On 10/15/2013 17:17, Jay Ashworth wrote:

Off the Yahoo MX discussion, just a reminder for those who write code:

*Always* include the parameters in the error message; pronouns and implicit references are Evil, Bad and Wrong. The 30 seconds you take to add the actual name of what you can't find/talk to could save some sysadmin *weeks* (I am not making that up; something once took me weeks).

We now return you to your normal router configuration conversations.

Back in the day we only had room for about 4 digits--but there was a your-longevity-here-is-dependent-on-it binder for every run-unit that listed every error code in numerical order that gave a narrative description of what had failed AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT. Seems like the massive stores we have available now days that we could do at least as well.