Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!beta!unm-la!unmvax!nmtsun!hydrovax
From: hydrovax@nmtsun.nmt.edu (M. Warner Losh)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: exit(-1), 0 is sometimes magic
Message-ID: <1235@nmtsun.nmt.edu>
Date: 17 Jan 88 19:09:39 GMT
References: <502@cresswell.quintus.UUCP> <6935@brl-smoke.ARPA> <1179@wjvax.UUCP> <1868@bsu-cs.UUCP>
Organization: NMT Hydrology program
Lines: 28
Keywords: exit, zero, flaming
Summary: You contradict yourself

In article <1868@bsu-cs.UUCP>, dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) writes:
> Zero symmetrically divides the number line.  If one had to choose ONE
> of the values on the number line as being unique, it would have to be
> zero.  It is the only value that isn't arbitrary, the only one that
> doesn't have a mirror-image counterpart (of opposite sign), the only
> one that can't be a legal divisor, the only one that, in short,
> stands out as "different" from all the other values.
> 
Because it is, as you say, different, it is magic.  That is one of the
definitions of a magic number.  It is different, yet arbitrary.

btw, your arguement that it isn't arbitrary is BOGUS.  I could easily
come up with simialar arguements that one (SS$_NORMAL, the normal
exit status in VMS) isn't arbitrary :
  If you have something, then the least whole number of it you can have
is one.  Therefore one isn't arbitrary.  :-) * 16

The point is, that in this case, ZERO, or ANY OTHER NUMBER THAT YOU
CHOSSE TO REPESENT SUCCESS IS arbitrary.

Come on Rahul, you will have to do better than that if you want to convince
anybody that zero isn't arbitrary.
-- 
bitnet:	lush@nmt.csnet			M. Warner Losh
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