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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbatt!ihnp4!inuxc!pur-ee!j.cc.purdue.edu!rsk
From: rsk@j.cc.purdue.edu (Wombat)
Newsgroups: net.sources.bugs
Subject: Re: bug in ctype.c, and a replacement for it
Message-ID: <2405@j.cc.purdue.edu>
Date: Sat, 25-Oct-86 00:03:50 EST
Article-I.D.: j.2405
Posted: Sat Oct 25 00:03:50 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 26-Oct-86 01:22:43 EST
References: <725@qantel.UUCP>
Reply-To: rsk@j.cc.purdue.edu.UUCP (Wombat)
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Lines: 31
Keywords: ctype, bugs, author
Summary: Updated version of ctype is a ripoff

In article <725@qantel.UUCP> lynx@qantel.UUCP (D.N. Lynx Crowe@ex2207) writes:
>The character classification program "ctype.c" recently posted to the net
>has a bug in it:  the headings for the columns are in the wrong order.
>
>I decided that what I wanted was a complete count of all characters, not
>just those below octal 200, so I put together a replacement for it, ccount.c,
>which I've posted to net.sources.

Four things; first off, it is common courtesy to report such bugs in
posted software to the author *first*, thus giving that author the
opportunity to correct them in whatever way the author feels best.
There are exceptions--for instance, truly nasty bugs in important
pieces of software.  This is not one of those cases.

Secondly, you do not specify what the "correct" order would be, or
why the given order is "wrong".

Thirdly, if you had bothered to correspond with the author (me), you
would have discovered that the author had already received a number
of suggestions about the program, one of which was to add the codes
above octal 200 [optionally].

Finally, even though you used nearly all my code in your program, you
make no mention of that in the source.  Fine--you don't *have* to;
but if I wrote a program that whose concept was completely derived from
another, and whose source code was almost completely taken from another,
I'd acknowledge the original author.  I think most folks on Usenet
would do the same.  I'm amazed and appalled at your actions in this matter.

-- 
Rich Kulawiec, j.cc.purdue.edu!rsk, rsk@j.cc.purdue.edu