replace old ASCII > style with markdown code blocks
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@@ -206,14 +206,16 @@ It is an implementation of Richard Dawkins' [Weasel program][] (Wikipedia).
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According to Wikipedia in chapter three of his book [The Blind Watchmaker][]
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Dawkins wrote:
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> I don't know who it was first pointed out that, given enough time, a monkey
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> bashing away at random on a typewriter could produce all the works of
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> Shakespeare. The operative phrase is, of course, *given enough time.* Let us
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> limit the task facing our monkey somewhat. Suppose that he has to produce, not
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> the complete works of Shakespeare but just the short sentence 'Methinks it is
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> like a weasel', and we shall make it relatively easy by giving him a typewriter
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> with a restricted keyboard, one with just the 26 (capital) letters, and a space
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> bar. How long will he take to write this one little sentence?
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```
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I don't know who it was first pointed out that, given enough time, a monkey
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bashing away at random on a typewriter could produce all the works of
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Shakespeare. The operative phrase is, of course, *given enough time.* Let us
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limit the task facing our monkey somewhat. Suppose that he has to produce, not
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the complete works of Shakespeare but just the short sentence 'Methinks it is
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like a weasel', and we shall make it relatively easy by giving him a typewriter
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with a restricted keyboard, one with just the 26 (capital) letters, and a space
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bar. How long will he take to write this one little sentence?
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```
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He refers to the [Infinite Monkey Theorem][] (Wikipedia). As he points out the
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operative phrase is *given enough time*; but even if it's extremely unlikely
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@@ -244,16 +246,18 @@ Here you can find a general explanation of a *[genetic algorithm][]* as well as
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brief history. Although the link provides more information (including images to
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try and show the way they work) for those interested I will cite the summary:
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> Genetic Algorithms (GAs) are adaptive heuristic search algorithm based on the
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> evolutionary ideas of natural selection and genetics. As such they represent an
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> intelligent exploitation of a random search used to solve optimization problems.
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> Although randomised, GAs are by no means random, instead they exploit historical
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> information to direct the search into the region of better performance within
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> the search space. The basic techniques of the GAs are designed to simulate
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> processes in natural systems necessary for evolution, specially those follow the
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> principles first laid down by Charles Darwin of "survival of the fittest.".
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> Since in nature, competition among individuals for scanty resources results in
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> the fittest individuals dominating over the weaker ones.
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```
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Genetic Algorithms (GAs) are adaptive heuristic search algorithm based on the
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evolutionary ideas of natural selection and genetics. As such they represent an
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intelligent exploitation of a random search used to solve optimization problems.
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Although randomised, GAs are by no means random, instead they exploit historical
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information to direct the search into the region of better performance within
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the search space. The basic techniques of the GAs are designed to simulate
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processes in natural systems necessary for evolution, specially those follow the
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principles first laid down by Charles Darwin of "survival of the fittest.".
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Since in nature, competition among individuals for scanty resources results in
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the fittest individuals dominating over the weaker ones.
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```
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**SPOILER WARNING: Some of the below might help you follow the code more
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easily.**
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@@ -284,7 +288,9 @@ Note that the generation is checked *before the scoring takes place* by a prefix
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increment equality check; when the generation is `SIZE_MAX - 1` the fitness
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test loop will not be entered; instead the outer loop will end after printing:
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> Too many attempts, blaming the monkey Eric even if he isn't typing or doesn't exist. Bye.
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```
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Too many attempts, blaming the monkey Eric even if he isn't typing or doesn't exist. Bye.
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```
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Why '*Eric*'? Because the judges stated in the [2018 guidelines][] that when
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there is a user input error the program should insult the pet fish Eric even if
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@@ -292,16 +298,18 @@ such a fish (no, weasels do not equate monkeys to fish but see below) doesn't
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exist. The second to last example limitation example note (it's improved in the
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final but this is relevant) they give is:
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> The judges might not have a pet fish named Eric, so might want to state:
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>
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> This entry factors integers between 1 and 2305567963945518424753102147331756070.
