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Why are we still using Markdown?

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Re: Why are we still using Markdown?

#81

Post by kennywinker »

singpolyma3 wrote: post #70
kennywinker wrote: post #10

Ambiguous means unclear meaning, not that there is more than one way to achieve the same thing. Html has that same problem. Think , , , etc. That’s life. Get used to it.

Those three are not the same thing though. They might render the same visually with the most popular visual user agents, but that's about it

Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck… but is semantically different, except for when most people interact with them.

My point wasn’t that they are identically - my point is that 99% of the time they achieve the same effect. Or they would be if I had swapped the

tag for a tag.

Re: Why are we still using Markdown?

#84

Post by krapp »

dbacar wrote: post #69

Markdown is for us humans. HTML is for machines. Per keyboard stroke, you write much more content with MD than HTML. Even without a specific browser/reader Markdown is relatively non-intrusive to read. You cant read HTML without an extra tool/effort to discard tags. And you can parse MD with regular expressions, or can you? ;). (tip hat to infamous Stackoverflow discussion)

If HTML were for machines it would be a binary format. It's text so it's meant for humans to read and write, and humans did both for years without it being a problem.

Re: Why are we still using Markdown?

#85

Post by krapp »

Brendinooo wrote: post #63

When you look at wisdom principles, like those of the Solomonic kind, you observe that a proverb is profoundly true, wise, and useful when you first hear it, but it starts to feel less so when you subject it to intense scrutiny/deconstruction, or try to extrapolate it to places where it's not supposed to go. Markdown is like that. We use it because it's an incredibly human way of writing and reading data without havi…

People use Markdown because it's expected, it's probably already a part of whatever library or framework they're already using, and there is no well supported or popular alternative.

Re: Why are we still using Markdown?

#86

Post by Brendinooo »

krapp wrote: post #85
Brendinooo wrote: post #63

When you look at wisdom principles, like those of the Solomonic kind, you observe that a proverb is profoundly true, wise, and useful when you first hear it, but it starts to feel less so when you subject it to intense scrutiny/deconstruction, or try to extrapolate it to places where it's not supposed to go. Markdown is like that. We use it because it's an incredibly human way of writing and reading data without havi…

People use Markdown because it's expected, it's probably already a part of whatever library or framework they're already using, and there is no well supported or popular alternative.

I mean I started using it because I don't like using Word or Google Docs and wanted a more portable data format since I was going between Mac and Linux.

There are bunch of reasons why it came to dominate.

Re: Why are we still using Markdown?

#87

Post by krapp »

Brendinooo wrote: post #86
krapp wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People use Markdown because it's expected, it's probably already a part of whatever library or framework they're already using, and there is no well supported or popular alternative.

I mean I started using it because I don't like using Word or Google Docs and wanted a more portable data format since I was going between Mac and Linux. There are bunch of reasons why it came to dominate.

fair enough, but what alternatives did you have?

Re: Why are we still using Markdown?

#88

Post by Brendinooo »

krapp wrote: post #87
Brendinooo wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean I started using it because I don't like using Word or Google Docs and wanted a more portable data format since I was going between Mac and Linux. There are bunch of reasons why it came to dominate.

fair enough, but what alternatives did you have?

Depending on the context: plaintext, HTML, BBCode, WYSIWYG editors

Re: Why are we still using Markdown?

#89

Post by sophacles »

BoredPositron wrote: post #78
sophacles wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly, you can also choose not to say it on your own blog.

Why the heck would you use the phrase "Why the heck" in any circumstance other than to avoid censorship/algorithmic penality on a social media platform?

Well, one good reason is that a person who generally doesn't "swear" can then choose to use them very effectively when the situation warrants. If you always go to strongest words when mild ones will do, you're out of things to say when you need to make a stronger/more forceful point.

Re: Why are we still using Markdown?

#90

Post by BoredPositron »

sophacles wrote: post #89
BoredPositron wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why the heck would you use the phrase "Why the heck" in any circumstance other than to avoid censorship/algorithmic penality on a social media platform?

Well, one good reason is that a person who generally doesn't "swear" can then choose to use them very effectively when the situation warrants. If you always go to strongest words when mild ones will do, you're out of things to say when you need to make a stronger/more forceful point.

And there is nothing better to use for the headline than a minced oath if you explicitly don't want to swear? Make it make sense.
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