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I appreciated this: > Personal note from Richard Stallman: Eating with hackers at a fish restaurant, I ordered Arctic Char. When my meal arrived, I noted that
by michaelhoffman 4y ago
I appreciated this:
> Personal note from Richard Stallman: Eating with hackers at a fish restaurant, I ordered Arctic Char. When my meal arrived, I noted that the chef had not signed it. So I complained, “This char is unsigned—I wanted a signed char!” Or rather, I would have said this if I had thought of it fast enough.
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 4y agoWhat is also nice about this story, is that it gives an official pronunciation for ‘char’.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- chrisseaton 4y ago> official pronunciation Stallman didn’t design C or invent ‘char’ if that’s what you’re thinking.
- AdmiralAsshat 4y agoI'm pretty sure I've heard someone in the Kernighan/Ritchie/Thompson camp (i.e guys who actually worked on the C Language) pronounce it like "care" in interviews before, so I'm not sure Stallman's pronunciation is really authoritative here. It really depends on whether you read it as its own word (like to "char" the grilled meat), or whether you read it as the first half of "character".
- jstanley 4y agoIf you pronounce the start of "character" the same way you pronounce "care" then I'm afraid you're pretty far away from the norm already.
- amock 4y agoThe audio on https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/care https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/care and https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/character https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/character sound like the same initial sound to me. I've never heard anyone pronounce them differently.
- doodpants 4y agoI pronounce the first "a" in "character" the same as in "cat", and that's how it's pronounced in the audio here: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/character https://www.dictionary.com/browse/character
- AdmiralAsshat 4y agohttps://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/care https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/care https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/character https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/character ???
- chrisseaton 4y agoAn American could say 'care-acter', while an English person might say 'caract-er'.
- kazinator 4y ago(conch 1 2) -> (1 . 2) (char (conch 1 2)) -> 1 (chdr (conch 1 2)) -> 2 ;; "chowder"
- knodi123 4y ago> What is also nice about this story, is that it gives an official pronunciation for ‘char’. One thing I was surprised to learn is that people working with dead languages rely on puns and rhymes in order to figure out how to speak a language. And then it's like solving some rows in a crossword- the more you can figure out, the more it lets you figure out others.
- kazinator 4y agoIn Vancouver, Canada, you could have ordered your unsigned char at the C restaurant. It seems permanently closed now. EXIT_FAILURE?
- bheadmaster 4y agoI love Richard Stallman's sense of humor. It feels so youthful and innocent. Also relevant: https://www.stallman.org/jokes.html https://www.stallman.org/jokes.html
- KennyBlanken 4y ago
- bpodgursky 4y agoYes, many 5-sigma overachieving autistic-spectrum obsessives struggle with social norms and cues. Let's just accept that whatever is going on in RMS's head to give so much for free to the rest of the world comes with some rough edges, and there's no way to get one without the other. It's a fair trade.
- mhh__ 4y agoMost of the ones I know don't. I don't see any reason to accept it wholesale - picking his feet I can tolerate, blatantly obviously unacceptable social interactions with other people should not be tolerated: these are a skill that can be learnt by people who care, autistic or not. Note that RMS says he doesn't have autism.
- bpodgursky 4y agoYou don't know any 5-sigma outliers.
- mhh__ 4y agoHow do you know?
- indrora 4y agoThis is your reminder that the FSF unionized to provide protection for the FSF against his history of workplace harassment and more. Most of the FSF staff aren't comfortable being alone in the building with him. As someone who is on the same boat: he's been asked to, and offered help with getting, counseling and behavioral therapy to help him see how he can improve his social skills. There's being an awkward socialite and then there's actively not working towards success.
- jolmg 4y agoAnd then the chef singed it.
- Koshkin 4y agoIndeed, char should be signed by default - it's an integer type, after all (in C, anyway).