How are code files vetted and approved?

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ilikeitbut...
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How are code files vetted and approved?

Post by ilikeitbut... »

Hi,

I searched and didn't find this topic, and perhaps this isn't the right location on the board. Sorry if... anyway, my questions:

OO 2.2 on XP SP2. Program Files\OpenOffice.org 2.2\program\resource contains a file, tfu680en-US.res, which is headlined, "StarWars Galaxy (c)96 by Updaters ... a good choice!" (in German). What isn't in non-readable characters is all in German, but clearly is about game-playing, e. g. "Effectively battle huge jelly stars!" "The Natural Fighter kills gladly!" "Your fighter has been killed!" "remaining weapons in base camp" "You are indeed an obliterated machine!" "You have cracked the high score!" etc.

So, what purpose does this file serve, other than taking up disk space, and what review process allowed it into an office suite?

Also, in OO2\share\xslt\common, there is a file, measure_conversion.xsl, which contains the following, quoted verbatim
MEASURE LIST:
* 1 milimeter (mm), the basic measure

* 1 centimeter (cm) = 10 mm

* 1 inch (in) = 25.4 mm
While the English have already seen the light (read: the metric system), the US
remains loyal to this medieval system.
I don't know whether this was inserted by Sun Micro in Palo Alto, California, USA, or by our good German friends who put in the Star Wars game mentioned above (and whom we helped rescue from their mad dictator, and whose wall we helped to be torn down, and whose country we helped re-unify). I do know that it's already embarrassing enough to be a citizen of what is one of the, if not the, most technologically-advanced countries on the planet, but whose fellow non-scientific, non-mathematic countrymen are too lazy and self-centered to get in line with science and with the rest of the world, and to quit using what is indeed a medieval system. But was it necessary to rub our faces in it, or do they think no one ever reads their code files? Most of all, *why was it included*? WAY off-topic to the program. And where were the reviewers?

Thanks for any answers, or for re-directing to the proper venue. As the username says, I like Open Office, but... these were weird. Now I wonder how many other surprises I'll find.

Best wishes.
OOo 2.2.X on Ms Windows XP
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Villeroy
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Re: How are code files vetted and approved?

Post by Villeroy »

Get a new spreadsheet and enter =GAME("StarWars") into a cell.
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
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keme
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Re: How are code files vetted and approved?

Post by keme »

Easter egg well kept. I hadn't seen that one before. Thanks for sharing, Villeroy.

I suspect this must be from pre-Sun StarOffice. (?)
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Villeroy
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Re: How are code files vetted and approved?

Post by Villeroy »

keme wrote:I suspect this must be from pre-Sun StarOffice. (?)
To answer all the subsequent questions from all the people who helped to tear down Hitler's wall ...
No, GAME("Sims") does not work.
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
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acknak
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Re: How are code files vetted and approved?

Post by acknak »

If you've been around software developers at all, you must know that it's a time-honored tradition for programmers to include "easter eggs" and extraneous comments like this.

I can't quite see how a comment buried in a file somewhere is "rubbing it in (anyone's) face", especially since many of us would share the same opinion. OTOH, it's not a very constructive comment and removing it would probably be an improvement.

The best way to get something in OOo changed is to file a bug report: [Tutorial] Reporting bugs or suggestions. We're just users here.
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ilikeitbut...
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Re: How are code files vetted and approved?

Post by ilikeitbut... »

Villeroy wrote:Get a new spreadsheet and enter =GAME("StarWars") into a cell.
If I wanted a game program, I would have gotten a game program instead of a "productivity suite".
keme wrote:Easter egg well kept. I hadn't seen that one before. Thanks for sharing, Villeroy.

