1 1.3 rillig # $NetBSD: Notes,v 1.3 2024/09/08 09:36:47 rillig Exp $ 2 1.2 cgd # @(#)Notes 8.1 (Berkeley) 5/31/93 3 1.2 cgd 4 1.1 cgd Warning: 5 1.1 cgd The fortunes contained in the fortune database have been collected 6 1.1 cgd haphazardly from a cacophony of sources, in number so huge it 7 1.1 cgd boggles the mind. It is impossible to do any meaningful quality 8 1.1 cgd control on attributions, or lack thereof, or exactness of the quote. 9 1.1 cgd Since this database is not used for profit, and since entire works 10 1.1 cgd are not published, it falls under fair use, as we understand it. 11 1.1 cgd However, if any half-assed idiot decides to make a profit off of 12 1.1 cgd this, they will need to double check it all, and nobody not involved 13 1.1 cgd of such an effort makes any warranty that anything in the database 14 1.1 cgd bears any relation to the real world of literature, law, or other 15 1.1 cgd bizzarrity. 16 1.1 cgd 17 1.1 cgd ==> GENERAL INFORMATION 18 1.1 cgd By default, fortune retrieves its fortune files from the directory 19 1.1 cgd /usr/share/games/fortune. A fortune file has two parts: the source file 20 1.1 cgd (which contains the fortunes themselves) and the data file which describes 21 1.1 cgd the fortunes. The data fil always has the same name as the fortune file 22 1.1 cgd with the string ".dat" concatenated, i.e. "fort" is the standard fortune 23 1.1 cgd database, and "fort.dat" is the data file which describes it. See 24 1.1 cgd strfile(8) for more information on creating the data files. 25 1.1 cgd Fortunes are split into potentially offensive and not potentially 26 1.1 cgd offensive parts. The offensive version of a file has the same name as the 27 1.1 cgd non-offensive version with "-o" concatenated, i.e. "fort" is the standard 28 1.1 cgd fortune database, and "fort-o" is the standard offensive database. The 29 1.1 cgd fortune program automatically assumes that any file with a name ending in 30 1.1 cgd "-o" is potentially offensive, and should therefore only be displayed if 31 1.1 cgd explicitly requested, either with the -o option or by specifying a file name 32 1.1 cgd on the command line. 33 1.1 cgd Potentially offensive fortune files should NEVER be maintained in 34 1.1 cgd clear text on the system. They are rotated (see caesar(6)) 13 positions. 35 1.1 cgd To create a new, potentially offensive database, use caesar to rotate it, 36 1.1 cgd and then create its data file with the -x option to strfile(8). The fortune 37 1.1 cgd program automatically decrypts the text when it prints entries from such 38 1.1 cgd databases. 39 1.1 cgd Anything which would not make it onto network prime time programming 40 1.1 cgd (or which would only be broadcast if some discredited kind of guy said it) 41 1.1 cgd MUST be in the potentially offensive database. Fortunes containing any 42 1.1 cgd explicit language (see George Carlin's recent updated list) MUST be in the 43 1.1 cgd potentially offensive database. Political and religious opinions are often 44 1.1 cgd sequestered in the potentially offensive section as well. Anything which 45 1.1 cgd assumes as a world view blatantly racist, mysogynist (sexist), or homophobic 46 1.1 cgd ideas should not be in either, since they are not really funny unless *you* 47 1.1 cgd are racist, mysogynist, or homophobic. 48 1.1 cgd The point of this is that people have should have a reasonable 49 1.1 cgd expectation that, should they just run "fortune", they will not be offended. 50 1.1 cgd We know that some people take offense at anything, but normal people do have 51 1.1 cgd opinions, too, and have a right not to have their sensibilities offended by 52 1.1 cgd a program which is supposed to be entertaining. People who run "fortune 53 1.1 cgd -o" or "fortune -a" are saying, in effect, that they are willing to have 54 1.1 cgd their sensibilities tweaked. However, they should not have their personal 55 1.1 cgd worth seriously (i.e., not in jest) assaulted. Jokes which depend for their 56 1.1 cgd humor on racist, mysogynist, or homophobic stereotypes *do* seriously 57 1.3 rillig assault individual personal worth, and in a general entertainment medium 58 1.1 cgd we should be able to get by without it. 59 1.1 cgd 60 1.1 cgd ==> FORMATTING 61 1.1 cgd This file describes the format for fortunes in the database. This 62 1.1 cgd is done in detail to make it easier to keep track of things. Any rule given 63 1.1 cgd here may be broken to make a better joke. 64 1.1 cgd 65 1.1 cgd [All examples are indented by one tab stop -- KCRCA] 66 1.1 cgd 67 1.1 cgd Numbers should be given in parentheses, e.g., 68 1.1 cgd 69 1.1 cgd (1) Everything depends. 70 1.1 cgd (2) Nothing is always. 71 1.1 cgd (3) Everything is sometimes. 72 1.1 cgd 73 1.1 cgd Attributions are two tab stops, followed by two hyphens, followed by a 74 1.1 cgd space, followed by the attribution, and are *not* preceded by blank 75 1.1 cgd lines. Book, journal, movie, and all other titles are in quotes, e.g., 76 1.1 cgd 77 1.1 cgd $100 invested at 7% interest for 100 years will become $100,000, at 78 1.1 cgd which time it will be worth absolutely nothing. 