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Re: Linus (?) quotation 'lazy'



 On Fri, Feb 08, 2008 at 02:56:25PM -0500, Eric Chadbourne wrote: 
> I remember somewhere a quote about being lazy in a good way.  Lazy & 
> curious maybe...  I think Linus said it, not sure.  Anybody know what 
> I'm talking about?  I need a cool quote for the dry marker board next to 
> my desk.  :p 

The three cardinal virtues of a programmer, according to Lary 
Wall, original author of Perl: 


Laziness 
    The quality that makes you go to great effort to reduce 
overall energy expenditure. It makes you write labor-saving 
programs that other people will find useful, and document what 
you wrote so you don't have to answer so many questions about 
it. Hence, the first great virtue of a programmer. Also hence, 
this book. See also impatience and hubris. 

Impatience 
    The anger you feel when the computer is being lazy. This 
makes you write programs that don't just react to your needs, 
but actually anticipate them. Or at least pretend to. Hence, the 
second great virtue of a programmer. See also laziness and 
hubris. 

Hubris 
    Excessive pride, the sort of thing Zeus zaps you for. Also 
the quality that makes you write (and maintain) programs that 
other people won't want to say bad things about. Hence, the 
third great virtue of a programmer. See also laziness and 
impatience. 


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