Re: c without usin any graphics function

kuyper said:

Richard Heathfield wrote:
...
I have consulted my trusty Chambers dictionary, which has an
approximately 200-word entry for "platform", with at least a couple
of dozen definitions, none of which can reasonably be interpreted as
having anything to do with the subject under discussion (except,
perhaps, the definition "a medium for discussion"(!), which doesn't
get us very far).

I won't attempt a rigorous definition of the term, but I've frequently
seen "platform" used to refer to the system hardware and software
supporting a given implementation of C.

I've seen it used in that way, yes. But I've seen it used to refer
solely to the hardware. I've seen it used to refer solely to the
operating system. And I've seen it used to refer to the implementation
itself.

Surely at least one of those
dictionary entries is consistent with that usage?

Nope. I won't bother quoting the entry. It would take far too long to
type, and would be terribly tedious to read.

If not, it needs to be updated.

You can take that up with Chambers if you like. :-)

<snip>

That meaning fits very nicely the context in which Chris used the
term. I'm surprised that you're unfamiliar with this usage,

But I'm not! I'm familiar with that usage and with others (see above),
any one of which could have been meant. I am still not sure which
meaning Chris Hills had in mind, and I'm still not sure why he bothered
to perform the substitution in the first place.

<snip>

--
Richard Heathfield <http://www.cpax.org.uk>
Email: -www. +rjh@
Google users: <http://www.cpax.org.uk/prg/writings/googly.php>
"Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
.

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