>>>>> Steven D'Aprano <st...@remove-this-cybersource.com.au> (SD) wrote:
>SD> On Mon, 06 Jul 2009 05:47:18 -0700, Scott David Daniels wrote: >>> Steven D'Aprano wrote: >>>> ... That's the Wrong Way to do it -- >>>> you're using a screwdriver to hammer a nail.... >>> >>> Don't knock tool abuse (though I agree with you here). Sometimes tool >>> abuse can produce good results. For example, using hammers to drive >>> screws for temporary strong holds led to making better nails. >SD> Historically, nails were invented a long time before screws. Screws as >SD> fasteners weren't invented until the 1400s, nails were used thousands of >SD> years ago. >SD> And hammering screws makes temporary *weak* holds, not strong, because >SD> the screw only touches the sides of the hole lightly. Unless the screw >SD> has been specifically designed to be hammered, hammering screws is pretty >SD> much the definition of incompetence and/or laziness! In our language (Dutch, i.e. Guido's mother tongue) `American screwdriver' is an expression meaning `hammer' :=) -- Piet van Oostrum <p...@cs.uu.nl> URL: http://pietvanoostrum.com [PGP 8DAE142BE17999C4] Private email: p...@vanoostrum.org -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
