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> Ken Thompson: “yeah, I’ve seen editors like that, but I don’t feel a need for them, I don’t want to see the state of the file when I’m editing” ...Indistingu
by tomxor 8y ago
> Ken Thompson: “yeah, I’ve seen editors like that, but I don’t feel a need for them, I don’t want to see the state of the file when I’m editing”
...Indistinguishable from XKCD
I don't think this is one of those "it's obvious in hindsight" things either. I think he must have been blinded by his own perspective, a perspective that was both inevitable and necessary at the time when there was basically no text editors.
- nmg 8y agoI don't interpret it as being "blinded by perspective", though. I think Thompson was (in a lighthearted curmudgeonly way) describing the virtue of having the primary buffer of your document in your head. I certainly don't. I scroll to find what I've written to remind myself what it is... I rely on the memory of the machine and use it a substitute for my own. I feel like he's describing a more disciplined way of thinking, and reminiscing about when it was strictly necessary. Only direct reference I could find to the (secondhand) quote - http://web.archive.org/web/20080103071208/http://www.dcs.qmul.ac.uk/~george/history/ http://web.archive.org/web/20080103071208/http://www.dcs.qmu...
- tomxor 8y ago> reminiscing about when it was strictly necessary. Yes this is what I meant by "a perspective that was both inevitable and necessary at the time when there was basically no text editors." although I should have known that suggesting thompson was wrong in the most understanding way possible will attract downvotes here.