Re: CML2 1.3.1, aka "I stick my neck out a mile..."

nick
2001-04-30T16:18:37Z

I think ppl are recommending you BZ2 all your sigs......
Nick

On Mon, 30 Apr 2001, Eric S. Raymond wrote:

> Alexander Viro <viro@math.psu.edu>:
> > >From AFW FAQ:
> >
> > Q11. What is the McQuary limit?
> > A11. "There once was a man from Nantucket,
> > who lost his .sig in a bucket.
> > Five lines was too long,
> > columns 80 just strong,
> > so he didn't know where to tuck it."
> > A11. The limit on signature size: "4x80".
>
> I just added the following to the Jargon File masters:
>
> @hd{McQuary limit} @p{} 4 lines of at most 80 characters each,
> sometimes still cited on Usenet as the maximum acceptable size of a
> @es{sig block}. Before the great bandwidth explosion of the early
> 1990s, long sigs actually cost people running Usenet servers
> significant amounts of money. Nowadays social pressure against
> long sigs is intended to avoid waste of human attention rather
> than machine bandwidth. Accordingly, the McQuary limit should
> be considered a rule of thumb rather than a hard limit; it's
> best to avoid sigs that are large, repetitive, and distracting.
> See also @es{warlording}.
> --
> Eric S. Raymond
>
> What, then is law [government]? It is the collective organization of
> the individual right to lawful defense."
> -- Frederic Bastiat, "The Law"
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