Notes revision 1.1.1.2
1 1.1.1.2 cgd # @(#)Notes 8.1 (Berkeley) 5/31/93 2 1.1.1.2 cgd 3 1.1 cgd Warning: 4 1.1 cgd The fortunes contained in the fortune database have been collected 5 1.1 cgd haphazardly from a cacophony of sources, in number so huge it 6 1.1 cgd boggles the mind. It is impossible to do any meaningful quality 7 1.1 cgd control on attributions, or lack thereof, or exactness of the quote. 8 1.1 cgd Since this database is not used for profit, and since entire works 9 1.1 cgd are not published, it falls under fair use, as we understand it. 10 1.1 cgd However, if any half-assed idiot decides to make a profit off of 11 1.1 cgd this, they will need to double check it all, and nobody not involved 12 1.1 cgd of such an effort makes any warranty that anything in the database 13 1.1 cgd bears any relation to the real world of literature, law, or other 14 1.1 cgd bizzarrity. 15 1.1 cgd 16 1.1 cgd ==> GENERAL INFORMATION 17 1.1 cgd By default, fortune retrieves its fortune files from the directory 18 1.1 cgd /usr/share/games/fortune. A fortune file has two parts: the source file 19 1.1 cgd (which contains the fortunes themselves) and the data file which describes 20 1.1 cgd the fortunes. The data fil always has the same name as the fortune file 21 1.1 cgd with the string ".dat" concatenated, i.e. "fort" is the standard fortune 22 1.1 cgd database, and "fort.dat" is the data file which describes it. See 23 1.1 cgd strfile(8) for more information on creating the data files. 24 1.1 cgd Fortunes are split into potentially offensive and not potentially 25 1.1 cgd offensive parts. The offensive version of a file has the same name as the 26 1.1 cgd non-offensive version with "-o" concatenated, i.e. "fort" is the standard 27 1.1 cgd fortune database, and "fort-o" is the standard offensive database. The 28 1.1 cgd fortune program automatically assumes that any file with a name ending in 29 1.1 cgd "-o" is potentially offensive, and should therefore only be displayed if 30 1.1 cgd explicitly requested, either with the -o option or by specifying a file name 31 1.1 cgd on the command line. 32 1.1 cgd Potentially offensive fortune files should NEVER be maintained in 33 1.1 cgd clear text on the system. They are rotated (see caesar(6)) 13 positions. 34 1.1 cgd To create a new, potentially offensive database, use caesar to rotate it, 35 1.1 cgd and then create its data file with the -x option to strfile(8). The fortune 36 1.1 cgd program automatically decrypts the text when it prints entries from such 37 1.1 cgd databases. 38 1.1 cgd Anything which would not make it onto network prime time programming 39 1.1 cgd (or which would only be broadcast if some discredited kind of guy said it) 40 1.1 cgd MUST be in the potentially offensive database. Fortunes containing any 41 1.1 cgd explicit language (see George Carlin's recent updated list) MUST be in the 42 1.1 cgd potentially offensive database. Political and religious opinions are often 43 1.1 cgd sequestered in the potentially offensive section as well. Anything which 44 1.1 cgd assumes as a world view blatantly racist, mysogynist (sexist), or homophobic 45 1.1 cgd ideas should not be in either, since they are not really funny unless *you* 46 1.1 cgd are racist, mysogynist, or homophobic. 47 1.1 cgd The point of this is that people have should have a reasonable 48 1.1 cgd expectation that, should they just run "fortune", they will not be offended. 49 1.1 cgd We know that some people take offense at anything, but normal people do have 50 1.1 cgd opinions, too, and have a right not to have their sensibilities offended by 51 1.1 cgd a program which is supposed to be entertaining. People who run "fortune 52 1.1 cgd -o" or "fortune -a" are saying, in effect, that they are willing to have 53 1.1 cgd their sensibilities tweaked. However, they should not have their personal 54 1.1 cgd worth seriously (i.e., not in jest) assaulted. Jokes which depend for their 55 1.1 cgd humor on racist, mysogynist, or homophobic stereotypes *do* seriously 56 1.1 cgd assault individual personal worth, and in an general entertainment medium 57 1.1 cgd we should be able to get by without it. 58 1.1 cgd 59 1.1 cgd ==> FORMATTING 60 1.1 cgd This file describes the format for fortunes in the database. This 61 1.1 cgd is done in detail to make it easier to keep track of things. Any rule given 62 1.1 cgd here may be broken to make a better joke. 63 1.1 cgd 64 1.1 cgd [All examples are indented by one tab stop -- KCRCA] 65 1.1 cgd 66 1.1 cgd Numbers should be given in parentheses, e.g., 67 1.1 cgd 68 1.1 cgd (1) Everything depends. 69 1.1 cgd (2) Nothing is always. 70 1.1 cgd (3) Everything is sometimes. 71 1.1 cgd 72 1.1 cgd Attributions are two tab stops, followed by two hyphens, followed by a 73 1.1 cgd space, followed by the attribution, and are *not* preceded by blank 74 1.1 cgd lines. Book, journal, movie, and all other titles are in quotes, e.g., 75 1.1 cgd 76 1.1 cgd $100 invested at 7% interest for 100 years will become $100,000, at 77 1.1 cgd which time it will be worth absolutely nothing. 