okay, so i've been reading /. too much of today already. really, enough for a week. (as if that will stop me from reading tomorrow. heh.) and, i've replied to a few stories, not something i do with terrible frequency -- it seems to come and go in phases. i'm not sure why. i seem to read /. all too often as it is (who here doesn't?), but i'll go weeks without writing anything. then i'll bomb out a few comments, and then seemingly go into hibernation for a while. it's peculiar. i wonder if that's a common practice or whether i'm a freak.

the other thing i've noticed is that there don't seem to be as many mod points floating around any more. from my limited view of things, anyway. if that's true, i wonder if it has any effect on the quality or quanity of comments posted here.

oh well, i guess none of this is important, i'm just rambling because i can. (isnt' that what /. journals are for?)

while browsing freshmeat today i was reminded again about the errant view of software size that has developed in recent years. the software announcements always go something like this:

despite it's small size, yetanotherprogram is secure, standards compliant, and offers many features.

my problem certainly isn't with being secure standards compliant, and isn't really with offering features. but i have to ask, why do we have to disclaim a program's small size? it seems to make the assumption that programs of this type should be bloated. have we become to accustomed to bloatware that we find it strange that a program can be well written and full-features and still be small? i'm afraid we have and it's a tragedy. kudos to those developers who write complete, secure, standards-compliant, and small software. don't be ashamed of doing so.