Difference between revisions of "Talk:1742: Will It Work"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
Jump to: navigation, search
m (grammar, syntax)
Line 1: Line 1:
I think original poster, while did a great job transcribing, missed the point somewhat. While it is true that package managers make installation process more robust <i>for average users</i> (they sometimes also [http://www.cyberciti.biz/howto/debian-linux/ubuntu-linux-rollback-an-apt-get-upgrade/ screw things royally]), Randall probably wanted to point that projects that reached package state are most mature, tested and debugged. Using public git repository also speaks well about the coding practices and hence product quality. On the other hand, code that requires manual tweaking in order to be installed most likely have only been seriously used by author (if at all) and very likely to contain fatal bugs.
+
I think original poster did a great job transcribing, but missed the point somewhat. While it is true that package managers make the installation process more robust <i>for average users</i> (they sometimes also [http://www.cyberciti.biz/howto/debian-linux/ubuntu-linux-rollback-an-apt-get-upgrade/ screw things royally]), Randall probably wanted to make the point that projects which have reached package state are the most mature, tested and debugged. Using public git repository also speaks well about coding practices and hence product quality. On the other hand, code which requires manual tweaking to be installed likely has only been seriously used by its author (if at all) and is very likely to contain fatal bugs.
 
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.11.85|172.68.11.85]] 08:06, 5 October 2016 (UTC) qm2k
 
[[Special:Contributions/172.68.11.85|172.68.11.85]] 08:06, 5 October 2016 (UTC) qm2k
  
Also, I believe this misses the joke about Geocities.  I don't believe he is referring to code that was downloaded from Geocities at some distant past date, but code for which you are today given a link on Geocities to get it.  The joke here is despite that fact that the chance of installing that code is zero, it's still better that code needing to be tweaked. [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 15:06, 5 October 2016 (UTC)
+
Also, I believe this misses the joke about Geocities.  I don't believe he is referring to code that was downloaded from Geocities at some distant past date, but code for which you are today given a link on Geocities to get it.  The joke here is that, despite that fact that the chance of installing that code is zero, this is still better than code needing to be tweaked. [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 15:06, 5 October 2016 (UTC)
 
:The chance of successfully finding code from a Geocities link is not zero - there's a nonzero chance that the page survived on the Wayback Machine (and/or on one of the projects dedicated to archiving Geocities specifically). It is, however, still tiny. (Incidentally, what's Tripod? The explanation doesn't mention it at all.) --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.11.85|172.68.11.85]] 23:05, 6 October 2016 (UTC)
 
:The chance of successfully finding code from a Geocities link is not zero - there's a nonzero chance that the page survived on the Wayback Machine (and/or on one of the projects dedicated to archiving Geocities specifically). It is, however, still tiny. (Incidentally, what's Tripod? The explanation doesn't mention it at all.) --[[Special:Contributions/172.68.11.85|172.68.11.85]] 23:05, 6 October 2016 (UTC)
 
  
 
xkcd.com is best viewed with Netscape Navigator 4.0 or below on a Pentium 3±1 emulated in Javascript on an Apple IIGS at a screen resolution of 1024x1. Please enable your ad blockers, disable high-heat drying, and remove your device from Airplane Mode and set it to Boat Mode. For security reasons, please leave caps lock on while browsing.
 
xkcd.com is best viewed with Netscape Navigator 4.0 or below on a Pentium 3±1 emulated in Javascript on an Apple IIGS at a screen resolution of 1024x1. Please enable your ad blockers, disable high-heat drying, and remove your device from Airplane Mode and set it to Boat Mode. For security reasons, please leave caps lock on while browsing.
 
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.239.63|162.158.239.63]] 18:58, 7 October 2016 (UTC)
 
[[Special:Contributions/162.158.239.63|162.158.239.63]] 18:58, 7 October 2016 (UTC)

Revision as of 23:18, 7 October 2016

I think original poster did a great job transcribing, but missed the point somewhat. While it is true that package managers make the installation process more robust for average users (they sometimes also screw things royally), Randall probably wanted to make the point that projects which have reached package state are the most mature, tested and debugged. Using public git repository also speaks well about coding practices and hence product quality. On the other hand, code which requires manual tweaking to be installed likely has only been seriously used by its author (if at all) and is very likely to contain fatal bugs. 172.68.11.85 08:06, 5 October 2016 (UTC) qm2k

Also, I believe this misses the joke about Geocities. I don't believe he is referring to code that was downloaded from Geocities at some distant past date, but code for which you are today given a link on Geocities to get it. The joke here is that, despite that fact that the chance of installing that code is zero, this is still better than code needing to be tweaked. JamesCurran (talk) 15:06, 5 October 2016 (UTC)

The chance of successfully finding code from a Geocities link is not zero - there's a nonzero chance that the page survived on the Wayback Machine (and/or on one of the projects dedicated to archiving Geocities specifically). It is, however, still tiny. (Incidentally, what's Tripod? The explanation doesn't mention it at all.) --172.68.11.85 23:05, 6 October 2016 (UTC)

xkcd.com is best viewed with Netscape Navigator 4.0 or below on a Pentium 3±1 emulated in Javascript on an Apple IIGS at a screen resolution of 1024x1. Please enable your ad blockers, disable high-heat drying, and remove your device from Airplane Mode and set it to Boat Mode. For security reasons, please leave caps lock on while browsing. 162.158.239.63 18:58, 7 October 2016 (UTC)