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Re: [gnugo-devel] xyzzy
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Re: [gnugo-devel] xyzzy |
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Wed, 24 Oct 2007 10:03:42 -0700 |
> I don't know the history of the xyzzy command at the counting screen
> (or of how many people know about it), but it seems kinda superfluous
> and silly to me. Maybe if it did something a little more useful...
>
> So, if you want to remove it, here is a patch.
The xyzzy command has its origins in the game of adventure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xyzzy
It is unlikely tha anyone who hasn't looked at the code
knows about it. From the Jargon File:
EASTER EGG n. 1. A message hidden in the object code of a program as a
joke, intended to be found by persons disassembling or browsing the
code. 2. A message, graphic, or sound-effect emitted by a program
(or, on a PC, the BIOS ROM) in response to some undocumented set of
commands or keystrokes, intended as a joke or to display program
credits. One well-known early easter egg found in a couple of OSs
and TECO caused them to respond to the command `make love' with
`not war?'. Many personal computers (other than the IBM PC) have
much more elaborate eggs hidden in ROM, including lists of the
developers' names, political exhortations, snatches of music, and
(in one case) graphics images of the entire development team.
Dan