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Re: Replace and ReplaceAll -- simple application

  • To: mathgroup at smc.vnet.net
  • Subject: [mg106063] Re: Replace and ReplaceAll -- simple application
  • From: DrMajorBob <btreat1 at austin.rr.com>
  • Date: Thu, 31 Dec 2009 03:19:03 -0500 (EST)
  • References: <200912270006.TAA12080@smc.vnet.net> <hh72dp$kud$1@smc.vnet.net>
  • Reply-to: drmajorbob at yahoo.com

[I doubt Steve is interested in all this, and he certainly won't post  
it... but here goes.]

I think Andrzej's post (rant?) is overstated... but largely in style, not  
substance.

I complain (rant?) quite a bit myself, but I also answer a lot of  
questions. I give VERY substantial offline assistance at times (sometimes  
without an initial post to the group), and I try to contribute positives,  
in general, in terms of coding style and responsiveness to beginning  
users. I help people understand Mathematica, whenever I can.

I fully admit that Mathematica is better documented than most or all  
software I've worked with, despite my sometimes harsh assessment of Help  
deficiencies. I get annoyed at having to figure things out the hard way,  
and if that's what it is, that's what I call it. I sound more critical  
than I really am, but I have no patience for hints hidden somewhere in the  
docs. I want solid information, easily found.

Andrzej contributes far more to the group than I do, in some ways at  
least, and he rarely critiques anything but outright "bugs", both of which  
speak well of him.

I agree with Andrzej that some complainers don't contribute much to  
balance their criticism, but I don't believe I'm in that group. I fit, I  
hope, well into the middle ground between Andrzej and RJF.

I also agree that most of my gripes (and many of the gripes of others)  
have little to do with getting things done; Andrzej ignores problems that  
don't matter in practice, as well he should.

I frequently have to remind myself to do the same, and when I forget...  
there's always Andrzej!

Bobby

On Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:06:30 -0600, Andrzej Kozlowski <akoz at mimuw.edu.pl>  
wrote:

>
> On 31 Dec 2009, at 02:18, Richard Fateman wrote:
>
>> Andrzej Kozlowski wrote:
>>> What I find kind of impressive is that there are people who find it  
>>> amusing to keep posting essentially the same posts for about two  
>>> decades and this despite the fact that they are being completely  
>>> ignored by the developers (and there is no reason to think that  
>>> anything will ever change in this respect). Masochism?
>>
>> No, I think it is not masochism.
>> It is an attempt to provide a useful to answer questions that come up  
>> from time to time from people who would otherwise dismiss a CAS as  
>> useless and stupid bedause they find unexplainable (to them) behavior.
>
> Useful? Funny you should mention that. "Dismiss as useless and stupid"?  
> Its only you  that keeps doing that. A remarkable example of the purest  
> hypocrisy.
>
> Do you really think you have ever posted anything that would be useful  
> to anyone on this forum it its entire history?  Everything you have  
> posted over the years can be quite fairly summarised as the following  
> advice to new and naive users :  Mathematica is full of "bugs", and  
> other evil and perverse things, and  worse, was  created by a guy whose  
> guts I hate, so give it up and use instead my own favourite CAS, which  
> years ago I helped to make. Oh, and don't mind that it is practically  
> defunct and useless nowadays.
>>
>>
>>> I try to move with the times so what concerns me is that my Front End  
>>> is crashing too often.
>>
>> Maybe you should tie your shoelaces?
>>
>
> Well, this comment just shows typical shallowness of thinking and lack  
> of knowledge and well as manners.
> Has it ever occurred to you that here (in Japan) people generally do not  
> use shoelaces?
>
> Andrzej Kozlowski


-- 
DrMajorBob at yahoo.com


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