On Wed, Mar 14, 2012 at 10:14:28PM +0000, Jonathan Anderson wrote:
>
> In fact, the runtime behaviour of the Debian "alternatives" system is simpler
> than that:
> http://segfault.in/2010/04/using-the-debian-alternatives-system/
>
> The custom Perl script with a config file is used to set up symlinks,
> which at runtime are... well, just symlinks. For instance, /usr/bin/vim
> is a symlink to /etc/alternatives/vim, which is itself a symlink to a
> binary like vim.gtk (example shamelessly stolen from the linked page,
> since I no longer have any Debian boxes to check for myself on :). No
> magic binaries or argv[0] fu.
>
> In one way, it's an elegant solution. On the other, it's a classic
> example of Wheeler's Law in action. :)
I'm peripherally aware of at least three different things known to at
least someone as Wheeler's Law. The only Wheeler's Law that comes to
mind as being relevant here is Wheeler's Law of Hype (which, ironically,
applies to itself to reduce the measure its own importance and
significance to one quarter according to how Andrew Wheeler stated the
law, but to one half according to his examples):
Each adjective reduces, by half, the importance and significance of a
blurb or award description.
Is that the Wheeler's Law you mean?
--
Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ]
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