• (cs)

    isn't "etc" short for "et cetera", "et" being latin for "and"?

     

     

  • Rich (unregistered) in reply to unklegwar
    unklegwar:

    isn't "etc" short for "et cetera", "et" being latin for "and"?

    I think the literal translation is "and so forth" 

    captcha: initech 

  • Rhamphoryncus (unregistered) in reply to unklegwar

    According to wikpedia, "ex cetera" is a common mispronunciation. 

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Et_cetera

     

    (Woo, first post!  No no, *my* first post..)
  • Slippery Jim (unregistered) in reply to unklegwar

    Yeah, that's what I thought too. Et cetera, meaning "and so on", or something like that.

     Additionally, "dev" could be short for "developer", which would make it an even l337er name. Too bad it never took off.

     

    captcha = captcha
     

  • (cs)

    I still think /etc/... is misused. My distro, when/if I ever get around to deciding to maybe think about implementing it, will do things right!

  • (cs) in reply to Slippery Jim

    Slippery Jim:
     Additionally, "dev" could be short for "developer", which would make it an even l337er name.

    That gives /dev/null a whole new meaning!

  • (cs) in reply to unklegwar
    unklegwar:

    isn't "etc" short for "et cetera", "et" being latin for "and"?

    Yes, and "cetera" means "other (things)". 

    Nevertheless, /etc surely isn't a garage...
  • (cs) in reply to Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Over.
    Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Over.:

    Slippery Jim:
     Additionally, "dev" could be short for "developer", which would make it an even l337er name.

    That gives /dev/null a whole new meaning!



    Good god, I've been forwarding that poor man spam!
  • pillowcase (unregistered) in reply to Rich

    the point is that there is actually a folder in a unix system called /etc/


    but that folder is not for devices... its for configuration files and stuff.

    /dev/ contains files that act as links to devices. for instance there is /dev/cdrom or /dev/fd0 (floppy drive) 

    but calling the bus /etc/bus dosen't work... if there was a device called bus it wouldn't be in /etc/... it would be in /dev/

    make sense yet?

  • (cs)
    Alex Papadimoulis:

    Being laughed at and mocked by technical folks for having clueless marketing is not a good start in the "we get it" initiative.

     

    You got that right! 

  • Rich (unregistered) in reply to ranthoron

    bus is in /proc anyway.


    Rich
     

  • Steve (unregistered) in reply to pillowcase

    This is just an anecdote, its definitely not a WTF.

  • Jeff Bell (unregistered)

    Is this what is know as a bus error?

     

  • (cs) in reply to Steve

    Anonymous:
    This is just an anecdote, its definitely not a WTF.

    The real WTF is your post.

    Quit bringing us down with your "logic" and "reasoning"! It was an amusing story for IT geeks. Enjoy it.

  • (cs) in reply to Volmarias
    Volmarias:
    Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Over.:

    Slippery Jim:
     Additionally, "dev" could be short for "developer", which would make it an even l337er name.

    That gives /dev/null a whole new meaning!



    Good god, I've been forwarding that poor man spam!

    You fiend! Hang your head in shame!

  • (cs)

    Ah, marketroids.

    I worked for Gandalf Canada, which made networking products (most of which sucked, by the way).  One trade fair the marketroids gave away tiny sticks of deodourant marked "Gandalf: No sweat networking".  I pointed out to the marketroid at the booth that deodourant doesn't stop you sweating, it just covers up the stench, and so they should have given out sticks of anti-perspirant. He didn't get it.

    Evidently our customers did, because while I was there our share price went down to 70 cents.  I think Gandalf got bought out by "Mike and Terry's Lawnmowers" (Mitel) after I left.

     

  • Steve (unregistered) in reply to Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Over.
    Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Over.:

    Anonymous:
    This is just an anecdote, its definitely not a WTF.

    The real WTF is your post.

    Quit bringing us down with your "logic" and "reasoning"! It was an amusing story for IT geeks. Enjoy it.

     
    My point exactly.

     


    Amusing story = Anecdote
     

    Amusing story != WTF.

     

     

    And I did enjoy it. 

  • (cs)

    For those not hip to the standards: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesystem_Hierarchy_Standard

    /dev/bus would be best, but /home/bus has its points as well.

