Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ns-mx!ceres!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!caesar.cs.montana.edu!milton!blake!wiml From: wiml@blake.acs.washington.edu (William Lewis) Newsgroups: alt.hackers Subject: Magic programs (was Re: The packet drivers) Message-ID: <5309@blake.acs.washington.edu> Date: 12 Jan 90 07:51:37 GMT References: <4622@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM> Reply-To: wiml@blake.acs.washington.edu (William Lewis) Organization: University of Washington, Seattle Lines: 42 Approved: wiml@blake In article <4622@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM> sartin@hplabsz.UUCP (Rob Sartin) writes: >In article >nelson@clutx.clarkson.edu writes an awful lot about "magic" considering >he's writing about computer programming. What's the obsession with >"magic"? I see it among many hackers. It is as if we want to hide the >(hopefully logical) way things work in order to maintain the priesthood. If this is the same article I was reading ... Magic: prompt> Command running... Non magic: prompt> Command Enter card port from little piece of paper taped to keyboard: 5b Enter network configuration from little piece of paper: 19200n81 Is this right? y running ... Error: Incorrect numbers entered from little piece of paper. prompt> _ Sorta magic: prompt> Command Can't find configuration file. Enter path to configuration file. > ~/piles/of/config/files Error: Incorrect data stored in config file. Under this definition, at least, there's nothing wrong with a "magic" program, unless of course the magic doesn't work quite right and can't be overridden... -- wiml@blake.acs.washington.edu (206)526-5885 Seattle, Washington