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Annotation of 43BSDReno/games/fortune/Notes, revision 1.1

1.1     ! root        1: Warning:
        !             2:        The fortunes contained in the fortune database have been collected
        !             3:        haphazardly from a cacophony of sources, in number so huge it
        !             4:        boggles the mind.  It is impossible to do any meaningful quality
        !             5:        control on attributions, or lack thereof, or exactness of the quote.
        !             6:        Since this database is not used for profit, and since entire works
        !             7:        are not published, it falls under fair use, as we understand it.
        !             8:        However, if any half-assed idiot decides to make a profit off of
        !             9:        this, they will need to double check it all, and nobody not involved
        !            10:        of such an effort makes any warranty that anything in the database
        !            11:        bears any relation to the real world of literature, law, or other
        !            12:        bizzarrity.
        !            13: 
        !            14: ==> GENERAL INFORMATION
        !            15:        By default, fortune retrieves its fortune files from the directory
        !            16: /usr/share/games/fortune.  A fortune file has two parts: the source file
        !            17: (which contains the fortunes themselves) and the data file which describes
        !            18: the fortunes.  The data fil always has the same name as the fortune file
        !            19: with the string ".dat" concatenated, i.e. "fort" is the standard fortune
        !            20: database, and "fort.dat" is the data file which describes it.  See
        !            21: strfile(8) for more information on creating the data files.
        !            22:        Fortunes are split into potentially offensive and not potentially
        !            23: offensive parts.  The offensive version of a file has the same name as the
        !            24: non-offensive version with "-o" concatenated, i.e. "fort" is the standard
        !            25: fortune database, and "fort-o" is the standard offensive database.  The
        !            26: fortune program automatically assumes that any file with a name ending in
        !            27: "-o" is potentially offensive, and should therefore only be displayed if
        !            28: explicitly requested, either with the -o option or by specifying a file name
        !            29: on the command line.
        !            30:        Potentially offensive fortune files should NEVER be maintained in
        !            31: clear text on the system.  They are rotated (see caesar(6)) 13 positions.
        !            32: To create a new, potentially offensive database, use caesar to rotate it,
        !            33: and then create its data file with the -x option to strfile(8).  The fortune
        !            34: program automatically decrypts the text when it prints entries from such
        !            35: databases.
        !            36:        Anything which would not make it onto network prime time programming
        !            37: (or which would only be broadcast if some discredited kind of guy said it)
        !            38: MUST be in the potentially offensive database.  Fortunes containing any
        !            39: explicit language (see George Carlin's recent updated list) MUST be in the
        !            40: potentially offensive database.  Political and religious opinions are often
        !            41: sequestered in the potentially offensive section as well.  Anything which
        !            42: assumes as a world view blatantly racist, mysogynist (sexist), or homophobic
        !            43: ideas should not be in either, since they are not really funny unless *you*
        !            44: are racist, mysogynist, or homophobic.
        !            45:        The point of this is that people have should have a reasonable
        !            46: expectation that, should they just run "fortune", they will not be offended.
        !            47: We know that some people take offense at anything, but normal people do have
        !            48: opinions, too, and have a right not to have their sensibilities offended by
        !            49: a program which is supposed to be entertaining.  People who run "fortune
        !            50: -o" or "fortune -a" are saying, in effect, that they are willing to have
        !            51: their sensibilities tweaked.  However, they should not have their personal
        !            52: worth seriously (i.e., not in jest) assaulted.  Jokes which depend for their
        !            53: humor on racist, mysogynist, or homophobic stereotypes *do* seriously
        !            54: assault individual personal worth, and in an general entertainment medium
        !            55: we should be able to get by without it.
        !            56: 
        !            57: ==> FORMATTING
        !            58:        This file describes the format for fortunes in the database.  This
        !            59: is done in detail to make it easier to keep track of things.  Any rule given
        !            60: here may be broken to make a better joke.
        !            61: 
        !            62: [All examples are indented by one tab stop -- KCRCA]
        !            63: 
        !            64: Numbers should be given in parentheses, e.g.,
        !            65: 
        !            66:        (1)     Everything depends.
        !            67:        (2)     Nothing is always.
        !            68:        (3)     Everything is sometimes.
        !            69: 
        !            70: Attributions are two tab stops, followed by two hyphens, followed by a
        !            71: space, followed by the attribution, and are *not* preceded by blank
        !            72: lines.  Book, journal, movie, and all other titles are in quotes, e.g.,
        !            73: 
        !            74:        $100 invested at 7% interest for 100 years will become $100,000, at
        !            75:        which time it will be worth absolutely nothing.
