I just remember this arguments in other circles about README and other such
files. I agree that it seems implausible, given the simply disputable facts
such as typing speed etc. For README, I heard the "too much typing" from UNIX
people who just seemed to be hating on the Windows users who just wanted to
click the darn file.
I'm not partial either way, I can deal with both sides. I just wanted to bring
to light some of the "old, odd conversations" that I remembered from "back in
the days"...
Gregg Wonderly
On 6/14/2011 3:35 PM, Patricia Shanahan wrote:
It would have been helpful if the Apache web site had said *why* the
preferred names are preferred.
The command line user argument seems implausible to me.
I am a frequent command line user, but I would like "ls *.txt" to show
any license and similar files. I find it hard to imagine being both a
command line user and such a slow typist that I would even consciously
notice typing a common four character sequence such as ".txt", let alone
object to it.
Patricia
On 6/14/2011 12:47 PM, Gregg Wonderly wrote:
The .txt extension is helpful for easy opening to read on desktop
environments where double clicking will perform file type launching. On
Windows, I always modify the "Send To" menu to include a shortcut to
wordpad so that there is some editor that I can use when I right click
on an icon. I can select Send To->Wordpad and see the file quickly. This
helps a lot in not having to "rename" files for easy access, but it is
still more work than "double click" is.
Historically, the command line OS folks have complained about having to
type the extra four characters. They don't want to do "more LICENS*" to
view the file because of the potential for getting the "wrong" file is
the usual argument.
As more and more people end up with mostly desktop computing, the
arguments are getting less and less valuable because inconvenience to
"the few" is now mostly the few command line users, instead of the "few
windows users".
Gregg Wonderly
On 6/14/2011 4:27 AM, Tom Hobbs wrote:
Hi guys,
Recently we got asked to put a. Txt extension these files. I've done that
already (just not committed yet) but I've just seen this,
www.apache.org/dev/apply-license.html#license-file-name
I don't have a problem renaming the files, but thought I should check
with
everyone else before I do.
Thoughts?
Tom
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