#README #FIRST #2017#12#01 #meta =~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+++~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~= =~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~= THE READMEs =~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~= =~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+++~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=~+~=
File extension “.rme” will be used for README files. The first line of all README files will contain tags, each separated by
- a space. Tags may be nested by using octothorpes as a delimitetr.
- e.g. #topic#sub-topic
=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~= =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~= = SOME GENERAL RULES = =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=
Rule 1: My README files (with extension .rme) are to be simple text files encoded in UTF-8 format (with unix newlines). Rule 2: All lines in my README files will contain at most 80 characters. That is to say, no line in my READMEs will exceed 80 characters. Rule 3: Consult the following table for special notation: __________________________ | EFFECT | MY NOTATION | DESCRIPTION | |———–|————-|———————————————-| | underline | phrase | I surround the word/phrase with underscores. | | bold | phrase | I surround the word/phrase with asterisks. | | exponents | x**y | ‘x’ raised to the power of ‘y’. | | | ————|————-|———————————————-|
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TODO 2017-01-11 + 1. ~/sysadmin/bashrc-list-user-functions.sh + 2. ~/READMEs/linux-execVSeval.rme + 3. ~/READMEs/term-colors.rme + 4. ~/READMEs/GNU/readline.rme + 5. Figure out vim plugins ++ - AlignFromCursor ++ - visualrepeat ++ - ingo-library
- Weechat - IRC - Freenode.net automatically joined channels
- #archlinux, #archlinux-offtopic, #archlinux-aur,
++ #archlinux-classroom, #archlinux-pacman, #archlinux-projects,
++ #archlinux-security, #vim, #bash, ##math, ##psychology=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~= =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~= = SOME BORING HISTORY = =~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=
As I am typing on a terminal, as I am almost always when writing these READMEs, I feel compelled by tradition to follow certain guidelines and standards that, in modern times, can surely be overlooked. Yet I cannot bring myself to disobey these guidelines– for one thing, I can reach the largest audience possible since most implementations will follow standards.
In a time when computers were young, engineers needed to be creative, and the field of computing was a great pioneering race, the most common form that a User would encounter and interact with a computer was through a “dumb terminal”, which did not contain any significant computing power of its own, but was connected to a mainframe (as were many other terminals). And thus, the name terminal now appears sensible, as they were the end- points of any mainframe or large-cluster system.
Similar to the terminal was the console, but important differences remained. While there are many terminals, there is (usually) only one console. And while the terminals are far away from the mainframe, the console is directly attached and has all elevated privileges.
In either case, however, all screens that displayed the output from the mainframe did so at the restriction of 80 columns of characters for the screen width. This is an important figure because while rows could be arbitrarily sized (for all one had to do was scroll up and down), the width could either make the text orderly and easy to read, or in a jumbled mess that produced the greatest of eye strains and severest of headaches.
Thus, 80 columns was the figure decided upon and no person or program designed by people exceeded that figure, unless there was a guarantee of a pager, another program designed to handle large areas of output easily.
Still today the rule holds, and most older programs and libraries (upon which most of our modern programs and libraries depend on) assume this. It is not so much an issue any longer because of the increase in screen resolution, but in the business of system administration, you can never quite expect to be sure what kind of system you’ll have to touch next in order to diagnose a larger issue. And all the luck be to them who has the poor luck to be stuck with an old VT100 terminal with 80 columns and badly trying to render a text or graphic at 82 columns wide.
If you are still having trouble accepting my word, consider email, electronic mail, which is near accepted as a valid channel of communication for those fortunate enough to have access to a computer with Internet access. Although, mostly invisible to the sender & receiver, the email server breaks down the body (message) into lines of 72 columns (which grants some allowances, for other things such as borders must be drawn around the body) before sending it off to the corresponding email server where the client’s email address lives. The receiving end’s server, in a similar and opposite fashion, reconstructs the body so that no break seems to have taken place. And usually, you will never even notice the process. However, due to the die-hard habits of some older knuckle-dragging sysadmins or veterans who have their fair share of war stories (and the scars to prove it), you can still find evidence of the 72-80 column char limit on popular computing mailing lists. Indeed, it is quite hard to miss because usually the client is misbehaving and improperly splitting up quoted text, much to the chagrin of the community and the offender is always called out to fix such behavior. (if you are wondering why it happens more often on these mailing lists, it is because those that frequent such mailing lists are more often to use command-line based mailing clients with a custom set-up and not a user-friendly solution like GMail or other free online services.)
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