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Re: is this procmail rant justified?

2002-01-30 11:05:01
From: "David W. Tamkin" <dattier(_at_)ripco(_dot_)com>

When Dallman wrote,

But what I do know enough about to judge is the poster's
English.  He doesn't know a dangling modifier when one bites
*his* ass.  So I'm inclined to be skeptical of his ability
to parse code.

Marco asked him,

| You lost me on this one: are you *really* saying that one needs
| to be a native English speaker to be a good programmer?

I read Dallman's statement to say that the ranter's poor job of
expressing himself in his own native language indicates that he is
grossly untalented in dealing with the written word, in comprehending
(much less applying) the rules of any language, and in judging what
makes good writing; that therefore he has no business criticizing
another's writing style when his own writing skills are so weak.  If
he can't tell good writing from bad in his native language, how can he
claim to tell them apart in another?

Dallman never said that one needed to be skilled in English to be
skilled in C, nor vice versa.  Goodness knows that fluency in either
is neither necessary nor sufficient -- nor even helpful -- for fluency
in the other.

Thanks.  That's exactly right.  I'm glad I was gone for a couple
of hours while David composed that answer; saved me the trouble.  :-)

-- 
dman
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