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From: ado@elsie.UUCP (Arthur David Olson)
Newsgroups: net.unix
Subject: Re: getopt(3) posting FLAME
Message-ID: <5244@elsie.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 19-Oct-85 13:04:54 EDT
Article-I.D.: elsie.5244
Posted: Sat Oct 19 13:04:54 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 21-Oct-85 00:42:31 EDT
References: <910@utcs.uucp> <306@graffiti.UUCP> <898@burl.UUCP>
Organization: NIH-LEC, Bethesda, MD
Lines: 22
Keywords: Huh?!
Summary: What is reality?

> Again, 'real' getopt will accept all of the above combinations of -s and -g
> above. . .

I don't know about you, but I write code that gets used on machines other than
the one I use.  I get to keep this in mind when I write the code.  If I make
use of something that's available on my machine and that isn't available on
some other machine, I'll regret it down the line.

From this perspective, the "getopt" that's been posted to the network is the
"real" getopt.  I know it'll be available on any machine my software goes to--
simply because I can put the posted version of getopt on the tape I send.  The
AT&T version of getopt is "unreal" from this perspective--there's nothing I can
do (legally) to guarantee that it will be available at the receiving end.  Of
course, there is something AT&T could do--put the source code for the "real"
getopt.c in the public domain.  Hint, hint.

As always, the contents of this article are entirely my own responsibility.
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