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I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

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Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#261

Post by Suppafly »

dheera wrote: post #240
ryandrake wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not sure if it's being exaggerated for comedic purposes but it is interesting to me how alien the act of sending a letter by post is to the author. It was pretty recognizable as trolling--the very good and clever "old school Internet" style of trolling where it sounds plausible and sincere, but then you get done reading it and say, "Oh lawd, he got me! Good one!" The kind of writing that people used to spend a lot…

Once I had to send an international RMA that they wouldn't pay for the shipping. It went something like this: 0. Went to Fedex to check on the shipping cost for this tiny box. It was $120 so I passed 1. Went to USPS, found that they were closed, the only option was a 30 minute line to use the machine. Lined up for 30 minutes, found that it the goddamn UI on the machine did not support international shipments. 2. Went…

>12. Went to another USPS to drop the package

You have a USPS drop box for tiny boxes in front of your house.

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#262

Post by tialaramex »

School-Cotton wrote: post #68
echoangle wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A4 isn’t some random format, you can derive it with three pieces of information: A0 is 1 square meter An to An+1 means cutting the paper along the middle of the longer edge Each An has the same aspect ratio Those are pretty useful properties and precisely define the dimensions of A4.

True, but I don’t understand why this would make letter size confusing to Americans. European office workers are not sitting around marveling at the mathematical elegance of the definition of A series paper. It just doesn’t matter in daily life.

> It just doesn’t matter in daily life.

Like a lot of mathematics it does matter in your daily life but you actually just don't think about it because of course this works - unless you're an American and so no it doesn't.

The A-series paper sizes mean everything scales very naturally. Poster? Pamphlet? It's just the same ratios again but bigger or smaller. There is a single design where this works, and that's why the A-series exists, you can't just pick anything, only this works.

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#263

Post by pbhjpbhj »

programjames wrote: post #234
bongodongobob wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I refuse to believe there are adults out there where things like using a pen to write and mailing a letter are alien concepts that need to be learned. Well, believe it. I'm in my 40s and haven't written a letter since I was a kid. Why would I ever have to? Ask someone who was born in 2003 if they've ever written and mailed a letter. 99% are going to say no.

As someone born in 2003, I did this just last week when filing my tax returns.

You file tax returns by post? What country? Do they charge you extra to submit by post?

That's crazy to me - tax returns for our micro-business and personal tax has been online since at least 2005.

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#264

Post by genewitch »

processunknown wrote: post #259
dheera wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Once I had to send an international RMA that they wouldn't pay for the shipping. It went something like this: 0. Went to Fedex to check on the shipping cost for this tiny box. It was $120 so I passed 1. Went to USPS, found that they were closed, the only option was a 30 minute line to use the machine. Lined up for 30 minutes, found that it the goddamn UI on the machine did not support international shipments. 2. Went…

> 3. I didn't have a 2D printer at home, tried to 3D print the shipping label This sentence really captures the absurdity of this story.

Could have 3D printed a pen holder for the 3D printer and then used the 3D printer as a plotter to write the address on a sticker or the envelope itself.

Right?

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#265

Post by Suppafly »

int_19h wrote: post #33
remram wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The paper size and foreign stamps make sense, but I must say the inability to use a pen surprised me a little more.

I'm not an American and I did write letters in my country of origin as a kid, but one thing that annoys me about US-style envelopes to this day is that they have no lines for address - you're just expected to line text up on your own correctly. If you're used to writing on lined paper because that's the standard in your country (including envelopes!), it can be frustrating. The envelopes I'm used to look like this: h…

>you're just expected to line text up on your own correctly.

It only has to be lined up well enough to be read by a human, they don't reject them just because it's sloppy or not lined up correctly.

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#266

Post by tart-lemonade »

Suppafly wrote: post #254
programjames wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone born in 2003, I did this just last week when filing my tax returns.

>As someone born in 2003, I did this just last week when filing my tax returns. Why didn't you efile like a normal person? The only time you need to do it the hard way is if you are under 16 and filing for the first time.

