224: Lisp

2013-02-22T11:01:43Z

85.75.96.81: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 224
| date = February 16, 2007
| title = Lisp
| image = lisp.jpg
| imagesize =
| titletext = We lost the documentation on quantum mechanics. You'll have to decode the regexes yourself.
}}

==Explanation==
{{Incomplete}}
First some definitions. {{w|Lisp (programming language)|Lisp}} is a computer programming language, first specified in 1958. Lisp dialects use the command "car" for the operation that returns the first item in a list. {{w|Perl}} is another computer programming language, sometimes known as "the Swiss Army chainsaw of scripting languages," and well known for it's complex regexes. A regex or {{w|regular expression}} provides a concise and flexible means to "match" (specify and recognize) strings of text. They were also referenced in [[208: Regular Expressions]].

The line "It's full of 'car's" is a reference to the book and film {{w|2001 A Space Odessey}}. In 2001, the astronaut David Bowman accidentally activates a star gate and exclaims as he enters it "My God — it's full of stars!" In Lisp, "{{w|CAR_and_CDR|car}}" is a fundamental command in Lisp that returns the first item of a list.

In the comic, Cueball marvels at the fundamental and complete nature of the language of creation that he sees in his dream, the ultimate {{w|low level language}}, before being told by God that the universe was mostly built using a {{w|high level programming language}}, perl.

==Trivia==
In his [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJOS0sV2a24#t=29m11s Google-speech], [[Randall]] said that he spent 3-4 hours on getting the blue shading just right.

==Transcript==
:[Floating in space]
:Speaker: Last night I drifted off while reading a Lisp book.
:Cueball: Huh?
:Speaker: Suddenly, I was bathed in a suffusion of blue.

:[Floating in space before a vast concept tree]
:Speaker: At once, just like they said, I felt a great enlightenment. I saw the naked structure of Lisp code unfold before me.
:Cueball: My God
:Cueball: It's full of 'car's
:Speaker: The patterns and metapatterns danced. Syntax faded, and I swam in the purity of quantified conception. Of ideas manifest.

:[Close-up of floating in space before part of a concept tree]
:Truly, this was the language from which the gods wrought the Universe.

:[Floating in space with God appearing through a line of clouds]
:God: No, it's not.
:Cueball: It's not?
:God: I mean, ostensibly, yes. Honestly, we hacked most of it together with Perl.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics with color]]
[[Category:Programming]]

225: Open Source

2013-02-22T10:58:32Z

85.75.96.81: Removed implication that GNU software isn't copyrighted — it is. Check the GPL. Traditionalists want control of the source code, not copyright. Added explanation about the GPL.

{{comic
| number = 225
| date = February 19, 2007
| title = Open Source
| image = open_source.png
| imagesize =
| titletext = Later we'll dress up like Big Oil thugs and jump Ralph Nader.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}
{{w|Richard Stallman}} is famous for beginning the {{w|GNU Project}} and is outspoken on the topic of {{w|Open Source software}} and {{w|Free software}}. So much so that he has garnered dislike from traditionalists who believe that software source code is a trade secret. While this dislike may not be at the level of hiring ninja to remove him from the world, it is strong.

{{w|GPL}} is a {{w|recursive abbreviation}} for ‘GNU Public License’, which covers all GNU software. It stipulates software is copyrighted, provided with full source code, and everyone is free to modify, disseminate and even sell software provided they also provide full source code and retain all copyright notices. This makes all software derived from GPL software also GPL, even if ‘derived’ means ‘borrowed a couple of lines of code from’. Many people consider this to make GNU software behave like a ‘license virus’.

{{w|Eric S. Raymond}} is a famous {{w|Hacker (programmer subculture)|hacker}} who has been an unofficial spokesperson for Open Source movement. The plan to prank Eric Raymond next is a bad one: he is an experienced martial artist and gun enthusiast.

{{w|Linus Torvalds}} is the creator of the {{w|Linux kernel}}, an Open Source operating system kernel inspired by {{w|Unix}}.

{{w|Ralph Nader}} is a famous consumer rights advocate, most famous for the 1965 book {{w|Unsafe at Any Speed}} and for running for US President in 2000.

==Trivia==
*Because of this comic Stallman has been given a katana by fans of xkcd. [http://blog.xkcd.com/2007/04/19/life-imitates-xkcd-part-ii-richard-stallman/]

==Transcript==
[A man with much facial hair is sleeping on a bed.]

[Suddenly, two ninjas jump through the skylight.]

Ninja 1: Richard Stallman! Your viral open source licenses have grown too powerful.

Ninja 1: The GPL must be stopped.

Ninja 1: At the source.

Ninja 1: You.

[Richard Stallman wakes up immediately, and pulls his katana out of its sheath from under his bed]

Richard Stallman: Hah! Microsoft lackeys! So it has come to this!

Richard Stallman: A night of blood I've long awaited. But be this my death or yours, free software will carry on! For a GNU dawn! For freedom! ... hey, where are you going?

[The ninja step out the window]

Ninja 1: Man, you're right, that never gets old.

Ninja 2: Let's do Eric S. Raymond next.

Ninja 1: Or Linus Torvalds. I hear he sleeps with nunchucks.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Richard Stallman]]

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

224: Lisp

225: Open Source