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From: gerg@netcom.com (Greg Andrews)
Subject: Re: unix acronyms -collecting a list?
Message-ID: <gergEAAB38.Grn@netcom.com>
Organization: Movie marquee: THE FLY GODS MUST BE CRAZY ALIENS
References: <5kd2ng$c8b$1@rzsun02.rrz.uni-hamburg.de> <3378D37F.462F3A47@gaijin.com> <x6iv0l7uxw.fsf@ez.bts.com> <Pine.LNX.3.95.970516130933.5082E-100000@itclub.mur.csu.edu.au>
Distribution: inet
Date: Fri, 16 May 1997 17:25:56 GMT
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Sender: gerg@netcom23.netcom.com
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"Mr Happy..." <crucible@itclub.mur.csu.edu.au> writes:
>
>(oh btw for the person that emailed me... should the man pages be
>discounted as false? They are a part of linux and they are included with
>every version I've had... (no offence just enquiring as to why you think
>they are wrong?))
>
Because the man pages are written by fallible people. On OSes that
have been recently developed (such as Linux), many of the man pages
have also been recently written, and might not be as reliable about
ancient info as you'd want.
For example, these days a great many glossaries say:
ping - Packet InterNet Groper
which is ridiculous. "Ping" was never an acronym for anything.
The term was borrowed from sonar. "Ping" is the sound (and the name)
of the traditional echolocation sonar. Since the computer utility
performed precisely the same function, it was only natural to give
it the same name.
The point is, these glossary writers buy into the idea that Unix and
Internet terms are filled with acronyms, and overlook the true origins
of some of them. Even when those origins are blatantly obvious.
Man page writers can make the same mistakes.
-Greg
--
::::::::::::::::::: Greg Andrews gerg@netcom.com :::::::::::::::::::
Slick's Three Laws of the Universe:
1. Nothing in the known universe travels faster than a bad check.
2. A quarter-ounce of chocolate = four pounds of fat.
3. There are two types of dirt: the dark kind, which is
attracted to light objects, and the light kind, which is
attracted to dark objects.
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