I had to file by mail because I moved to a new state and got 2 W-2s for the same job, of which the W-2 for the former state left the federal fields (1-13) blank. This weird W-2 apparently makes me ineligible for e-file.

Edit: In hindsight, I could have just waited until the start of 2025 to update my address in the HR system and gotten a single, normal W-2, but then I would be both violating the remote work rules (by not adding my new work location) and (probably) committing tax fraud.

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#267

Post by pbhjpbhj »

cameronh90 wrote: post #190
palata wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I am a millennial, so most likely older than the author. Not having envelopes at the ready is one thing, but ordering stamps... on eBay??? And then wasting a few envelopes because writing down the address is unusual? That kind of blew my mind. I am a software engineer, and I always have a paper notebook and a pen next to my keyboard to write down stuff. I guess this all tells me I'm getting old :-).

The author in the UK so it's pretty much a given that they're exaggerating for comedic effect, but... living in the UK myself, I have only sent maybe about 5 letters in my life, all to the government bureaucracy, and none more recently than a decade ago. And I'm a millennial, albeit on the younger side (so I tell myself). I don't have any pens, paper or a printer in my house, so I'd probably go to my workplace if I n…

We don't have a printer at home (UK), sending parcels is the only time we'd need it but our small local post office prints labels (eg for Amazon returns, or parcel companies).

I did print a page at work recently, the second one since I started my job 5 years ago.

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#268

Post by tart-lemonade »

bongodongobob wrote: post #220
ryandrake wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not sure if it's being exaggerated for comedic purposes but it is interesting to me how alien the act of sending a letter by post is to the author. It was pretty recognizable as trolling--the very good and clever "old school Internet" style of trolling where it sounds plausible and sincere, but then you get done reading it and say, "Oh lawd, he got me! Good one!" The kind of writing that people used to spend a lot…

> I refuse to believe there are adults out there where things like using a pen to write and mailing a letter are alien concepts that need to be learned. Well, believe it. I'm in my 40s and haven't written a letter since I was a kid. Why would I ever have to? Ask someone who was born in 2003 if they've ever written and mailed a letter. 99% are going to say no.

Do you not send thank you cards for birthday and holiday gifts?

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#269

Post by mcgrath_sh »

diggan wrote: post #148
mcgrath_sh wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Genuinely curious, I don't write anything long by hand, but do you not jot down disposable information with frequency, or date food, or anything like that? I date food we put in the fridge/freezer. I jot down something like a phone number if I am redirected. I have to give my pet medication occasionally and I use a post-it to track so the household can know. Like I said, I'm not writing anything even as long as a car…

> I date food we put in the fridge/freezer What date are you putting on the food? Every packaging here in Spain (and Europe I assume) has both the production date and "best before" dates printed on them from the factory, and stuff that doesn't have packaging you know if they're bad by looking/smelling/tasting.

I batch cook and freeze meals, and some of them look similar (sauce and chicken vs sauce and pork) and I want to eat the older stuff first. There are also some products that are recommended to be disposed of within X days of opening, which fall well before their best by date.

Re: I wrote to the address in the GPLv2 license notice (2022)

#270

Post by ac29 »

dheera wrote: post #240
ryandrake wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Not sure if it's being exaggerated for comedic purposes but it is interesting to me how alien the act of sending a letter by post is to the author. It was pretty recognizable as trolling--the very good and clever "old school Internet" style of trolling where it sounds plausible and sincere, but then you get done reading it and say, "Oh lawd, he got me! Good one!" The kind of writing that people used to spend a lot…

Once I had to send an international RMA that they wouldn't pay for the shipping. It went something like this: 0. Went to Fedex to check on the shipping cost for this tiny box. It was $120 so I passed 1. Went to USPS, found that they were closed, the only option was a 30 minute line to use the machine. Lined up for 30 minutes, found that it the goddamn UI on the machine did not support international shipments. 2. Went…

> FedEx should be out of business.

Those crazy retail rates exist so businesses can get big discounts. The company I work with ships maybe half a dozen packages international with FedEx a year and they still give us like 60-70% off retail.

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