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> Attempting to factor anything else will cause the program to insult your
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> pet fish Eric, or in the case that you lack such a pet, will insult the
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> pet that you do not have.
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The judges might not have a pet fish named Eric, so might want to state:
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```
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This entry factors integers between 1 and 2305567963945518424753102147331756070.
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Attempting to factor anything else will cause the program to insult your
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pet fish Eric, or in the case that you lack such a pet, will insult the
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pet that you do not have.
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```
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After the final message they ask:
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> BTW: **What is so special about 2305567963945518424753102147331756070**? You tell us!
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BTW: **What is so special about 2305567963945518424753102147331756070**? You tell us!
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The answer is this: **it is the primorial prime of 97:** the product of all
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prime numbers less than or equal to N; **and the primorial prime of `N == 97` is
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@@ -905,16 +913,18 @@ Skip to [How to build](#build).
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On the subject of beauty: the judges stated in the guidelines the following:
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> We want to get away from source that is simply **a compact blob of
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> octets.** Really try to be more creative than **blob coding.** *HINT!*
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```
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We want to get away from source that is simply **a compact blob of
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octets.** Really try to be more creative than **blob coding.** *HINT!*
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```
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And if you'll notice that although it *might look like a compact blob of octets*
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at first glance if you look throughout the file you'll see two statements to
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set your thinking straight:
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> **NO BLOB CODING**
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**NO BLOB CODING**
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> **THIS IS NOT A COMPACT BLOB OF OCTETS**
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**THIS IS NOT A COMPACT BLOB OF OCTETS**
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So you see even if your eyes are trying to deceive you they're quite wrong. Yes
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some of it might look like a blob but this is clearly false; *as all good
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@@ -1133,48 +1143,50 @@ two things I think are rather amusing (in order of least to most):
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<a name="dmr">Dennis Ritchie's</a> Anti-Foreword:
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> Anti-Foreword
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```
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Anti-Foreword
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> By Dennis Ritchie
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> From: dmr@plan9.research.att.com
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> Date: Tue, 15 Mar 1994 00:38:07 EST
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> Subject: anti-foreword
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By Dennis Ritchie
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From: dmr@plan9.research.att.com
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Date: Tue, 15 Mar 1994 00:38:07 EST
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Subject: anti-foreword
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> To the contributers to this book:
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To the contributers to this book:
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> I have succumbed to the temptation you offered in your preface: I do write you
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> off as envious malcontents and romantic keepers of memories. The systems you
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> remember so fondly (TOPS-20, ITS, Multics, Lisp Machine, Cedar/Mesa, the Dorado)
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> are not just out to pasture, they are fertilizing it from below.
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I have succumbed to the temptation you offered in your preface: I do write you
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off as envious malcontents and romantic keepers of memories. The systems you
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remember so fondly (TOPS-20, ITS, Multics, Lisp Machine, Cedar/Mesa, the Dorado)
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are not just out to pasture, they are fertilizing it from below.
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> Your judgments are not keen, they are intoxicated by metaphor. In the Preface
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> you suffer first from heat, lice, and malnourishment, then become prisoners in
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> a Gulag. In Chapter 1 you are in turn infected by a virus, racked by drug
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> addiction, and addled by puffiness of the genome.
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Your judgments are not keen, they are intoxicated by metaphor. In the Preface
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you suffer first from heat, lice, and malnourishment, then become prisoners in
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a Gulag. In Chapter 1 you are in turn infected by a virus, racked by drug
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addiction, and addled by puffiness of the genome.
