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I mean it is the fallback method. The solution for the "I never heard of this internet thing, or something else is preventing me from finding the licence online

I mean it is the fallback method. The solution for the "I never heard of this internet thing, or something else is preventing me from finding the licence online" problem. Almost everyone will just use their search engine to find this page: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.en.html https://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/gpl-2.0.en.html What can you do to serve the licence to those who can't or won't do that (for whatever reason)? I think it is hard to find something more universally accessible to serve that edge case. You describe your story of how sending a letter went to you, and I admit it sounds like a bit of a pain. But you managed to do it. And by the sound of it you were totally novice at it. (didn't even bring your own pen!) Someone can do the same thing you did anywhere from Nairobi, McMurdo, Pyongyang, or Vigánpetend. It is not "universally accessible" in the "easy and comfortable" sense. It is "universally accessible" in the "almost anywhere where humans live you can access this service" sense.

dheera 1y ago
I mean, part of the problem is I didn't own a pen at the time. I have multiple computers and phones, I thought that was the interface to the post-2000 world. I do have paint, but that's a little clumsy. I grudgingly own a box of BIC pens now, but ... It's like requiring people to own a horse to do something these days. And in past experience during school days, those goddamn BIC pens all go bad (ink dries up or something), before I use even 5% of one of them. I realize this all probably sounds very silly to someone born before 1980 but ... yeah it's just the reality of the world, I don't normally need pens to do anything, and am used to pens being provided in the rare occasions I need to sign a receipt or something, and usually I just end up drawing a cat on the signature line.
- krisoft 1y ago
  Oh, i absolutely get you! Was not intending to pen-shame you in any way. Just used it to illustrate that the postal process worked (eventually, and with a lot of inconvenience) even though you were not best prepared for it. But i have been exactly where you are. We were having a book club and trying to vote on the next book to read, and turns out none of us out of twenty literature loving people had a single pen on us. So yeah, that is for sure the current reality. > usually I just end up drawing a cat on the signature line. Thats awesome! Do the they accept it usually?
  - dheera 1y ago
    Yes! I've never had an issue -- in the US at least, signatures on receipts generally don't matter. Cat sketches are usually fine. The only place I've had it mattered is when signing bank documents in Asia.
- hermitdev 1y ago
  > I realize this all probably sounds very silly to someone born before 1980 I was born after 1980 and I think you're beating a dead horse, here. You're conflating accessibility with convenience. Not just with this comment, but others you've made in this thread. > those goddamn BIC pens all go bad (ink dries up or something), before I use even 5% of one of them. Grab the pen by the end opposite the nib, give it a good shake for a few seconds, lick the nib, scribble on a scrap piece of paper until it starts writing again. Problem solved. You can't resurrect a dead laptop or computer by licking and shaking it (at least I've never succeeded in doing so).
- Octopodes 1y ago
  Bravo! I cannot tell if this is a satire of something. Can some explain the joke, if any?
- sokoloff 1y ago
  Your life sounds positively exhausting.
- Symbiote 1y ago
  You are intentionally making things difficult when you don't own a pen. That's very much your problem, and the rest of the world doesn't need to accommodate it.
  - dheera 1y ago
    When paper and pen was invented, I'm sure there was a bearded caveman holding a fish who made a comment about how it was someone's problem that they didn't have a tool to carve stone tablets. Paper is on its way out, electrons are the new medium.
    - kergonath 1y ago
      Do you realise that this is the exact same positions as people who refuse to use a computer or a phone on principle? Ranting about having to use a pen is not being hip or modern, it’s being obnoxious.
    - acobster 1y ago
      When paper was invented, it was expensive to make, and very few people had access to it. It was basically confined to a small priesthood and most people were illiterate. Paper remained quite expensive for centuries. So it would've been pretty rich for someone to say, "talking to these illiterate peasants to their faces is on its way out. Don't they know that writing is the new medium?"
- lproven 1y ago
  > I mean, part of the problem is I didn't own a pen at the time. I find this mind-boggling. I immediately came up with a parallel -- "they wanted me to walk to the counter but I do not own shoes." Which took me to the universe of Pixar's _Wall-E_ and now I can't help but imagine that the subset of "people born after 1980" are helpless in their floating chairs and apparently I am aberrant because I learned to walk, and that makes me old.
- kergonath 1y ago
  > those goddamn BIC pens all go bad (ink dries up or something), before I use even 5% of one of them. No, the ink does not dry. What happens is that the ball gets stuck if it is used too infrequently. This is solved by rubbing it against paper, or even better something rubbery. The underside of most people’s shoes works well for this. Just last week I used a Bic that was at least 30 years old. These things are very dependable.

