from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
religious issues
n.
Questions which seemingly cannot be raised without touching off {holy
wars}, such as "What is the best operating system (or editor,
language, architecture, shell, mail reader, news reader)?", "What
about that Heinlein guy, eh?", "What should we add to the new Jargon
File?" See {holy wars}; see also {theology}, {bigot}, and compare
{rathole}.
This term is a prime example of {ha ha only serious}. People actually
develop the most amazing and religiously intense attachments to their
tools, even when the tools are intangible. The most constructive thing
one can do when one stumbles into the crossfire is mumble {Get a
life!} and leave -- unless, of course, one's own unassailably rational
and obviously correct choices are being slammed.
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
religious issues
Questions which seemingly cannot be raised without touching
off {holy wars}, such as "What is the best operating system
(or editor, language, architecture, shell, mail reader, news
reader)?", "What about that Heinlein guy, eh?", "What should
we add to the new Jargon File?" See {holy wars}; see also
{theology}, {bigot}.
This term is a prime example of {ha ha only serious}. People
actually develop the most amazing and religiously intense
attachments to their tools, even when the tools are
intangible. The most constructive thing one can do when one
stumbles into the crossfire is mumble {Get a life!} and leave
- unless, of course, one's *own* unassailably rational and
obviously correct choices are being slammed.
(1996-08-16)