On Fri, 29 Mar 2002, at 7:09pm, Tom Rauschenbach wrote: > Didn't Larry Wall say that it's easier to port a shell than to port a > shell script ?
That sounds like something he would say. Of course, shell-scripts are highly system-dependent, and thus are an exception to this general rule, but it is still generally useful: Thinking about it. It is true -- for the community as a whole. That is, it might take X number of man-hours to port a shell, but the number of hours spent porting scripts is unbounded. Individually, of course, any given user will likely find it easier to port the shell script. Stated more generally: A member of a community will be better off, as an individual, by ignoring the community and being self-centered. But if everyone does that, the community as a whole suffers, which hurts the individual. By doing what is best for the community, even if it is not the best for him personally, an individual advances the overall well-being of the community, including himself. -- Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> | The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not | | necessarily represent the views or policy of any other person, entity or | | organization. All information is provided without warranty of any kind. | ***************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the text 'unsubscribe gnhlug' in the message body. *****************************************************************
