Talk:Dr. Dobb's Journal
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[edit] Existence of Show preview button
Egil, how about using the Show preview button? Many small edits tend to be annoying to browse through, plus they are an unnecessary drain on server resources. Zocky 11:58 Jan 24, 2003 (UTC)
- Problem is: By nature I am an optimist...
[edit] The word miniscule
Before entering into an unnecessary mini-edit war, I would like to know the reason for miniscule to be considered a non-existent word (which it is not, according to this (Dict.org's definition) -- see also the synonym minuscule -- or, more relevantly, reasons for the word to be seen as unfitting in the context in which is is used in this article (this fitness of course being open for discussion).
Whereas all computers so far in existence having the sorry characteristic of having but limited resources, the word miniscule in said context indicates more precisely the difference in scale between the early microcomputers (i.e., µcomputers of the 1970s) and those of more recent years (actually from the mid-1980s until today) wrt resources. That's why I think limited doesn't quite cut it in the description here. --Wernher 19:57, 20 Sep 2004 (UTC)
- The word "miniscule" is derived from a misspelling of "minuscule", apparently in analogy with the word "miniature". While the misspelled word has seen much usage in recent years, it hasn't yet been accepted by mainstream usage guides. For example, my Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style says "minuscule. So spelled, not miniscule." All the major dictionaries list "miniscule" as a variant of "minuscule" if they list it all. For example, the Oxford English Dictionary says
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- Variant of MINUSCULE a., prob. arising partly from shift of stress from the second to the first syllable, and partly from association with MINIATURE a., MINIMUM a., etc. The form miniscule has attracted much attention both in usage guides and in journalism. Cf. Webster's Dict. Eng. Usage (1989) s.v. miniscule, and also: 1977 Listener 15 Dec. 782/3 The mis-spelling of the quasi-scientific term minuscule, as miniscule is now so common it is close to becoming accepted English. 1980 W. SAFIRE in N.Y. Times Mag. 8 June 16/2 The old-fashioned spelling is ‘minuscule’, but trendy people are pronouncing it ‘mi-NIS-kyool’, so what the hell.
- I don't see the purpose in using a controversial spelling when perfectly uncontroversial alternatives are available. Changing to "minuscule". Nohat 07:46, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)
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- No problemo, señor. :-) The main thing was to use "min(i|u)scule" instead of "limited", to more or less properly indicate the difference from today's personal computers. --Wernher 15:27, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)
[edit] 386BSD
If someone has the time/inclination, a bit about 386bsd's publication here would be appropriate I think.. 216.87.93.145 08:45, 3 Mar 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Bad link
The link in the caption is broken. Alison Chaiken 04:53, 28 April 2006 (UTC)
