Thus it was written in the epistle of [log in to unmask],
>
> In a message dated 97-01-21 03:11:05 EST, [log in to unmask] (Esko
> Lahdensivu) writes:
>
> << These "off-topic" threads is one of the reasons that keeps the reading
>  of HP3000-L day after day interesting.  As said before so many times,
>  the level of discussion on this list is way above the normal Internet
>  level (if we count out the Mac/PC flame war which was an exception, but
>  as we say in Finland: an exception confirms the rule :-).
>   >>
> Well, I surely do not know about Finland, but in French, "L'exception
> confirme la regle." means that when someone attempts to create an exception
> to bypass a rule, if the rule is good there are no exceptions, thus
> confirming the validity of the rule.  I believe it is the same in English,
> but I am uncertain about other languages.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Denys (spliting the proverbial hair even thinner than usual). . . :-)
>

Interesting.  In English, "The exception proves the rule" -- a saying I had had
much trouble understanding until recently when it came up in a discussion with
one of our English teachers here.  Her explanation, which made sense to me,
was not that a good rule must have no exceptions, but rather that the fact that
something is noted as unusual or exceptional reinforces that there is a rule
which covers most cases.  Thus the fact that it was noteworthy that at Gath
David was challanged by "a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes
on each foot--twenty-four in all" reinforces the rule that humans have but
twenty fingers and toes.  Likewise, the excitement about the stability of the
HP3000 supports the rule that in general computers tend to be somewhat
unstable (or something like that :-).

> P.S. There is no PC/Mac flame war anymore.  Amelio saw to that at MacWorld a
> few weeks ago.

I'm interested in hearing more about this.  Is the war off completely?  Are
both sides now friends?  Or is it just excluded from this list?

Ted
--
Ted Ashton ([log in to unmask]) | From the Tom Swifty collection:
Southern Adventist University    | "I'm having trouble keeping my balance",
Collegedale, TN  37315           | said Tom parenthetically.
(423) 238-2703                   |