From: Mike Ayers (mike.ayers@tumbleweed.com)
Date: Fri May 14 2004 - 16:26:39 CDT
> From: Peter Kirk [mailto:peterkirk@qaya.org]
> Sent: Friday, May 14, 2004 12:09 PM
> On 14/05/2004 11:50, Mike Ayers wrote:
>
> >
> > ...
> >
> > > Mike Ayers suggested that users should write Perl scripts.
> >
> > Liar. I never advocate Perl, except as a final, desperate
> > measure. Nor did I say that anyone needed to write scripts.
> > Normalization is something that can and should be done by text
> > processing applications - users should only need to make the
> > normalization tables.
> >
>
> Well, Mike, you wrote:
>
> > > >Do you expect it to happen often enough that hacking
> together a Perl
> > > >script to do it once isn't going to get the job done?
> > >
> > > Yes.
> >
> > One normalization script could be used any number
> of times.
> > Clip, normalize, sort - repeat as necessary.
> >
>
> Maybe it wasn't you who originally suggested "hacking together a Perl
> script", but I understood you as supporting that suggestion with the
> idea that such a script would be reusable. If I misunderstood you, I
> apologise, but "liar" is rather too strong a word, don't you think?
No. I pointed out that a presupposed script, once written, could be
used any number of times. You fed it back as "write Perl scripts". That is
deliberate misconstrual. There has been much noise and hand wringing that
normalization requires academians to abandon scholarly pursuits in favor of
(unflatteringly described) computer science, and it's all a bunch of FUD.
> Well, if you really think everyone in the world is able to write Perl
> scripts, then you have been not fortunate but extremely
> unfortunate to
> have lived entirely in a circle of exceptionally gifted geeks. Get
> yourself a life, Mike!
No, Peter, I mean that very few people I've met consider "Perl for
Dummies" over their head, much less brag about it. Also, I'll keep my geek
friends and life of Riley, thank you very much.
> Mike, I was not addressing you here.
You addressed the list, and I'm on the list.
> It's a bit like saying that if a small number of people want to be
> allowed to, say, write their e-mails in Perl script (I am
> searching for
> an analogy you may understand, Mike), they should be allowed to; but
> they should not be able to force their unusual preferences on
> the rest
> of us.
Try searching for an analogy that YOU understand. I get the
picture. This paragraph makes clear that you do not.
/|/|ike
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