  • (cs) in reply to ranthoron

    Oh. I thought Cetera was that guy who left Chicago, and wrote the theme to Karate Kid II - "I am the man who will fight for your honor. I'll be the hero that you're dreaming of"  I think it was "The Glory Of Love".

     

    So therefore Et Cetera means "And The Ex-Chicago Vocalist Who Wrote Cheesy 80's Movie Theme Song". Not sure what that has to do with Unix, but *whatever*

  • Bernd (unregistered)

    It's not that wrong...

    In a way, it is a configuration bus. It's just that /etc/bus would be the configuration for the bus, not the bus for the configuration.

    /opt/bus would be the best choice, I'd say: Some third party brings in a bus to do unsupported things to the system, which is pretty much the MO for the overprized men in black that that blue company tends to bring in.

  • (cs)

    /etc/wtf/who/let/marketing/in/on/the/plan/now/we/have/a/technospeaking/idiot/on/the/loose/in/marketing

     

  • (cs)

    Bah! /dev/bus is even MORE of a WTF! EVERYONE knows that the TRUE name should have been /usr/local/share/lib/bus, I mean C'MON ppl!!!

     ;-P 

  • dasmb (unregistered)

    A dumb idea with a dumb "geek name" made dumber by a non geek?

    Cancellation's too good for it.

    PS: A bus is obviously not a device -- what's it plug into, dummy? -- so /dev is the wrong place for it anyway.  A bus is a system unto itself, in which case it should be the root.

    PPS: I hope to never work with anybody who would have found /dev/bus funny, even ironically.
     

  • jer (unregistered)

    I cant believe you guys are arguing about this. Clearly it should have been:

    #!/bus/(Insert company name here)

    :)

  • (cs) in reply to unklegwar
    unklegwar:

    Oh. I thought Cetera was that guy who left Chicago, and wrote the theme to Karate Kid II - "I am the man who will fight for your honor. I'll be the hero that you're dreaming of"  I think it was "The Glory Of Love".

     

    So therefore Et Cetera means "And The Ex-Chicago Vocalist Who Wrote Cheesy 80's Movie Theme Song". Not sure what that has to do with Unix, but *whatever*

    Dude, don't knock "The Glory of Love", playing that song was a great way to get some action from the ladies back in the day. They just hear it and *want* to put out, even if they were having doubts before. I dunno why, it just worked. Kinda like how Dire Straits is the best way for Arthur to get some action in So Long and Thanks For All the Fish.

  • (cs) in reply to pillowcase
    Anonymous:

    but calling the bus /etc/bus dosen't work... if there was a device called bus it wouldn't be in /etc/... it would be in /dev/

    /etc/bus could work.  As a long time Unix user, I don't see the problem.  That directory holds miscellaneous files, mostly configuration but other stuff as well.  A bus that drives around and helps out with porting efforts could be in /etc perhaps (though maybe /usr would work better).  Or a bus full of miscellaneous stuff.  I think the author latched onto "bus" as in the computer meaning and linked it to "device", and assumed that was the only possible interpretation.

    (Though technically, "bus" isn't a computer device at all.  There may be "/dev/bus" directories today, but it's just a subdirectory used to organize things.  I don't recall these directories existing at the time frame of this story.)

  • 1337 (unregistered)

    Alex Papadimoulis:
    ...

    Steve tried to explain what "/etc" is actually used for -- configuration and system administration related things -- but didn't really go anywhere. Thankfully, neither did the "/etc/bus." The project was canceled and Steve learned to keep marketing ideas to himself.

    maybe they couldn't find the bus driver??

     

  • (cs) in reply to 1337
    Anonymous:

    maybe they couldn't find the bus driver??

     

    Booo! That was painful. 

  • (cs) in reply to 1337

    i opt for /opt/bus.

    or perhaps /etc/init.d/<vendor specific implementation/bus start

     

    too bad microsoft didn't one one up them with a

    C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Support bus\bus.exe

    or something of the likes. although not really short and snappy. 

  • (cs) in reply to Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Over.
    Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Over.:
    unklegwar:

    Oh. I thought Cetera was that guy who left Chicago, and wrote the theme to Karate Kid II - "I am the man who will fight for your honor. I'll be the hero that you're dreaming of"  I think it was "The Glory Of Love".

