[ On , September 14, 2000 at 17:28:30 (-0700), Russ Allbery wrote: ]
> Subject: Re: What is Cederqvist?
>
> Greg A Woods <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> > [ On Tuesday, September 12, 2000 at 17:15:25 (-0700), Tom Werges wrote: ]
>
> >> In my opinion, referring to a standard document by the last name of its
> >> author is not snooty or superior.
>
> > I suppose that depends on who you are. In my opinion it does very much
> > the opposite of giving credit to the author, especially when used
>
> It's very common practice in academia and has been picked up by some
> related communities. Consider "Stevens" for _Advanced Programming in the
> Unix Environment_ or _Unix Network Programming_ depending on context,
> "Knuth" for _The Art of Computer Programming_, "K&R" for _The C
> Programming Language_, etc.
I'm very well aware of those usages of the author's name.
Perhaps you've missed the significance of the word "the" in the phrase
used (i.e. "The Cederqvist").
When you refer to a book by its author's name it is generally only
acceptable to do so in a context where you are referring to what the
author says. For example: "Stevens says clearly that the IP layer must
support default routes." In those cases it's irrelevent whether you
refer to what he might have said in print or in person. If you ask
"When did he say that?" I can answer "In his TCP/IP tome vol.1 pg. 114."
Indeed in common colloquial speech many of us might contract "Have you
got your copy of Stevens handy?" into something slangish like "Got your
Stevens there?". Such slang shouldn't really be used in written
communications though, especially not in a public forum like info-cvs.
Referring to a book as "The <last-name>" is objectifying and
disembodying the person who wrote the book and reducing them to one sole
example of their creative efforts (even if they did only create one such
work to the best of your knowledge!).
The question should not be "what" but "who". The fact that it was asked
in the way it was proves my point succinctly.
Not only that but despite the very major contribution by Per Cederqvist
in creating the original version of the current CVS manual, it is not
his alone any longer. Many of us have made significant changes to the
CVS manual since it was first adopted as the official CVS documentation.
The appearance of the phrase "The Cederqvist" has *always* grated on my
nerves and I deplore its use!
--
Greg A. Woods
+1 416 218-0098 VE3TCP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <robohack!woods>
Planix, Inc. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Secrets of the Weird <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
