Re: Counting characters in command output?

[Lawrence Velázquez <larryv@xxxxxxx>]

On Thu, Feb 15, 2024, at 4:50 AM, Roman Perepelitsa wrote:
> On Wed, Feb 14, 2024 at 4:37 PM Ray Andrews <rayandrews@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>> What are the vectors? First must be logical necessity, second
>> consistency -- avoid strange exceptions -- third and fourth would
>> be helpfulness and tradition, with old-school guys favoring
>> tradition and guys like me favoring helpfulness.
>
> In any debate between tradition and helpfulness, ensure your
> counterpart agrees with this perspective. Should they present
> arguments they consider essential for necessity and consistency, and
> you categorize them merely as "tradition," dialogue ceases. From their
> standpoint, your stance appears at best inconsistent, or at worst,
> vague, and you fail to recognize their points even when clearly
> outlined.

I would push it further: The worst-case perception would be one of ignorant arrogance.  Compatibility is not tradition, but calling it so suggests a dismissive, uncharitable belief that there are no plausible reasons for it -- only a stubborn preference for How Things Used to Be.  People rarely respond well when they think they're being called sclerotic morons.

>> I wish there were enough of us on this list to put things to a vote
>> sometimes [...]
>
> For anything to happen, somebody has to do the work. There is no point
> in voting if the vote has no consequences: it's not an obligation for
> anybody to do the work, nor does any work require an approval from
> voters.

Voting is a poor mechanism for building consensus, in any case.

https://producingoss.com/en/consensus-democracy.html#when-to-vote

-- 
vq