GNU bug report logs - #38002
Please remove this joke

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Package: emacs;

Reported by: Cecilio Pardo <cpardo <at> imayhem.com>

Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2019 14:35:01 UTC

Severity: wishlist

Tags: fixed, patch

Fixed in version 27.1

Done: Lars Ingebrigtsen <larsi <at> gnus.org>

Bug is archived. No further changes may be made.

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From: Marcin Borkowski <mbork <at> mbork.pl>
To: nipponpost <at> airmail.cc
Cc: bug-gnu-emacs <bug-gnu-emacs-bounces+nipponpost=airmail.cc <at> gnu.org>, rms <at> gnu.org, 38002 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#38002: Please remove this joke
Date: Sat, 02 Nov 2019 09:52:40 +0100
On 2019-11-01, at 21:30, nipponpost <at> airmail.cc wrote:

> A joke is not a bug: it has /absolutely/ nothing to do with the
> operation of the software; it isn't even /part/ of the software.

The Emacs manual explicitly claims that unclear documentation is a bug
(in the docs).  I think that you can say the same about a bad joke.

Fun fact: I am currently writing a book (a pretty serious textbook on
advanced mathematics, by three authors), and I've put a fair share of
jokes in it.  A reviewer asked to remove one of them.  I was slightly
sad, but I did it without much hesitation.  (Though both the reviewer
and me agreed that it was not _bad_ per se.)

> What it is, is a makers' mark.
> A signature.
> A piece of the author.
> "This is me, this is part of my personality"

You could apply exactly the same words to some bugs.  Yet, we remove
them.

Best,

--
Marcin Borkowski
http://mbork.pl




This bug report was last modified 5 years and 286 days ago.

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