Re: [idn] 7CE

[Dave Crocker <dhc@dcrocker.net>]

At 09:58 AM 10/4/2001, D. J. Bernstein wrote:
>Dave Crocker writes:
> > 30 years of consistent use tends to carry more weight than a single
> > person's recent desire to impose linguistic changes.
>
>You are making a fool of yourself, Dave.

Gosh.  This is the first time.

For both of us, no doubt.


>The use of ``ASCII'' to mean ``7-bit'' is a silly mistake in some recent
>IETF documents: specifically, RFC 2130 and this group's ``ACE'' garbage.
>Now that the error has been pointed out, it can easily be fixed.

We could, perhaps, have an extended side debate about the relative 
seriousness of making a fool of oneself, versus making a point of 
demonstrating aggressive (and, of course, hostile) ignorance of history.

"We could do it, but it would be wrong."  (Nixon was undervalued as a 
system engineer.)

The Internet use of the terms "ASCII" and "7-bit ASCII" are short-form for 
the complete, 1973 Telnet label of:

         7-bit ASCII
         in an 8-bit field
         with the 8th bit off.

Dick Clark's crew would give it a 9.  You CAN dance to it.  And it shows 
that Internet geeks were into rap long before hip hop came along.

Such short-hand notations are common, convenient, and valid.  Even you use 
them.  It is well understood that when you make ad hominems, whatever words 
you choose really serve as a reflexive shorthand for communicating your own 
insecurities.  Failure to accommodate disagreement has occupies bulky 
tomes.  We do not need to read them.  Your terse ad hominems provide all 
the insight one might otherwise get from extensive reading.

At any rate, Dan, feel free to rail against the weight of linguistic 
convention in this community.  It will be a nice distraction for you, and 
will thereby allowing others to get some real work done.

d/

----------
Dave Crocker  <mailto:dcrocker@brandenburg.com>
Brandenburg InternetWorking  <http://www.brandenburg.com>
tel +1.408.246.8253;  fax +1.408.273.6464