# $OpenBSD: Notes,v 1.6 2024/08/26 20:10:53 jmc Exp $ # $NetBSD: Notes,v 1.2 1995/03/23 08:28:26 cgd Exp $ # @(#)Notes 8.1 (Berkeley) 5/31/93 Warning: The fortunes contained in the fortune database have been collected haphazardly from a cacophony of sources, in number so huge it boggles the mind. It is impossible to do any meaningful quality control on attributions, or lack thereof, or exactness of the quote. Since this database is not used for profit, and since entire works are not published, it falls under fair use, as we understand it. However, if any half-assed idiot decides to make a profit off of this, they will need to double check it all, and nobody not involved of such an effort makes any warranty that anything in the database bears any relation to the real world of literature, law, or other bizzarrity. ==> GENERAL INFORMATION By default, fortune retrieves its fortune files from the directory /usr/share/games/fortune. A fortune file has two parts: the source file (which contains the fortunes themselves) and the data file which describes the fortunes. The data file always has the same name as the fortune file with the string ".dat" concatenated, i.e. "fort" is the standard fortune database, and "fort.dat" is the data file which describes it. See strfile(8) for more information on creating the data files. Fortunes are split into potentially offensive and not potentially offensive parts. The offensive version of a file has the same name as the non-offensive version with "-o" concatenated, i.e. "fortune" is the standard fortune database, and "fortune-o" is the standard offensive database. The fortune program automatically assumes that any file with a name ending in "-o" is potentially offensive, and should therefore only be displayed if explicitly requested, either with the -o option or by specifying a file name on the command line. Potentially offensive fortune files are maintained in clear text on the system. If this is a concern, they can be rotated 13 positions: to create a new, rotated database, use a utility such as rot13(6) or tr(1) to rotate it, and then create its data file with the -x option to strfile(8). The fortune program automatically decrypts the text when it prints entries from such databases. Anything which would not make it onto network prime time programming (or which would only be broadcast if some discredited kind of guy said it) MUST be in the potentially offensive database. Fortunes containing any explicit language (see George Carlin's recent updated list) MUST be in the potentially offensive database. Political and religious opinions are often sequestered in the potentially offensive section as well. Anything which assumes as a world view blatantly racist, mysogynist (sexist), or homophobic ideas should not be in either, since they are not really funny unless *you* are racist, mysogynist, or homophobic. The point of this is that people have should have a reasonable expectation that, should they just run "fortune", they will not be offended. We know that some people take offense at anything, but normal people do have opinions, too, and have a right not to have their sensibilities offended by a program which is supposed to be entertaining. People who run "fortune -o" or "fortune -a" are saying, in effect, that they are willing to have their sensibilities tweaked. However, they should not have their personal worth seriously (i.e., not in jest) assaulted. Jokes which depend for their humor on racist, mysogynist, or homophobic stereotypes *do* seriously assault individual personal worth, and in an general entertainment medium we should be able to get by without it. ==> FORMATTING This file describes the format for fortunes in the database. This is done in detail to make it easier to keep track of things. Any rule given here may be broken to make a better joke. [All examples are indented by one tab stop -- KCRCA] Numbers should be given in parentheses, e.g., (1) Everything depends. (2) Nothing is always. (3) Everything is sometimes. Attributions are two tab stops, followed by two hyphens, followed by a space, followed by the attribution, and are *not* preceded by blank lines. Book, journal, movie, and all other titles are in quotes, e.g., $100 invested at 7% interest for 100 years will become $100,000, at which time it will be worth absolutely nothing. -- Lazarus Long, "Time Enough for Love" Attributions which do not fit on one (72 char) line should be continued on a line which lines up below the first text of the attribution, e.g., -- A very long attribution which might not fit on one line, "Ken Arnold's Stupid Sayings" Single paragraph fortunes are in left justified (non-indented) paragraphs unless they fall into another category listed below (see example above). Longer fortunes should also be in left justified paragraphs, but if this makes it too long, try indented paragraphs, with indentations of either one tab stop or 5 chars. Indentations of less than 5 are too hard to read. Laws have the title left justified and capitalized, followed by a colon, with all the text of the law itself indented one tab stop, initially capitalized, e.g., A Law of Computer Programming: Make it possible for programmers to write in English and you will find the programmers cannot write in English. Limericks are indented as follows, all lines capitalized: A computer, to print out a fact, Will divide, multiply, and subtract. But this output can be No more than debris, If the input was short of exact. Underlining is done on a word-by-word basis, with the underlines preceding the word, e.g., "__^H^Hhi _____^H^H^H^H^Hthere". No fortune should run beyond 72 characters on a single line without good justification (er, no pun intended). And no right margin justification, either. Sorry. For BSD people, there is a program called "fmt" which can make this kind of formatting easier. Definitions are given with the word or phrase left justified, followed by the part of speech (if appropriate) and a colon. The definition starts indented by one tab stop, with subsequent lines left justified, e.g., Afternoon, n.: That part of the day we spend worrying about how we wasted the morning. Quotes are sometimes put around statements which are funnier or make more sense if they are understood as being spoken, rather than written, communication, e.g., "All my friends and I are crazy. That's the only thing that keeps us sane." Ellipses are always surrounded by spaces, except when next to punctuation, and are three dots long. "... all the modern inconveniences ..." -- Mark Twain Human initials always have spaces after the periods, e.g, "P. T. Barnum", not "P.T. Barnum". However, "P.T.A.", not "P. T. A.". All fortunes should be attributed, but if and only if they are original with somebody. Many people have said things that are folk sayings (i.e., are common among the folk (i.e., us common slobs)). There is nothing wrong with this, of course, but such statements should not be attributed to individuals who did not invent them. Horoscopes should have the sign indented by one tab stop, followed by the dates of the sign, with the text left justified below it, e.g., AQUARIUS (Jan 20 - Feb 18) You have an inventive mind and are inclined to be progressive. You lie a great deal. On the other hand, you are inclined to be careless and impractical, causing you to make the same mistakes over and over again. People think you are stupid. Single quotes should not be used except as quotes within quotes. Not even single quotes masquerading as double quotes are to be used, e.g., don't say ``hi there'' or `hi there' or 'hi there', but "hi there". However, you *can* say "I said, `hi there'". A long poem or song can be ordered as follows in order to make it fit on a screen (fortunes should be 19 lines or less if at all possible) (numbers here are stanza numbers): 11111111111111111111 11111111111111111111 11111111111111111111 22222222222222222222 11111111111111111111 22222222222222222222 22222222222222222222 33333333333333333333 22222222222222222222 33333333333333333333 33333333333333333333 44444444444444444444 33333333333333333333 44444444444444444444 44444444444444444444 44444444444444444444