In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Michael Sokolov writes:
>Poul-Henning Kamp <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>> This is the point where the POSIX people shot us in the feet by
>> ignoring leap-seconds.
>
>Why care about POSIX at all? Why not use a non-POSIX UNIX system then?
Because I live in the real
Because I live in the real world.
POSIX is indeed a facet of the world we've built. I might argue that
better system engineering practices might have avoided its
limitations :-) but we have to deal with the technology we've inherited.
Note, however, that the actual real world is part of t
In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Rob Seaman writes:
>A dearth of imagination as to how such dependencies could possibly
>exist is not a logical refutation.
A bloke named Gettys was pretty instrumental in the development of
the X11 windows software, and one of the principles of software
developme
On Thu, 14 Feb 2008, Steve Allen wrote:
>
> http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19660020453_1966020453.pdf
Thanks for this link. I was previously a bit put off by its length but I
can probably get it into comfortably readable form without killing too
many trees :-)
> For a shorte
3.The only thing worse than generalizing from one example
is generalizing from no examples at all.
Right. Which is why you invest time and money in seeking out (or
eliminating) possible examples. I have access to examples of
astronomical software (and also have experience f
On Fri, 15 Feb 2008, Tony Finch wrote:
>> For a shorter version see Seidelmann's writeup in
>> Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac,
>> University Science Books, 1992
>
>Not the more recent edition?
>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1891389459/
Is that just a paperback version of th
On Fri, 15 Feb 2008, Richard B. Langley wrote:
> On Fri, 15 Feb 2008, Tony Finch wrote:
>
> >> For a shorter version see Seidelmann's writeup in
> >> Explanatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac,
> >> University Science Books, 1992
> >
> >Not the more recent edition?
> >http://www.amazon.com/
In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Rob Seaman writes:
>> 3.The only thing worse than generalizing from one example
>> is generalizing from no examples at all.
>
>Right. Which is why you invest time and money in seeking out (or
>eliminating) possible examples. I have access to examples of
Rob Seaman scripsit:
> POSIX is indeed a facet of the world we've built. I might argue that
> better system engineering practices might have avoided its limitations
> :-) but we have to deal with the technology we've inherited.
Richard P. Gabriel's famous "The Rise of 'Worse Is Better'" essay
(o
> > Is that just a paperback version of the 1992 hardcover edition? Any text
> > differences at all?
> A friend tells me there have been some revisions:
> http://fanf.livejournal.com/80822.html?thread=341174#t341174
Someone at the Nautical Almanac Office office told me (in response
to a question
Rob Seaman said:
> After all, Princeton is in New Jersey and Watson and Crick reverse
> engineered DNA (three billion years of design by the ultimate
> committee) over bitters at the Eagle in Cambridge.
A much over-rated pub, in my opinion. There are better places on King
Street.
--
Clive D.
Thanks for the pointer. Sounds like an interesting read, I'll look it
up. I suspect I already grasp the gist of the Cambridge versus New
Jersey characterization, but note that there is a lot of cross-
fertilization and most people have responsibilities in both camps.
After all, Princeton
"David Malone" wrote:
The Astronomical Almanac 2006 contains these definition and
equations. However, I would suggest you wait until the
2007 edition is available (any day now). You should also
note that at the IAU in the summer, there will be proposals
to adopt a better precession model, ie o
Rob Seaman scripsit:
> Thanks for the pointer. Sounds like an interesting read, I'll look
> it up.
It's pretty short -- it won't take longer than reading (not to mention
writing) one of these emails.
> After all, Princeton is in New Jersey
True, but those of us who are actually from New Jersey
A much over-rated pub, in my opinion. There are better places on
King Street.
Our group (transient response astronomy) had some excellent sessions
at the Pickerel last October since we were hiking in from the IoA.
On the other hand, the best bars (and pubs) aren't rated at all :-)
Rob Seaman scripsit:
> I was interpreting Cambridge vs NJ more along the lines of mens et
> manus. Maybe NJ is manus et mens?
Hacking has been defined as debugging an empty program, so perhaps so.
> Indeed. The "right" answer is alluded to in the essay. What survives
> the evolutionary pr
Um - somebody else want to weigh in here on the scientific method?
Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
So far I have yet to see one single example of non-astronomy software
that needs changed to handle loss of leap-seconds.
And you have access to ATC and nuclear control systems?
It's pretty short -- it won't take longer than reading (not to mention
writing) one of these emails.
Interesting historical take. A lot has happened in software design
since the referenced technologies. I don't reject the essence of the
story, however.
The relevant Cambridge here is the
I recommend Stewart Brand's "How Buildings Learn" for a discussion of
two similar design trends in architecture. In general, software
architecture philosophy is rather too self-referential and could do
with seeking design paradigms from outside the community.
Say what? Does the name "Christoph
In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Rob Seaman writes:
>> So far I have yet to see one single example of non-astronomy software
>> that needs changed to handle loss of leap-seconds.
>
>And you have access to ATC and nuclear control systems? Has anyone at
>Boeing or GE even been informed of the loom
Neither the ATC nor the nuclear control systems care about where the
sun or the stars is in the sky.
They may not care for the same reasons that astronomers care, but
let's list a few of the many ways they might care:
1a) Systems may need a table of leap seconds (after all, that's what
al
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