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Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

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  Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas? Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> - 2025-10-31 22:58 -0500
    Re: Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas? Kaz Kylheku <643-408-1753@kylheku.com> - 2025-11-01 04:31 +0000
      Re: Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2025-11-01 03:47 -0700
      Re: Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas? Mike Terry <news.dead.person.stones@darjeeling.plus.com> - 2025-11-01 17:05 +0000
        Re: Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas? Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2025-11-01 17:43 +0000
        Re: Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas? Bill Davy <Bill@XchelSys.co.uk> - 2025-11-01 18:36 +0000
          Re: Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas? Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> - 2025-11-01 19:51 +0100
          Re: Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas? Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2025-11-01 14:28 -0700
          Re: Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas? Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2025-11-02 07:18 +0000
        Re: Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas? Jim Jackson <jj@franjam.org.uk> - 2025-11-01 19:53 +0000
          Re: Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas? candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> - 2025-11-03 16:50 +0000
            Re: Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas? scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2025-11-03 17:16 +0000
      Re: Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas? "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2025-11-01 12:59 -0700
    Re: Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas? Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2025-11-01 09:22 +0000
    Re: Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas? Tristan Wibberley <tristan.wibberley+netnews2@alumni.manchester.ac.uk> - 2025-11-01 18:20 +0000
    Re: Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas? Tristan Wibberley <tristan.wibberley+netnews2@alumni.manchester.ac.uk> - 2025-11-01 22:40 +0000

#395023 — Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC

Lynn

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#395024

On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
> Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?
>
> Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC

It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the key to
the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for why Tim
Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.

I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
a Santa suit!

-- 
TXR Programming Language: http://nongnu.org/txr
Cygnal: Cygwin Native Application Library: http://kylheku.com/cygnal
Mastodon: @Kazinator@mstdn.ca

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#395026

Kaz Kylheku <643-408-1753@kylheku.com> writes:
> On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?
>>
>> Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC
>
> It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the key to
> the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for why Tim
> Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.
>
> I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
> a Santa suit!

I had a trick-or-treater call me Santa.

"Ho ho ho *ahem* no, no, no!"

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com
void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */

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#395029

On 01/11/2025 04:31, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
> On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?
>>
>> Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC
> 
> It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the key to
> the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for why Tim
> Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.
> 
> I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
> a Santa suit!
> 
I bet you he had a long beard.  I knew it! - one of those "octal beardies", an old-time UNIX 
programmer for sure!  He probably started on a PDP-11.  :)

Mike.

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#395030

On 01/11/2025 17:05, Mike Terry wrote:
> On 01/11/2025 04:31, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
>> On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?
>>>
>>> Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC
>>
>> It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the 
>> key to
>> the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for 
>> why Tim
>> Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.
>>
>> I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
>> a Santa suit!
>>
> I bet you he had a long beard.  I knew it! - one of those "octal 
> beardies", an old-time UNIX programmer for sure!  He probably 
> started on a PDP-11.  :)

"Here's a nickel, kid; get yourself a real computer."

-- 
Richard Heathfield
Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk
"Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
Sig line 4 vacant - apply within

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#395032

On 01/11/2025 17:05, Mike Terry wrote:
> On 01/11/2025 04:31, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
>> On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?
>>>
>>> Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC
>>
>> It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the key to
>> the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for why Tim
>> Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.
>>
>> I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
>> a Santa suit!
>>
> I bet you he had a long beard.  I knew it! - one of those "octal 
> beardies", an old-time UNIX programmer for sure!  He probably started on 
> a PDP-11.  :)
> 
> Mike.

Never understood PDP11 using octal.  16 bits / 3?  Old habits die hard.

Now, the PDP9 (18 bits / 3).  Fortran compiler "G 2 544237" (or 
something like that).

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#395033

On 01.11.2025 19:36, Bill Davy wrote:
> 
> Never understood PDP11 using octal. 

You can represent binary information in a compact form with decimal
digits (and without the discontinuity when introducing alpha digits
for hexadecimal representation).

> 16 bits / 3?  Old habits die hard.

Octal had also been used on other systems, like various mainframes
back these days. (I recall to have got a thick stack of paper with
an octal memory dump when I exceeded my 10 page print output quota
limit by one single page.)

Janis

> [...]

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#395039

Bill Davy <Bill@XchelSys.co.uk> writes:
> On 01/11/2025 17:05, Mike Terry wrote:
>> On 01/11/2025 04:31, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
>>> On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?
>>>>
>>>> Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC
>>>
>>> It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the key to
>>> the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for why Tim
>>> Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.
>>>
>>> I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
>>> a Santa suit!
>>>
>> I bet you he had a long beard.  I knew it! - one of those "octal
>> beardies", an old-time UNIX programmer for sure!  He probably
>> started on a PDP-11.  :)
>> Mike.
>
> Never understood PDP11 using octal.  16 bits / 3?  Old habits die hard.

A word on a PDP-11 is 16 bits, but it's often logically divided into
3-bit chunks.  CPU instructions have 3-bit fields to denote one of the 8
registers, and 3-bit fields to denote a mode.

> Now, the PDP9 (18 bits / 3).  Fortran compiler "G 2 544237" (or
> something like that).

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com
void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */

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#395043

On Sat, 1 Nov 2025 18:36:11 +0000, Bill Davy wrote:

> Never understood PDP11 using octal.  16 bits / 3?  Old habits die hard.