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> Yet your prison without coherent design continues to imprison you. How can
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> this be, if it has no strong places? The rational prisoner exploits the weak
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> places, creates order from chaos: instead, collectives like the FSF vindicate
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> their jailers by building cells almost compatible with the existing ones, albeit
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> with more features. The journalist with three undergraduate degrees from MIT,
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> the researcher at Microsoft, and the senior scientist at Apple might volunteer a
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> few words about the regulations of the prisons to which they have been
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> transferred.
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Yet your prison without coherent design continues to imprison you. How can
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this be, if it has no strong places? The rational prisoner exploits the weak
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places, creates order from chaos: instead, collectives like the FSF vindicate
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their jailers by building cells almost compatible with the existing ones, albeit
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with more features. The journalist with three undergraduate degrees from MIT,
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the researcher at Microsoft, and the senior scientist at Apple might volunteer a
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few words about the regulations of the prisons to which they have been
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transferred.
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> Your sense of the possible is in no sense pure: sometimes you want the same
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> thing you have, but wish you had done it yourselves; other times you want
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> something different, but can't seem to get people to use it; sometimes one
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> wonders why you just don't shut up and tell people to buy a PC with Windows or a
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> Mac. No Gulag or lice, just a future whose intellectual tone and interaction
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> style is set by Sonic the Hedgehog. You claim to seek progress, but you succeed
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> mainly in whining.
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Your sense of the possible is in no sense pure: sometimes you want the same
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thing you have, but wish you had done it yourselves; other times you want
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something different, but can't seem to get people to use it; sometimes one
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wonders why you just don't shut up and tell people to buy a PC with Windows or a
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Mac. No Gulag or lice, just a future whose intellectual tone and interaction
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style is set by Sonic the Hedgehog. You claim to seek progress, but you succeed
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mainly in whining.
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> Here is my metaphor: your book is a pudding stuffed with apposite
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> observations, many well-conceived. Like excrement, it contains enough undigested
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> nuggets of nutrition to sustain life for some. But it is not a tasty pie: it
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> reeks too much of contempt and of envy.
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Here is my metaphor: your book is a pudding stuffed with apposite
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observations, many well-conceived. Like excrement, it contains enough undigested
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nuggets of nutrition to sustain life for some. But it is not a tasty pie: it
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reeks too much of contempt and of envy.
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> Bon appetit!
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Bon appetit!
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```
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Yes he misspelt *'contributors'*! But then again we're talking about obfuscation
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and since it doesn't break his message it's not broken - it's just obfuscated
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@@ -1183,52 +1195,56 @@ contest is about? :)
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<a name="ken">Ken Thompson's</a> ending:
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> Creators Admit C, Unix Were Hoax
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```
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Creators Admit C, Unix Were Hoax
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> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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> In an announcement that has stunned the computer industry, Ken Thompson,
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Dennis Ritchie, and Brian Kernighan admitted that the Unix operating system and
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C programming language created by them is an elaborate April Fools prank kept
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alive for more than 20 years. Speaking at the recent UnixWorld Software
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Development Forum, Thompson revealed the following:
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In an announcement that has stunned the computer industry, Ken Thompson,
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Dennis Ritchie, and Brian Kernighan admitted that the Unix operating system and
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C programming language created by them is an elaborate April Fools prank kept
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alive for more than 20 years. Speaking at the recent UnixWorld Software
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Development Forum, Thompson revealed the following:
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> "In 1969, AT&T had just terminated their work with the GE/AT&T Multics
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project. Brian and I had just started working with an early release of Pascal
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from Professor Nichlaus Wirth's ETH labs in Switzerland, and we were impressed
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with its elegant simplicity and power. Dennis had just finished reading Bored of
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the Rings, a hilarious National Lampoon parody of the great Tolkien Lord of the
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Rings trilogy. As a lark, we decided to do parodies of the Multics environment
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and Pascal. Dennis and I were responsible for the operating environment. We
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looked at Multics and designed the new system to be as complex and cryptic as
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possible to maximize casual users' frustration levels, calling it Unix as a
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parody of Multics, as well as other more risque allusions.
