From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.0 required=5.0 tests=MAILING_LIST_MULTI, T_SCC_BODY_TEXT_LINE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 14595 invoked from network); 21 Jul 2023 22:39:30 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (2600:3c01:e000:146::1) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 21 Jul 2023 22:39:30 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [IPv6:::1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DF03142A17; Sat, 22 Jul 2023 08:39:26 +1000 (AEST) Received: from mcvoy.com (mcvoy.com [192.169.23.250]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 01E5042A11 for ; Sat, 22 Jul 2023 08:39:23 +1000 (AEST) Received: by mcvoy.com (Postfix, from userid 3546) id BA66635E98C; Fri, 21 Jul 2023 15:39:22 -0700 (PDT) Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2023 15:39:22 -0700 From: Larry McVoy To: Grant Taylor Message-ID: <20230721223922.GC25639@mcvoy.com> References: <9d5cd822-07aa-42e9-4b14-a1b86da0e6bf@tnetconsulting.net> <20230721223017.GA25639@mcvoy.com> <79a7c0aa-2580-e77d-8b53-9cf9c5bf4a79@tnetconsulting.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <79a7c0aa-2580-e77d-8b53-9cf9c5bf4a79@tnetconsulting.net> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.24 (2015-08-30) Message-ID-Hash: SWRHXPJ2KSYKNM7Q6UCX2YS42PSWBBS5 X-Message-ID-Hash: SWRHXPJ2KSYKNM7Q6UCX2YS42PSWBBS5 X-MailFrom: lm@mcvoy.com X-Mailman-Rule-Misses: dmarc-mitigation; no-senders; approved; emergency; loop; banned-address; member-moderation; nonmember-moderation; administrivia; implicit-dest; max-recipients; max-size; news-moderation; no-subject; digests; suspicious-header CC: tuhs@tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 3.3.6b1 Precedence: list Subject: [TUHS] Re: Cool talk on Unix and Sendmail history, by Eric Allman List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list Archived-At: List-Archive: List-Help: List-Owner: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: On Fri, Jul 21, 2023 at 05:33:11PM -0500, Grant Taylor via TUHS wrote: > > On 7/21/23 5:30???PM, Larry McVoy wrote: > >It really was super pleasant to realize I'm not the last guy who wants to > >use C for serious work. > > I thought the same thing about m4. > > I still like m4. > > I've used m4 for more than trivial things within the last few years. > > >I suspect we're dinosaurs but we're cut from the same clothe dinosaurs. I think you get good at using C, and/or m4, and at a certain point it is easier to write good code in that than start over in a different set of tools. My older son is learning CS and I told him that C is a lot like a sports car on a twisty mountain road that has no guard rails. If you are someone who wants to be on your phone in the car, you are gonna have a bad time. On the other hand, if you are an expert driver, it's a lot of fun. Kids these days, all they want is guard rails :) --lm