[wplug] OT: Down Memory Lane

[Chris Ott]

Chris Ott wrote:
> 
> Diana A. Clarion wrote:
> 
>> Hey, BASIC is a fine first language.
> 
> I agree. Teaching beginners a strongly-typed language like Pascal, which 
> is what they taught when I was in college, makes no sense at all.

Sorry to respond to my own message, but this reminded me of something. 
First, just to back up my statement, you can go here:

     http://www.gshotts.com/HUMOR/realprogrammers.htm

and see that "strong typing is for weak minds."

Then, I have to ask: whatever happened to hacker terminology, like that 
in the "Hacker's Dictionary"? It was certainly useful in the mid 80's, 
when it seemed to reach its peak. Nowadays, I'm having trouble getting 
my point across. I swear - if I have to define "kluge" one more time, 
I'm going to scream and even "hack" has had its meaning so distorted 
over time, it's not really usable, anymore.

Those of you who are too young to remember the Hacker's Dictionary can 
go here to catch up:

     http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/

Lots of good historical data, too. It really was a different world, then.

Chris