dheera 1y ago

I mean, part of the problem is I didn't own a pen at the time. I have multiple computers and phones, I thought that was the interface to the post-2000 world. I do have paint, but that's a little clumsy. I grudgingly own a box of BIC pens now, but ... It's like requiring people to own a horse to do something these days. And in past experience during school days, those goddamn BIC pens all go bad (ink dries up or something), before I use even 5% of one of them. I realize this all probably sounds very silly to someone born before 1980 but ... yeah it's just the reality of the world, I don't normally need pens to do anything, and am used to pens being provided in the rare occasions I need to sign a receipt or something, and usually I just end up drawing a cat on the signature line.

krisoft 1y ago
Oh, i absolutely get you! Was not intending to pen-shame you in any way. Just used it to illustrate that the postal process worked (eventually, and with a lot of inconvenience) even though you were not best prepared for it. But i have been exactly where you are. We were having a book club and trying to vote on the next book to read, and turns out none of us out of twenty literature loving people had a single pen on us. So yeah, that is for sure the current reality. > usually I just end up drawing a cat on the signature line. Thats awesome! Do the they accept it usually?
- dheera 1y ago
  Yes! I've never had an issue -- in the US at least, signatures on receipts generally don't matter. Cat sketches are usually fine. The only place I've had it mattered is when signing bank documents in Asia.
hermitdev 1y ago
> I realize this all probably sounds very silly to someone born before 1980 I was born after 1980 and I think you're beating a dead horse, here. You're conflating accessibility with convenience. Not just with this comment, but others you've made in this thread. > those goddamn BIC pens all go bad (ink dries up or something), before I use even 5% of one of them. Grab the pen by the end opposite the nib, give it a good shake for a few seconds, lick the nib, scribble on a scrap piece of paper until it starts writing again. Problem solved. You can't resurrect a dead laptop or computer by licking and shaking it (at least I've never succeeded in doing so).
Octopodes 1y ago
Bravo! I cannot tell if this is a satire of something. Can some explain the joke, if any?
sokoloff 1y ago
Your life sounds positively exhausting.
Symbiote 1y ago
You are intentionally making things difficult when you don't own a pen. That's very much your problem, and the rest of the world doesn't need to accommodate it.
- dheera 1y ago
  When paper and pen was invented, I'm sure there was a bearded caveman holding a fish who made a comment about how it was someone's problem that they didn't have a tool to carve stone tablets. Paper is on its way out, electrons are the new medium.
  - kergonath 1y ago
    Do you realise that this is the exact same positions as people who refuse to use a computer or a phone on principle? Ranting about having to use a pen is not being hip or modern, it’s being obnoxious.
  - acobster 1y ago
    When paper was invented, it was expensive to make, and very few people had access to it. It was basically confined to a small priesthood and most people were illiterate. Paper remained quite expensive for centuries. So it would've been pretty rich for someone to say, "talking to these illiterate peasants to their faces is on its way out. Don't they know that writing is the new medium?"
lproven 1y ago
> I mean, part of the problem is I didn't own a pen at the time. I find this mind-boggling. I immediately came up with a parallel -- "they wanted me to walk to the counter but I do not own shoes." Which took me to the universe of Pixar's _Wall-E_ and now I can't help but imagine that the subset of "people born after 1980" are helpless in their floating chairs and apparently I am aberrant because I learned to walk, and that makes me old.
kergonath 1y ago
> those goddamn BIC pens all go bad (ink dries up or something), before I use even 5% of one of them. No, the ink does not dry. What happens is that the ball gets stuck if it is used too infrequently. This is solved by rubbing it against paper, or even better something rubbery. The underside of most people’s shoes works well for this. Just last week I used a Bic that was at least 30 years old. These things are very dependable.