     

    So therefore Et Cetera means "And The Ex-Chicago Vocalist Who Wrote Cheesy 80's Movie Theme Song". Not sure what that has to do with Unix, but *whatever*

    Dude, don't knock "The Glory of Love", playing that song was a great way to get some action from the ladies back in the day. They just hear it and *want* to put out, even if they were having doubts before. I dunno why, it just worked. Kinda like how Dire Straits is the best way for Arthur to get some action in So Long and Thanks For All the Fish.

    Lucky me, I managed to be dating the *one* chick that thought that song was a bunch of horsecrap at the time. She HATED it :-(

     

     

  • Ross Patterson (unregistered) in reply to ranthoron
    ranthoron:
    unklegwar:

    isn't "etc" short for "et cetera", "et" being latin for "and"?

    Yes, and "cetera" means "other (things)". 

    Nevertheless, /etc surely isn't a garage...
  • bob the dingo (unregistered) in reply to ptomblin

    ptomblin:
    I worked for Gandalf Canada, which made networking products (most of which sucked, by the way).

     

    that's odd, i would've figured the products to work like magic!

  • rycamor (unregistered)

    I think they should have gone all the way:

    /etc/bus.conf for the driver's seat -- clearly the place where the bus is "configured"

    /dev/bus0w0, /dev/bus0w1, /dev/bus0w2, /dev/bus0w3 for the wheels

    /usr/local/libexec/busdriver would be on the back of the driver's shirt

    /usr/local/bin/diesel for the engine

    /home/bus/seats for the "data"

    /home/bus/cgi-bin for the door

    I think it would've been a big hit. 



     

  • Ross Patterson (unregistered) in reply to pillowcase
    Anonymous:
    the point is that there is actually a folder in a unix system

    OK, that's a forfeit.  Unix systems don't have "folders", they have "directories".  Please by a round for the table.
  • (cs)

    Luckily, you can symlink /etc/bus to your desired bus device.

  • (cs) in reply to Ross Patterson

    Anonymous:
    Anonymous:
    the point is that there is actually a folder in a unix system

    OK, that's a forfeit.  Unix systems don't have "folders", they have "directories".  Please by a round for the table.

     

    A rose by any other name....

    Same concept different name. Is it Soda or Pop? Gas or Petrol? Folder or Directory?

  • (cs) in reply to unklegwar
    unklegwar:
    Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Over.:
    unklegwar:

    Oh. I thought Cetera was that guy who left Chicago, and wrote the theme to Karate Kid II - "I am the man who will fight for your honor. I'll be the hero that you're dreaming of"  I think it was "The Glory Of Love".

     

    So therefore Et Cetera means "And The Ex-Chicago Vocalist Who Wrote Cheesy 80's Movie Theme Song". Not sure what that has to do with Unix, but *whatever*

    Dude, don't knock "The Glory of Love", playing that song was a great way to get some action from the ladies back in the day. They just hear it and *want* to put out, even if they were having doubts before. I dunno why, it just worked. Kinda like how Dire Straits is the best way for Arthur to get some action in So Long and Thanks For All the Fish.

    Lucky me, I managed to be dating the *one* chick that thought that song was a bunch of horsecrap at the time. She HATED it :-(

     

     

    No wonder, given that Cetera's voice is only slightly more masculine than Celine Dion's.

  • arno. (unregistered)

    /etc : Editable Configuration Files

    I don't known if that etymology is the real one, but it seems quite correct

  • Anonymous (unregistered) in reply to Rich
    Anonymous:

    bus is in /proc anyway.


    Rich
     

     

    How has nobody else realized this?  It doesn't belong in /etc, /dev, /usr, /opt, or /home.

     

    The bloody directory actually exists already, and it exists in /proc!

  • Tei (unregistered)
    Alex Papadimoulis:

    Steve: You can't call it "/etc/bus" -- that doesn't make any sense.
    Marketer: Sure it does!
    Steve: Err, in UNIX, "/dev" is for devices, and a bus is clearly a device. Having it under "/etc" doesn't make se--
    Marketer: No, we've got it right. "/etc" is short for "ex cetera," which means "something additional." Therefore, "/etc/bus" is a perfectly correct name.


