Erik Naggum Quotes

Some gems from ErikNaggum (to find more, http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Erik+Naggum%22).

(Note: Erik frequently, but now always, doesn't bother to capitalize the first word of his sentences. Any capitalization errors in the quotes below should be left alone, unless the capitalization differs from the original text).

On PerlLanguage:

the unemployed programmer had a problem. "I know", said the programmer, "I'll just learn perl." the unemployed programmer now had two problems. (http://groups-beta.google.com/group/comp.lang.lisp/msg/fc76ebab1cb2f863)
- I have seen this attributed to JamieZawinski, and he supposedly uses sed and awk interchangeably with Perl. -- JosephDale
- I've seen this applied to many other things as well. The first time I heard it applied to RegularExpressions, i.e., "You have a problem. 'I know', you say, 'I'll use a regexp.' Now you have two problems." -- ChrisMellon?
life is too long to be an expert at harmful things, including such evilness as C++ and perl.
It's not that perl programmers are idiots, it's that the language rewards idiotic behavior in a way that no other language or tool has ever done.
If Perl is the solution, you're solving the wrong problem.
I guess there are some things that are so gross you just have to forget, or it'll destroy something within you. Perl is the first such thing I have known. [Erik actually wrote "destroy something with you", but I think that was a typo.]
...part of any serious QA is removing perl code the same way you go over a dilapidated building you inherit to remove chewing gum and duct tape and fix whatever was kept together for real
Excuse me while I barf in LarryWall's general direction.

On CeePlusPlus and C++ programmers: <http://groups.google.com/groups?q=g:thl2218095647d&hl=en&rnum=9&selm=3103356827666810%40naggum.no> (now <https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!msg/comp.lang.lisp/7xCvdzijzgU/fITqL4QMMQcJ>)

Quote: "C++ is a language strongly optimized for liars and people who go by guesswork and ignorance." (He doesn't just rant, though, he gives a rationale for why he thinks so, which makes it much more interesting.) Less than a month later he gets in a flame war with "Xah", another infamous flamer; the exchange is...jaw-dropping.

I am in awe. Now that is a rant!!! Glad you liked it, Doug. Erik makes RK look like a tame pussycat, and does so without adding the EffWord? to every other sentence.

Indeed. :-)

PaulRubin?: My favorite Erik rant is about XML: http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.lisp/msg/a0e340b526c4a07

My preferred one from http://groups-beta.google.com/group/gnu.emacs.help/msg/8651ccb239818129: Incompetence, like misery, seeks company.

On HostileStudents: http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=3230067718916717%40naggum.net (very clear thinking on the matter, the issues of trust, independent thought and economy are insightful)

On SchemeLanguage vs TengwarLanguage?: http://groups-beta.google.com/group/comp.lang.lisp/msg/b8aa5b537cf11bb4 That rant says very little about Tengwar, other than to make the (rather dubious now, maybe true in 2001 when ErikNaggum wrote this) claim that Tengwar is more frequently used. It's entirely an anti-Scheme rant, and not a very good one at that.

But those rants are fairly tame as far as Naggum goes. Here are some classics from Erik that can only be described as flames -- these ones are pure insult and AdHominem, and only briefly (if at all) address issues of substance:

His rants, to make a distinction, are much more interesting than his simple flames. He hasn't learned the art of the truly thermonuclear flames I used to see when I Usenetted a lot -- a shallow artform in any case.

And yet, they manage to contain some insights. For instance, it's true that people and facts enter into conflict with each other, so you have to choose to prioritize one over the other. In a technical forum, putting people first is a mistake. To think otherwise is to be a people-person.

They are not pure insult and AdHominem. Erik actually explains his position and stance very well, and the reasons for driving people out, when they won't modify their behaviour in a public forum. --DDJ

I have seen his flamethrower abruptly extinguished just once:

http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=alm3f9%247tv%241%40newsmaster.cc.columbia.edu

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