78 1.1 cgd -- Lazarus Long, "Time Enough for Love" 79 1.1 cgd 80 1.1 cgd Attributions which do not fit on one (72 char) line should be continued 81 1.1 cgd on a line which lines up below the first text of the attribution, e.g., 82 1.1 cgd 83 1.1 cgd -- A very long attribution which might not fit on one 84 1.1 cgd line, "Ken Arnold's Stupid Sayings" 85 1.1 cgd 86 1.1 cgd Single paragraph fortunes are in left justified (non-indented) paragraphs 87 1.1 cgd unless they fall into another category listed below (see example above). 88 1.1 cgd Longer fortunes should also be in left justified paragraphs, but if this 89 1.1 cgd makes it too long, try indented paragraphs, with indentations of either one 90 1.1 cgd tab stop or 5 chars. Indentations of less than 5 are too hard to read. 91 1.1 cgd 92 1.1 cgd Laws have the title left justified and capitalized, followed by a colon, 93 1.1 cgd with all the text of the law itself indented one tab stop, initially 94 1.1 cgd capitalized, e.g., 95 1.1 cgd 96 1.1 cgd A Law of Computer Programming: 97 1.1 cgd Make it possible for programmers to write in English and 98 1.1 cgd you will find the programmers cannot write in English. 99 1.1 cgd 100 1.1 cgd Limericks are indented as follows, all lines capitalized: 101 1.1 cgd 102 1.1 cgd A computer, to print out a fact, 103 1.1 cgd Will divide, multiply, and subtract. 104 1.1 cgd But this output can be 105 1.1 cgd No more than debris, 106 1.1 cgd If the input was short of exact. 107 1.1 cgd 108 1.1 cgd Accents precede the letter they are over, e.g., "`^He" for e with a grave 109 1.1 cgd accent. Underlining is done on a word-by-word basis, with the underlines 110 1.1 cgd preceding the word, e.g., "__^H^Hhi ____^H^H^H^Hthere". 111 1.1 cgd 112 1.1 cgd No fortune should run beyond 72 characters on a single line without good 113 1.1 cgd justification (er, no pun intended). And no right margin justification, 114 1.1 cgd either. Sorry. For BSD people, there is a program called "fmt" which can 115 1.1 cgd make this kind of formatting easier. 116 1.1 cgd 117 1.1 cgd Definitions are given with the word or phrase left justified, followed by 118 1.1 cgd the part of speech (if appropriate) and a colon. The definition starts 119 1.1 cgd indented by one tab stop, with subsequent lines left justified, e.g., 120 1.1 cgd 121 1.1 cgd Afternoon, n.: 122 1.1 cgd That part of the day we spend worrying about how we wasted 123 1.1 cgd the morning. 124 1.1 cgd 125 1.1 cgd Quotes are sometimes put around statements which are funnier or make more 126 1.1 cgd sense if they are understood as being spoken, rather than written, 127 1.1 cgd communication, e.g., 128 1.1 cgd 129 1.1 cgd "All my friends and I are crazy. That's the only thing that 130 1.1 cgd keeps us sane." 131 1.1 cgd 132 1.1 cgd Ellipses are always surrounded by spaces, except when next to punctuation, 133 1.1 cgd and are three dots long. 134 1.1 cgd 135 1.1 cgd "... all the modern inconveniences ..." 136 1.1 cgd -- Mark Twain 137 1.1 cgd 138 1.1 cgd Human initials always have spaces after the periods, e.g, "P. T. Barnum", 139 1.1 cgd not "P.T. Barnum". However, "P.T.A.", not "P. T. A.". 140 1.1 cgd 141 1.1 cgd All fortunes should be attributed, but if and only if they are original with 142 1.1 cgd somebody. Many people have said things that are folk sayings (i.e., are 143 1.1 cgd common among the folk (i.e., us common slobs)). There is nothing wrong with 144 1.1 cgd this, of course, but such statements should not be attributed to individuals 145 1.1 cgd who did not invent them. 146 1.1 cgd 147 1.1 cgd Horoscopes should have the sign indented by one tab stop, followed by the 148 1.1 cgd dates of the sign, with the text left justified below it, e.g., 149 1.1 cgd 150 1.1 cgd AQUARIUS (Jan 20 - Feb 18) 151 1.1 cgd You have an inventive mind and are inclined to be progressive. You 152 1.1 cgd lie a great deal. On the other hand, you are inclined to be 153 1.1 cgd careless and impractical, causing you to make the same mistakes over 154 1.1 cgd and over again. People think you are stupid. 155 1.1 cgd 156 1.1 cgd Single quotes should not be used except as quotes within quotes. Not even 157 1.1 cgd single quotes masquerading as double quotes are to be used, e.g., don't say 158 1.1 cgd ``hi there'' or `hi there' or 'hi there', but "hi there". However, you 159 1.1 cgd *can* say "I said, `hi there'". 160 1.1 cgd 161 1.1 cgd A long poem or song can be ordered as follows in order to make it fit on a 162 1.1 cgd screen (fortunes should be 19 lines or less if at all possible) (numbers 163 1.1 cgd here are stanza numbers): 164 1.1 cgd 165 1.1 cgd 11111111111111111111 166 1.1 cgd 11111111111111111111 167 1.1 cgd 11111111111111111111 22222222222222222222 168 1.1 cgd 11111111111111111111 22222222222222222222 169 1.1 cgd 22222222222222222222 170 1.1 cgd 33333333333333333333 22222222222222222222 171 1.1 cgd 33333333333333333333 172 1.1 cgd 33333333333333333333 44444444444444444444 173 1.1 cgd 33333333333333333333 44444444444444444444 174 1.1 cgd 44444444444444444444 175 1.1 cgd 44444444444444444444 176 1.1 cgd 177 1.1 cgd 178
Indexes created Sat Oct 25 16:10:12 GMT 2025