From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
From: toby@telegraphics.com.au (Toby Thain)
Date: Mon, 1 May 2017 14:09:07 -0400
Subject: [TUHS] dmr note on BSD's sins
In-Reply-To: <CAP6exYK-iikmM1p4f-bNHh0_HSCwPGPCusp1f1S45vhEYmZbXg@mail.gmail.com>
References: <CAP6exYK-iikmM1p4f-bNHh0_HSCwPGPCusp1f1S45vhEYmZbXg@mail.gmail.com>
Message-ID: <1189db4c-a1f5-6d03-45ed-81f1a2c51685@telegraphics.com.au>

On 2017-05-01 1:25 PM, ron minnich wrote:
> OK, I recall a note dmr wrote probably in the late 70s/early 80s when
> folks at UCB had (iirc) extended the symbol name size in C programs to
> essentially unlimited. This followed on (iirc) file names going beyond
> 14 characters.
>
> The rough outline was that dmr was calling out the revisions for being
> too general, and the phrase "BSD sins" sticks in my head (sins as a verb).
>
> I'm reminded of this by something that happened with some interns
> recently, as they wanted to make something immensely complex to cover a
> case that basically never happened. I was trying to point out that you
> can go overboard on that sort of thing, and it would have been nice to
> have such a quote handy -- anyone else remember it?

Not what you're looking for, but in recent times we'd just say YAGNI - 
You Ain't Gonna Need It.

--T

>
> ron