        !            76:                        -- Lazarus Long, "Time Enough for Love"
        !            77: 
        !            78: Attributions which do not fit on one (72 char) line should be continued
        !            79: on a line which lines up below the first text of the attribution, e.g.,
        !            80: 
        !            81:                        -- A very long attribution which might not fit on one
        !            82:                           line, "Ken Arnold's Stupid Sayings"
        !            83: 
        !            84: Single paragraph fortunes are in left justified (non-indented) paragraphs
        !            85: unless they fall into another category listed below (see example above).
        !            86: Longer fortunes should also be in left justified paragraphs, but if this
        !            87: makes it too long, try indented paragraphs, with indentations of either one
        !            88: tab stop or 5 chars.  Indentations of less than 5 are too hard to read.
        !            89: 
        !            90: Laws have the title left justified and capitalized, followed by a colon,
        !            91: with all the text of the law itself indented one tab stop, initially
        !            92: capitalized, e.g.,
        !            93: 
        !            94:        A Law of Computer Programming:
        !            95:                Make it possible for programmers to write in English and
        !            96:                you will find the programmers cannot write in English.
        !            97: 
        !            98: Limericks are indented as follows, all lines capitalized:
        !            99: 
        !           100:        A computer, to print out a fact,
        !           101:        Will divide, multiply, and subtract.
        !           102:                But this output can be
        !           103:                No more than debris,
        !           104:        If the input was short of exact.
        !           105: 
        !           106: Accents precede the letter they are over, e.g., "`^He" for e with a grave
        !           107: accent.  Underlining is done on a word-by-word basis, with the underlines
        !           108: preceding the word, e.g., "__^H^Hhi ____^H^H^H^Hthere".
        !           109: 
        !           110: No fortune should run beyond 72 characters on a single line without good
        !           111: justification (er, no pun intended).  And no right margin justification,
        !           112: either.  Sorry.  For BSD people, there is a program called "fmt" which can
        !           113: make this kind of formatting easier.
        !           114: 
        !           115: Definitions are given with the word or phrase left justified, followed by
        !           116: the part of speech (if appropriate) and a colon.  The definition starts
        !           117: indented by one tab stop, with subsequent lines left justified, e.g.,
        !           118: 
        !           119:        Afternoon, n.:
        !           120:                That part of the day we spend worrying about how we wasted
        !           121:        the morning.
        !           122: 
        !           123: Quotes are sometimes put around statements which are funnier or make more
        !           124: sense if they are understood as being spoken, rather than written,
        !           125: communication, e.g.,
        !           126: 
        !           127:        "All my friends and I are crazy.  That's the only thing that
        !           128:        keeps us sane."
        !           129: 
        !           130: Ellipses are always surrounded by spaces, except when next to punctuation,
        !           131: and are three dots long.
        !           132: 
        !           133:        "... all the modern inconveniences ..."
        !           134:                        -- Mark Twain
        !           135: 
        !           136: Human initials always have spaces after the periods, e.g, "P. T.  Barnum",
        !           137: not "P.T. Barnum".  However, "P.T.A.", not "P. T. A.".
        !           138: 
        !           139: All fortunes should be attributed, but if and only if they are original with
        !           140: somebody.  Many people have said things that are folk sayings (i.e., are
        !           141: common among the folk (i.e., us common slobs)).  There is nothing wrong with
        !           142: this, of course, but such statements should not be attributed to individuals
        !           143: who did not invent them.
        !           144: 
        !           145: Horoscopes should have the sign indented by one tab stop, followed by the
        !           146: dates of the sign, with the text left justified below it, e.g.,
        !           147: 
        !           148:                AQUARIUS (Jan 20 - Feb 18)
        !           149:        You have an inventive mind and are inclined to be progressive.  You
        !           150:        lie a great deal.  On the other hand, you are inclined to be
        !           151:        careless and impractical, causing you to make the same mistakes over
        !           152:        and over again.  People think you are stupid.
        !           153: 
        !           154: Single quotes should not be used except as quotes within quotes.  Not even
        !           155: single quotes masquerading as double quotes are to be used, e.g., don't say
        !           156: ``hi there'' or `hi there' or 'hi there', but "hi there".  However, you
        !           157: *can* say "I said, `hi there'".
        !           158: 
        !           159: A long poem or song can be ordered as follows in order to make it fit on a
        !           160: screen (fortunes should be 19 lines or less if at all possible) (numbers
        !           161: here are stanza numbers):
        !           162: 
        !           163:        11111111111111111111
        !           164:        11111111111111111111
        !           165:        11111111111111111111                    22222222222222222222
        !           166:        11111111111111111111                    22222222222222222222
        !           167:                                                22222222222222222222
        !           168:        33333333333333333333                    22222222222222222222
        !           169:        33333333333333333333
        !           170:        33333333333333333333                    44444444444444444444
        !           171:        33333333333333333333                    44444444444444444444
        !           172:                                                44444444444444444444
        !           173:                                                44444444444444444444
        !           174: 
        !           175: 

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