Ah, but the addressing-mode and register fields in the instructions lined 
up nicely with octal digits.

> Now, the PDP9 (18 bits / 3).

All DEC’s prior machines (before the PDP-11) had word lengths which were 
multiples of 3 (12, 18, 36). There is even an internal DEC memo at 
Bitsavers arguing that the PDP-11 (still in gestation at that point) 
should be an 18-bit machine.

But I guess the pull of powers of 2 just proved irresistible ...

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#395035

On 2025-11-01, Mike Terry <news.dead.person.stones@darjeeling.plus.com> wrote:
> On 01/11/2025 04:31, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
>> On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?
>>>
>>> Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC
>> 
>> It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the key to
>> the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for why Tim
>> Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.
>> 
>> I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
>> a Santa suit!
>> 
> I bet you he had a long beard.  I knew it! - one of those "octal beardies", an old-time UNIX 
> programmer for sure!  He probably started on a PDP-11.  :)

Real grey hairs use hex!

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#395061

Jim Jackson <jj@franjam.org.uk> wrote at 19:53 this Saturday (GMT):
> On 2025-11-01, Mike Terry <news.dead.person.stones@darjeeling.plus.com> wrote:
>> On 01/11/2025 04:31, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
>>> On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?
>>>>
>>>> Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC
>>> 
>>> It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the key to
>>> the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for why Tim
>>> Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.
>>> 
>>> I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
>>> a Santa suit!
>>> 
>> I bet you he had a long beard.  I knew it! - one of those "octal beardies", an old-time UNIX 
>> programmer for sure!  He probably started on a PDP-11.  :)
>
> Real grey hairs use hex!


I thought hexes were reserved for halloween
-- 
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

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#395063

candycanearter07 <candycanearter07@candycanearter07.nomail.afraid> writes:
>Jim Jackson <jj@franjam.org.uk> wrote at 19:53 this Saturday (GMT):
>> On 2025-11-01, Mike Terry <news.dead.person.stones@darjeeling.plus.com> wrote:
>>> On 01/11/2025 04:31, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
>>>> On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?
>>>>>
>>>>> Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC
>>>> 
>>>> It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the key to
>>>> the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for why Tim
>>>> Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.
>>>> 
>>>> I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
>>>> a Santa suit!
>>>> 
>>> I bet you he had a long beard.  I knew it! - one of those "octal beardies", an old-time UNIX 
>>> programmer for sure!  He probably started on a PDP-11.  :)
>>
>> Real grey hairs use hex!
>
REAL grey hairs use BCD.

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#395036

On 10/31/2025 9:31 PM, Kaz Kylheku wrote:
> On 2025-11-01, Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?
>>
>> Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC
> 
> It's not that programmer confuse them; rather, the above is the key to
> the mystical link between the two. It's the underpinning for why Tim
> Burton's _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ makes sense.
> 
> I went trick-or-treating today with the kids; there was someone in
> a Santa suit!
> 

Haha! :^)

No Krampus? ;^)

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#395025

On 01/11/2025 03:58, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?

Cf 'The Family Man', in Isaac Asimov's 'Casebook', 1976

I said, ‘Yes, I have always thought that, were it not for the 
enormous commercial overweighting of the Yuletide, a child’s 
spontaneous reaction would be to treat Halloween with the full 
excitement of Christmas.’

“And, surprisingly, my quarry spoke up. As though overwhelmed by 
an emotion that forced his naturally quiet personality into the 
limelight, he said, with a warm smile that lightened and almost 
transfigured his face, ‘You are quite right. In a way, Halloween 
may be considered precisely equal to Christmas.’ Those were his 
exact words, gentlemen, for I noted them at the time with 
particular care.”


-- 
Richard Heathfield
Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk
"Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999
Sig line 4 vacant - apply within

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#395031

On 01/11/2025 03:58, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?
> 
> Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC

Hooray \o/

Hamper of green sweets and eggs on the summer solstice for Lynn


--
Tristan Wibberley

The message body is Copyright (C) 2025 Tristan Wibberley except
citations and quotations noted. All Rights Reserved except that you may,
of course, cite it academically giving credit to me, distribute it
verbatim as part of a usenet system or its archives, and use it to
promote my greatness and general superiority without misrepresentation
of my opinions other than my opinion of my greatness and general
superiority which you _may_ misrepresent. You definitely MAY NOT train
any production AI system with it but you may train experimental AI that
will only be used for evaluation of the AI methods it implements.

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#395042

On 01/11/2025 03:58, Lynn McGuire wrote:
> Why do programmers confuse Halloween with Christmas?
> 
> Because 31 OCT = 25 DEC

Imagine the dystopia in which a major religion /and/ calendar system
were designed to provide a minor joke for mathematicians.

--
Tristan Wibberley

The message body is Copyright (C) 2025 Tristan Wibberley except
citations and quotations noted. All Rights Reserved except that you may,
of course, cite it academically giving credit to me, distribute it
verbatim as part of a usenet system or its archives, and use it to
promote my greatness and general superiority without misrepresentation
of my opinions other than my opinion of my greatness and general
superiority which you _may_ misrepresent. You definitely MAY NOT train
any production AI system with it but you may train experimental AI that
will only be used for evaluation of the AI methods it implements.

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