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From: palkovic@linac.fnal.gov (John Palkovic)
Newsgroups: comp.mail.sendmail
Subject: Re: Idempotence of S3 (Was Re: IBM Do It Again)
Message-ID: <R6HL3.YA=@linac.fnal.gov>
Date: 16 Apr 91 18:47:18 GMT
References: <1991Apr12.213421.22457@decuac.dec.com>
Sender: daemon@linac.fnal.gov (The Background Man)
Reply-To: "John Palkovic" <palkovic@linac.fnal.gov>
Organization: Bob's School of Quantum Mechanics
Lines: 13
In-Reply-To: avolio@decuac.DEC.COM's message of Fri, 12 Apr 91 21: 34:21 GMT
Nntp-Posting-Host: linac.fnal.gov

>>>>> Regarding Re: Idempotence of S3 (Was Re: IBM Do It Again); you said:

> Shoot.  I have never even heard or read the word "idempotent" until
> just now.

I first heard about it in modern algebra class. If you have a ring, an
idempotent is an element x such that x^2 = x. E.g., in the ring of
integers, 1 is an idempotent. So how did a nice mathematical term like
"idempotent" come to be part of sendmail jargon?

-John
--
palkovic@linac.fnal.gov || {royko,tellab5,simon}!linac!palkovic