    My own contribution to this pseudo-WTF: 

    pamela.exe.txt

    application.c.doc

    www.sesamoe.www

    mv  .  ..

    wget -r -l 128 http://*

    cat /dev/raw | grep "cat /dev/raw"

    javascript:while(1) window.open("javascript:write('hello stupid'+prompt('your name?')").print();

    wine /home/Tei/c_drive/cygwin/bin/bash.exe

    cat # | banner | banner > /dev/printer

    cat /dev/random > /dev/sound  

    etc. 

    note: I can continue almost forever. 

     

  • Slippery Jim (unregistered) in reply to dasmb
    Anonymous:

    PS: A bus is obviously not a device -- what's it plug into, dummy? -- so /dev is the wrong place for it anyway.  A bus is a system unto itself, in which case it should be the root.

     

    A bus is just a set of wires. It plugs into a bridge. When people talk about configuring a bus, they're probably referring to the bridge, which is a device, so it would make sense for it to have a node in /dev.

    For that matter, I guess you could have a configuration file for it in /etc too.

    If they wanted to be more customer-centric, they could call it the /usr/bus. 

    If they want to stick it to their customers, they could call it the /proc/bus.

    If they want to repackage their product and sell it at a premium, they could call it the /var/bus.

    Aw, hell, this it too much work... 

  • SM (unregistered) in reply to rycamor
    Anonymous:

    I think they should have gone all the way:

    /etc/bus.conf for the driver's seat -- clearly the place where the bus is "configured"

    /dev/bus0w0, /dev/bus0w1, /dev/bus0w2, /dev/bus0w3 for the wheels

    /usr/local/libexec/busdriver would be on the back of the driver's shirt

    /usr/local/bin/diesel for the engine

    /home/bus/seats for the "data"

    /home/bus/cgi-bin for the door

    I think it would've been a big hit. 

     

     

    is the ignition labeled /bin/start ? 

  • (cs) in reply to Anonymous
    Anonymous:
    Anonymous:
    bus is in /proc anyway.
    ?Rich? 
     
    How has nobody else realized this?  It doesn't belong in /etc, /dev, /usr, /opt, or /home.
     
    The bloody directory actually exists already, and it exists in /proc!

    Only on Linux.

    /proc is traditionally used to keep track of processes (for 'ps').
  • Martin (unregistered) in reply to Steve

    Anonymous:
    This is just an anecdote, its definitely not a WTF.

     

    This is definately a WTF, as well as an anecdote. In fact, all WTFs are anecdotes.

     
    What makes this a WTF? geekery and bad management. Yes, geeks being smart and clever and then being overridden by PHBs to end up with something that's just stupid is pretty much the definition of a WTF.

     

  • (cs)

    Definitely a /marketing/wtf

  • (cs)

    Well, if you look at the Filesystem Hierarchy Specification...it should have been

    /srv/bus

    Which is slightly incorrect (/srv is for what's being served, not what's doing the serving), but it's very cute.

  • Reed (unregistered)

    As a temporarily present, portable system, it obviously ought to be either /mnt/bus or /tmp/bus

     



     

  • King Crab (unregistered)
  • Mr. A Nonny Mousse (unregistered) in reply to unklegwar
    unklegwar:
    isn't "etc" short for "et cetera", "et" being latin for "and"?
     
    Yep, that was my favorite part of the story --- the marketer not only didn't have a technical clue, he also didn't have a clue about human languages.
     
    As for /proc/bus, the FHS, and so on --- none of those things existed at the time; this is an "early 90s" story. 
  • (cs) in reply to SM
    Anonymous:
    Anonymous:

    I think they should have gone all the way:

    /etc/bus.conf for the driver's seat -- clearly the place where the bus is "configured"

    /dev/bus0w0, /dev/bus0w1, /dev/bus0w2, /dev/bus0w3 for the wheels

    /usr/local/libexec/busdriver would be on the back of the driver's shirt

    /usr/local/bin/diesel for the engine

    /home/bus/seats for the "data"

    /home/bus/cgi-bin for the door

    I think it would've been a big hit. 

     

     

    is the ignition labeled /bin/start ? 

    Nah, probably would be /etc/init.d/bus (or engine) start. Also, engine would probably be /sbin/diesel which reads from /dev/gastank. And depending on your bus, you might also have /dev/bus0w4, /dev/bus0w5, etc (if it's a particularly large bus). Also, the emergency brake can be labled /sbin/halt -nf (and the regular brake would be just /sbin/halt).

     (edit: guess it could also be /boot/ignition ...)
     

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