[gmx-developers] FW: Gromacs quotes

[Justin Lemkul]

On 12/14/12 4:27 PM, David van der Spoel wrote:
> On 2012-12-14 21:55, Shirts, Michael (mrs5pt) wrote:
>> FYI, from my student.  We also have to turn these off in F at H to avoid
>> complaints.
>>
>> Might it be time to retire the quotes? Do we feel it has that much of a
>> purpose?  I wonder if it's causing more trouble than it's worth . . .
>>
> Maybe replace them with ads for the NRA?
> Sorry, also bad taste.
>
> We had discussion on it previously and the naysayers were less vocal than the
> proponents at the time.
>
> Does it have a purpose? It can put a smile on someone's face.
>
> Otherwise,
> setenv GMX_NO_QUOTES 1
> Or maybe we can make it a cmake option ;).

I don't feel particularly strongly either way, but the complaint related to some 
inappropriate content is well taken.  I think there are some quotes that 
probably don't belong.  I'm not easily offended, but maybe we should make an 
effort to eliminate any quotes that can be seen as objectionable, as there are a 
few that may be seen as such due to foul language or other reasons.

Disabling the feature with an environment variable is fine (and documented!) but 
I think, at the very least, we should clean up the database, since the onus is 
on us, the developers, to produce a user-friendly product.  I'm a big fan of 
witty quips, though :)  Maybe the database should simply focus on humorous 
quotes from the developers and other influential people?  Just a thought.

"If I had a dime for every time I posted a link to the wiki..." (J. Lemkul)  ;)

-Justin

-- 
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Justin A. Lemkul, Ph.D.
Research Scientist
Department of Biochemistry
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA
jalemkul[at]vt.edu | (540) 231-9080
http://www.bevanlab.biochem.vt.edu/Pages/Personal/justin

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