wiml@blake.acs.washington.edu (William Lewis) (01/12/90)
In article <4622@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM> sartin@hplabsz.UUCP (Rob Sartin) writes: >In article <NELSON.90Jan9220037@image.clarkson.edu> >nelson@clutx.clarkson.edu writes an awful lot about "magic" considering >he's writing about computer programming. What's the obsession with >"magic"? I see it among many hackers. It is as if we want to hide the >(hopefully logical) way things work in order to maintain the priesthood. If this is the same article I was reading ... Magic: prompt> Command running... Non magic: prompt> Command Enter card port from little piece of paper taped to keyboard: 5b Enter network configuration from little piece of paper: 19200n81 Is this right? y running ... Error: Incorrect numbers entered from little piece of paper. prompt> _ Sorta magic: prompt> Command Can't find configuration file. Enter path to configuration file. > ~/piles/of/config/files Error: Incorrect data stored in config file. Under this definition, at least, there's nothing wrong with a "magic" program, unless of course the magic doesn't work quite right and can't be overridden... -- wiml@blake.acs.washington.edu (206)526-5885 Seattle, Washington