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From: ab@nova.cc.purdue.edu (Allen B)
Subject: Re: TIFF: philosophical significance of 42
Message-ID: <C5Ft68.8HC@mentor.cc.purdue.edu>
Sender: news@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (USENET News)
Organization: Purdue University
References: <1993Apr10.160929.696@galki.toppoint.de>
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1993 19:37:18 GMT
Lines: 20

In article <1993Apr10.160929.696@galki.toppoint.de> ulrich@galki.toppoint.de  
writes:
> According to the TIFF 5.0 Specification, the TIFF "version number"
> (bytes 2-3) 42 has been chosen for its "deep philosophical 
> significance".
> Last week, I read the Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy,
> Is this actually how they picked the number 42?

I'm sure it is, and I am not amused.  Every time I read that part of the
TIFF spec, it infuriates me- and I'm none too happy about the
complexity of the spec anyway- because I think their "arbitrary but
carefully chosen number" is neither.  Additionally, I find their
choice of 4 bytes to begin a file with meaningless of themselves- why
not just use the letters "TIFF"?

(And no, I don't think they should have bothered to support both word
orders either- and I've found that many TIFF readers actually
don't.)

ab
