On Mon, 15 Sep 1997, Daniel Koepke wrote:
[...in depth explanation snipped...]
>Why? Because there are so many different ways to code something, and
>if you bother to write it yourself, you can probably come up with
>something that is better for *you*. [*]
And lots of times you can write it much more efficiently, much more
readable, and much less copyright endangering.
> [*] Maybe not better for everyone in
>the world, but what does that matter. There will always be someone
>with code that they call the "best", and then there will be someone
>that will come in and revise that code to make it better; and then
And if you cut&paste, you have no idea what the code does so you will just
be happy that it works and leave it alone. All of the patches and snippets
I use I apply by hand anyway so I can format it how I like it and maybe
optimize it a little.
>someone will write new code to do the same thing that is better than
>even that...and it goes on and on. And while "cutting-and-pasting"
>certainly makes a newbie's immediate life easier, it doesn't help them
>learn anything, and makes their life in the future that much more
>difficult.
Well said, that's why I recommend people read patches to see what they
do first. They are better than instructions because they also give some
context lines above and below the new code, show what is removed, added,
and in exactly what function (with -p) the changes are. And if you don't
do English, the patches are even better. + or -, it's not that hard to
understand insert and delete. Cutting and pasting other people's code is
evil, cutting and pasting your own written code isn't as bad.
--
George Greer - Me@Null.net | Genius may have its limitations, but stupidity
http://www.van.ml.org/~greerga | is not thus handicapped. -- Elbert Hubbard
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