79 1.1 cgd -- Lazarus Long, "Time Enough for Love" 80 1.1 cgd 81 1.1 cgd Attributions which do not fit on one (72 char) line should be continued 82 1.1 cgd on a line which lines up below the first text of the attribution, e.g., 83 1.1 cgd 84 1.1 cgd -- A very long attribution which might not fit on one 85 1.1 cgd line, "Ken Arnold's Stupid Sayings" 86 1.1 cgd 87 1.1 cgd Single paragraph fortunes are in left justified (non-indented) paragraphs 88 1.1 cgd unless they fall into another category listed below (see example above). 89 1.1 cgd Longer fortunes should also be in left justified paragraphs, but if this 90 1.1 cgd makes it too long, try indented paragraphs, with indentations of either one 91 1.1 cgd tab stop or 5 chars. Indentations of less than 5 are too hard to read. 92 1.1 cgd 93 1.1 cgd Laws have the title left justified and capitalized, followed by a colon, 94 1.1 cgd with all the text of the law itself indented one tab stop, initially 95 1.1 cgd capitalized, e.g., 96 1.1 cgd 97 1.1 cgd A Law of Computer Programming: 98 1.1 cgd Make it possible for programmers to write in English and 99 1.1 cgd you will find the programmers cannot write in English. 100 1.1 cgd 101 1.1 cgd Limericks are indented as follows, all lines capitalized: 102 1.1 cgd 103 1.1 cgd A computer, to print out a fact, 104 1.1 cgd Will divide, multiply, and subtract. 105 1.1 cgd But this output can be 106 1.1 cgd No more than debris, 107 1.1 cgd If the input was short of exact. 108 1.1 cgd 109 1.1 cgd Accents precede the letter they are over, e.g., "`^He" for e with a grave 110 1.1 cgd accent. Underlining is done on a word-by-word basis, with the underlines 111 1.1 cgd preceding the word, e.g., "__^H^Hhi ____^H^H^H^Hthere". 112 1.1 cgd 113 1.1 cgd No fortune should run beyond 72 characters on a single line without good 114 1.1 cgd justification (er, no pun intended). And no right margin justification, 115 1.1 cgd either. Sorry. For BSD people, there is a program called "fmt" which can 116 1.1 cgd make this kind of formatting easier. 117 1.1 cgd 118 1.1 cgd Definitions are given with the word or phrase left justified, followed by 119 1.1 cgd the part of speech (if appropriate) and a colon. The definition starts 120 1.1 cgd indented by one tab stop, with subsequent lines left justified, e.g., 121 1.1 cgd 122 1.1 cgd Afternoon, n.: 123 1.1 cgd That part of the day we spend worrying about how we wasted 124 1.1 cgd the morning. 125 1.1 cgd 126 1.1 cgd Quotes are sometimes put around statements which are funnier or make more 127 1.1 cgd sense if they are understood as being spoken, rather than written, 128 1.1 cgd communication, e.g., 129 1.1 cgd 130 1.1 cgd "All my friends and I are crazy. That's the only thing that 131 1.1 cgd keeps us sane." 132 1.1 cgd 133 1.1 cgd Ellipses are always surrounded by spaces, except when next to punctuation, 134 1.1 cgd and are three dots long. 135 1.1 cgd 136 1.1 cgd "... all the modern inconveniences ..." 137 1.1 cgd -- Mark Twain 138 1.1 cgd 139 1.1 cgd Human initials always have spaces after the periods, e.g, "P. T. Barnum", 140 1.1 cgd not "P.T. Barnum". However, "P.T.A.", not "P. T. A.". 141 1.1 cgd 142 1.1 cgd All fortunes should be attributed, but if and only if they are original with 143 1.1 cgd somebody. Many people have said things that are folk sayings (i.e., are 144 1.1 cgd common among the folk (i.e., us common slobs)). There is nothing wrong with 145 1.1 cgd this, of course, but such statements should not be attributed to individuals 146 1.1 cgd who did not invent them. 147 1.1 cgd 148 1.1 cgd Horoscopes should have the sign indented by one tab stop, followed by the 149 1.1 cgd dates of the sign, with the text left justified below it, e.g., 150 1.1 cgd 151 1.1 cgd AQUARIUS (Jan 20 - Feb 18) 152 1.1 cgd You have an inventive mind and are inclined to be progressive. You 153 1.1 cgd lie a great deal. On the other hand, you are inclined to be 154 1.1 cgd careless and impractical, causing you to make the same mistakes over 155 1.1 cgd and over again. People think you are stupid. 156 1.1 cgd 157 1.1 cgd Single quotes should not be used except as quotes within quotes. Not even 158 1.1 cgd single quotes masquerading as double quotes are to be used, e.g., don't say 159 1.1 cgd ``hi there'' or `hi there' or 'hi there', but "hi there". However, you 160 1.1 cgd *can* say "I said, `hi there'". 161 1.1 cgd 162 1.1 cgd A long poem or song can be ordered as follows in order to make it fit on a 163 1.1 cgd screen (fortunes should be 19 lines or less if at all possible) (numbers 164 1.1 cgd here are stanza numbers): 165 1.1 cgd 166 1.1 cgd 11111111111111111111 167 1.1 cgd 11111111111111111111 168 1.1 cgd 11111111111111111111 22222222222222222222 169 1.1 cgd 11111111111111111111 22222222222222222222 170 1.1 cgd 22222222222222222222 171 1.1 cgd 33333333333333333333 22222222222222222222 172 1.1 cgd 33333333333333333333 173 1.1 cgd 33333333333333333333 44444444444444444444 174 1.1 cgd 33333333333333333333 44444444444444444444 175 1.1 cgd 44444444444444444444 176 1.1 cgd 44444444444444444444 177 1.1 cgd 178 1.1 cgd 179
Indexes created Sat Sep 27 22:09:54 GMT 2025