use Perl

• Biological meme (Score:1)

  by mr_bean (3802)

  Picking up on the biological metaphor of "When I think of free software programmers, I think of the so-called birds of paradise -- each indulging in its uncommon, seemingly gratuitous display of beauty and grace simply because it is possible,"
  
  Programmers are like musicians playing to their flowers. Free software ones are those who enjoy playing for other musicians.
  
  Programmers are like second language speakers of languages spoken natively only by the computers themselves. Free software programmers ch
  • Blame and pity the wetware: hackers' solidarity (Score:1)

    by laburu (8199) on 2008.05.08 22:59 (#62766) Homepage Journal

    I do not find your “native speakers of programming languages” standoffish [perl.org]; rather, I find computers pathetically compliant and more than a little frail. Computer programs, on the other hand, are the codification of programmers' understanding of how to solve certain problems using a computer, and I do find many computer programs infuriatingly standoffish.

    Now, I can see how, if one chooses a biological metaphor, one may construe the computer as a standoffish creature made up of hardware and software. But I try not to forget that, when software fails me, the culprit is probably some wetware somewhere — not the decrepit hardware on my desk. And, FWIW, I spare a charitable thought for that poor fellow, too; after all, my programs are bound to irritate some other wetware eventually, and I would like our fellowship to survive that unfortunate event.

    And there are others who feel this way, too, who help each other carry on in the face of all the standoffishness. Could that be one reason why free software programmers congregate — to make all the FAIL bearable?

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