5 ms·
The title should be "how to not" rather than "how not to".
by adrusi 7y ago
The title should be "how to not" rather than "how not to".
- steveklabnik 7y agoIt really depends on your opinion on split infinitives. Both are correct.
- cannam 7y agoSurely "How Not To..." is typically used when you're talking of a bad way to do something, or a way to fail - so this sounds like it's describing a bad way to rewrite something in Rust, which is not the case. It also isn't the wording used in the original article title.
- steveklabnik 7y ago> so this sounds like it's describing a bad way to rewrite something in Rust, which is not the case. I think this kind of title is trying to do exactly that, or at least, that's how I took it. > It also isn't the wording used in the original article title. This is a good reason to switch it, for sure. I didn't realize this, if you had led with that, I wouldn't have said anything :)
- lmkg 7y ago> I think this kind of title is trying to do exactly that, or at least, that's how I took it I took the exact opposite: This article is describing an alternative to RiiR, so that RiiR is avoided when not needed.
- steveklabnik 7y agoI don't disagree with you is that the thesis of the article is "don't re-write something in Rust." What I was trying to say is that I think the title is making a joke; it's saying "how to re-write something in Rust badly", because well, it's not re-writing it in Rust at all.
- aidenn0 7y agoI thought the title was making a joke, but then I read the article and IMO the actual article title of "How to not RiiR" is much more indicative of it's content than the HN title of "How Not to RiiR"
- coldtea 7y ago>so this sounds like it's describing a bad way to rewrite something in Rust, which is not the case. Actually, this is the case. It describes the bad way (and bad reasons) to rewrite something in Rust.
- goto11 7y agoNo they have different meaning. How to not X = How to avoid doing X How not to X = The wrong way to do X
- coldtea 7y agoNot really. "How not to" is a common idiom (like "X considered harmful" for such advice articles (regardless of correctness).
- aidenn0 7y agoThe TFA is literally "How to not" as in "how to avoid" not "How not to" which would be "Here's the wrong way to do it"
- dang 7y agoGood catch! Changed now.