4 ms·

DEC Answers Leap Year Complaint (1983)

42 points by lelf 7y ago

gjvc 7y ago
This is one of those times when, while trying to be funny, using the wrong one of "affect" vs "effect" really puts a ding in the credibility of the author.
RegW 7y ago
Summary: won't fix - not a bug.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
rezaprima 7y ago
I'm sure the typo is that lunar calendar is 354 days, not 364
- RegW 7y ago
  Correct.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
brownbat 7y ago
It's worth going up a level in the directory and poking around. "24 interesting things that you learn about computers in the movies..." has become pretty outdated, but it's an interesting historical artifact. Imagine balking at the idea that laptops could support video chat. https://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/susan/joke/24.htm https://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/susan/joke/24.htm Reminds me a lot of the Jargon File, and really just the silly humor that filled the early Internet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jargon_File https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jargon_File
mpettitt 7y ago
Susan Stepney, the page owner, has/had a fantastic personal library. As in, extra wings built onto her house just to hold more books. The site is a bit like an old book shop, as in you're never quite sure what you'll find on it!
sizzzzlerz 7y ago
Too bad DEC didn't live out the 20th century so that we could recognize how wrong they were.
zdw 7y ago
Modern UNIX does the Julian -> Gregorian transition in 1752: $ cal September 1752 September 1752 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
- gerikson 7y ago
  I’m pretty sure the TZ database takes this from the transition for English-speaking countries: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_calendar#Great_Britain_and_its_colonies https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_ca...
- gerikson 7y ago
  Addendum to my previous comment, you can change this behavior with the -s option to `cal`: -s country_code Assume the switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar at the date associated with the country_code. If not specified, ncal tries to guess the switch date from the local environment or falls back to September 2, 1752. This was when Great Britain and her colonies switched to the Gregorian Calendar.

42 points by lelf 7y ago

gjvc 7y ago

This is one of those times when, while trying to be funny, using the wrong one of "affect" vs "effect" really puts a ding in the credibility of the author.

RegW 7y ago

Summary: won't fix - not a bug.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

rezaprima 7y ago

I'm sure the typo is that lunar calendar is 354 days, not 364

RegW 7y ago
Correct.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

brownbat 7y ago

It's worth going up a level in the directory and poking around. "24 interesting things that you learn about computers in the movies..." has become pretty outdated, but it's an interesting historical artifact. Imagine balking at the idea that laptops could support video chat. https://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/susan/joke/24.htm https://www-users.cs.york.ac.uk/susan/joke/24.htm Reminds me a lot of the Jargon File, and really just the silly humor that filled the early Internet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jargon_File https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jargon_File

mpettitt 7y ago

Susan Stepney, the page owner, has/had a fantastic personal library. As in, extra wings built onto her house just to hold more books. The site is a bit like an old book shop, as in you're never quite sure what you'll find on it!

sizzzzlerz 7y ago

Too bad DEC didn't live out the 20th century so that we could recognize how wrong they were.

zdw 7y ago

Modern UNIX does the Julian -> Gregorian transition in 1752: $ cal September 1752 September 1752 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 1 2 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

gerikson 7y ago
I’m pretty sure the TZ database takes this from the transition for English-speaking countries: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_calendar#Great_Britain_and_its_colonies https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adoption_of_the_Gregorian_ca...
gerikson 7y ago
Addendum to my previous comment, you can change this behavior with the -s option to `cal`: -s country_code Assume the switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar at the date associated with the country_code. If not specified, ncal tries to guess the switch date from the local environment or falls back to September 2, 1752. This was when Great Britain and her colonies switched to the Gregorian Calendar.