Villeroy? Don't I get any credit for *finding* the darn thing? :D
Villeroy wrote:To answer all the subsequent questions from all the people who helped to tear down Hitler's wall ...
Herr Villeroy, ween Sie die Zeit verbringst, die Historie zu studieren, und kleiner aus Spielschaffen und Computerspiel spielen, dann wurden Sie wissen, dass diese Mauer war nicht von Hitler, aber von Sowjetunion, errichtete. Weiß sie nicht die Historie von Berlin?
acknak wrote:If you've been around software developers at all, you must know that it's a time-honored tradition for programmers to include "easter eggs" and extraneous comments like this.
Yes, like the picture of the Microsoft campus buried in some version of Win, which will show if you hit the right combination of keys. I consider this steganography to be a waste of MY resources, as it takes up my disk space... and the developer's equivalent of spray-painting his/her name on a public wall - a juvenile attempt to achieve immortality. Achieve immortality by being part of writing a lean, efficient, excellent program, OK? ... and perhaps include *more* comments actually explaining the code, for the benefit of those maintaining or reviewing it, and no junk comments.
I can't quite see how a comment buried in a file somewhere is "rubbing it in (anyone's) face",
So, if the program contained the comment, "acknak's mother commits unnatural acts with donkeys", you would have no objection, since very few are likely to see it?
especially since many of us would share the same opinion.
Self included, as noted in the OP.
OTOH, it's not a very constructive comment
My point exactly. Will this comment, that no one but myself and a few others saw, motivate the US to switch, where a law and an effort thirty years ago didn't?
and removing it would probably be an improvement.

The best way to get something in OOo changed is to file a bug report: [Tutorial] Reporting bugs or suggestions. We're just users here.
I imagine that they wouldn't consider it a "bug", since it does not seem to impair functionality of the program. Probably the best way to remove it is to delete it myself -- unless, of course, that renders the program unstable? :P

The bigger picture here is: How much other bloat is hidden in this program? Must I now vet every file personally, or is there a list available somewhere of all Easter Eggs, extraneous comments, etc., so that I can eliminate them myself? N. B.: Since these things are rarely removed in subsequent versions, and all programs tend to grow over time, then the number of eggs and junk comments will also grow, as new developers add their pet games and jokes, and current developers add their junk to the new files. It might not be a *major* factor in sw bloat, but it isn't helping any. (FWIW, my own OO program file is down to about 90 MB from 280, by deleting the things I don't need, and keeping those I do. And that's just unnecessary *program* files. If I find a whole new vein of extraneous material, it's going to shrink a lot more! :D ) Seriously -- I'm new to OO's site, though have been using OO gratefully for years -- would they take such a report seriously?

Insulting anyone is never appropriate. (even if the insult happens to be on the mark, which this one is). Surely the rest of the world would not appreciate US sw that snuck in condescending remarks about other countries?

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. Und Herr Villeroy, Bitte schön! Meinem Vorfahren in die Zweiter Weltkrieg fast gestorben, aber auf mithelfen Sie, sie sehr stolz waren.
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Cambirder
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Re: How are code files vetted and approved?

Post by Cambirder »

Speaking of outdated things, you are complaining about something in a very old version of OOo. I cannot find the said file in the latest version.
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ilikeitbut...
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Re: How are code files vetted and approved?

Post by ilikeitbut... »

Cambirder wrote:Speaking of outdated things, you are complaining about something in a very old version of OOo. I cannot find the said file in the latest version.
Did they remove them? That would be good. Or did they move the game file and the insult elsewhere?
Did they put new Easter Eggs in the newer version, or was there a policy change against such waste?

Thanks for your input. I did not find anything of value to me in the newer releases, and so saw no reason to change for the sake of changing, having put so much work into this edition. (It's about 85 MB now.) As my nick says, I like the program very much, and recommend it at every opportunity. These were minor annoyances in an overall superb program -- and the price is right. :) . Thanks again for everyone's time who replied.
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edovie
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Re: How are code files vetted and approved?

Post by edovie »

Ack! No offense, but toooo funny.

Lighten up, man! I'm American too, born and bred!

:ouch:
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"The lowest rung on the ladder is no less important than the uppermost rung. Both share an equal role in getting the climber to the top."
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