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"In 1969, AT&T had just terminated their work with the GE/AT&T Multics
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project. Brian and I had just started working with an early release of Pascal
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from Professor Nichlaus Wirth's ETH labs in Switzerland, and we were impressed
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with its elegant simplicity and power. Dennis had just finished reading Bored of
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the Rings, a hilarious National Lampoon parody of the great Tolkien Lord of the
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Rings trilogy. As a lark, we decided to do parodies of the Multics environment
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and Pascal. Dennis and I were responsible for the operating environment. We
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looked at Multics and designed the new system to be as complex and cryptic as
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possible to maximize casual users' frustration levels, calling it Unix as a
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parody of Multics, as well as other more risque allusions.
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> "Then Dennis and Brian worked on a truly warped version of Pascal, called "A."
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When we found others were actually trying to programs with A, we quickly added
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additional cryptic features and evolved into B, BCPL, and finally C. We stopped
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when we got a clean compile on the following syntax:
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"Then Dennis and Brian worked on a truly warped version of Pascal, called "A."
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When we found others were actually trying to programs with A, we quickly added
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additional cryptic features and evolved into B, BCPL, and finally C. We stopped
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when we got a clean compile on the following syntax:
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```
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``` <!---c-->
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for(;P("\n"),R=;P("|"))for(e=C;e=P("_"+(*u++/
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8)%2))P("|"+(*u/4)%2);
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```
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> "To think that modern programmers would try to use a language that allowed
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such a statement was beyond our comprehension! We actually thought of selling
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this to the Soviets to set their computer science progress back 20 or more
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years. Imagine our surprise when AT&T and other U.S. corporations actually began
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trying to use Unix and C! It has taken them 20 years to develop enough
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expertise to generate even marginally useful applications using this 1960s
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technological parody, but we are impressed with the tenacity (if not common
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sense) of the general Unix and C programmer.
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```
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"To think that modern programmers would try to use a language that allowed
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such a statement was beyond our comprehension! We actually thought of selling
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this to the Soviets to set their computer science progress back 20 or more
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years. Imagine our surprise when AT&T and other U.S. corporations actually began
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trying to use Unix and C! It has taken them 20 years to develop enough
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expertise to generate even marginally useful applications using this 1960s
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technological parody, but we are impressed with the tenacity (if not common
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sense) of the general Unix and C programmer.
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> "In any event, Brian, Dennis, and I have been working exclusively in Lisp on
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the Apple Macintosh for the past few years and feel really guilty about the
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chaos, confusion, and truly bad programming that has resulted from our silly
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prank so long ago."
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"In any event, Brian, Dennis, and I have been working exclusively in Lisp on
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the Apple Macintosh for the past few years and feel really guilty about the
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chaos, confusion, and truly bad programming that has resulted from our silly
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prank so long ago."
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```
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> Major Unix and C vendors and customers, including AT&T, Microsoft,
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Major Unix and C vendors and customers, including AT&T, Microsoft,
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Hewlett-Packard, GTE, NCR, and DEC have refused comment at this time. Borland
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International, a leading vendor of Pascal and C tools, including the popular
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Turbo Pascal, Turbo C, and Turbo C++, stated they had suspected this for a
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@@ -1240,7 +1256,7 @@ cryptic statement, Professor Wirth of the ETH Institute and father of the
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Pascal, Modula 2, and Oberon structured languages, merely stated that P. T.
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Barnum was correct.
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**So is it a hoax about a non-hoax, a non-hoax about a hoax, a non-hoax about a
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So is it a hoax about a non-hoax, a non-hoax about a hoax, a non-hoax about a
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non-hoax or is it a hoax about a hoax ? :) And if it's any of those what does it
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mean about Unix and C?** And if a hoax is involved *what is the hoax?* The pedant
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and Tolkienist that I am has to state that **Tolkien didn't consider The Lord of
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