[Python-ideas] 80 character line width vs. something wider

[Aahz]

On Thu, May 21, 2009, Ron Adam wrote:
> Aahz wrote:
>> On Thu, May 21, 2009, Raymond Hettinger wrote:
>>> 
>>> I'm mostly having light-hearted fun with it.  The conversation wasn't
>>> going anywhere from the start.  I do find it funny that so many
>>> think 80 is exactly the right number regardless of other whitespace
>>> conventions or regardless of the language being used.
>>
>> If that's what you think people are saying, I don't think you are using
>> sufficient care in your reading.  It seems to me that people are mostly
>> saying that eighty columns is enough for many purposes, there are
>> problems that would come from increasing the number of columns, and there
>> aren't any solid arguments that clearly demonstrate that the gains
>> outweigh the detriments.
>
> Well, on Ubuntu I use the gnome terminal which has line width settings of 
> 80 and 132.  It doesn't have any settings in-between.  So I use 80X24  
> because it gives me plenty of room to see other windows.

Actually, you can have different window sizes, either by dragging with a
mouse or using the command-line option --geometry.

> I found that if I use small font sizes, I tend to lean closer to the  
> monitor than I should and that causes my neck and back to ache if I'm at 
> my computer for longer than a few hours.  So although I can reduce the 
> font size and get a lot more characters across the screen, it is better 
> for my health if I don't do that.

Very this.
-- 
Aahz (aahz at pythoncraft.com)           <*>         http://www.pythoncraft.com/

"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little
statesmen and philosophers and divines."  --Ralph Waldo Emerson