seems that eliminating "iff" is too late, because "iff" is already too widespread in Emacs source files. -- Juri Linkov http://www.jurta.org/emacs/