Re: CVS commit: src/games/factor

[Steven Bellovin <smb%cs.columbia.edu@localhost>]

On May 18, 2010, at 2:08 06PM, Aleksej Saushev wrote:

> Steven Bellovin <smb%cs.columbia.edu@localhost> writes:
> 
>> On May 18, 2010, at 12:50 26PM, Aleksej Saushev wrote:
>> 
>>> Kristaps Dzonsons <kristaps%bsd.lv@localhost> writes:
>>> 
>>>>> You have never given neither definition nor rationale for it except
>>>>> references to some unknown authority, everything you have done so far is
>>>>> you have shown your faithful commitment into what you were told ex 
>>>>> cathedra.
>>>>> I repeat once again, bring definition _and_ rationale behind it, 
>>>>> definition
>>>>> without rationale isn't what we talked here before you single-handedly
>>>>> decided to coerce everyone to accept your point of view using advantage
>>>>> of the first move.
>>>> 
>>>> Aleksej, Joerg is correct by definition.  It's as simple as
>>>> that.  0 and 1 are not prime.  Full-stop.
>>> 
>>> Kristaps, Joerg is incorrect by definition. It is as simple as that.
>>> 0 and 1 are prime. Full-stop.
>> 
>> From "An Introduction to the Theory of Numbers", by Niven, Zuckerman, and 
>> Montgomery, Fifth Edition, 1991:
>> 
>>      An integer p > 1 is called a prime number, or a prime, in case there is 
>> no divisor d of p satisfying 1 < d < p.
>> 
>> Knuth, Vol. 2, Third Edition, implicitly says that 1 is not a prime.
> 
> You did read the discussion, didn't you?
> 
> I asked explicitly to avoid mere proclamations and provide rationale
> behind accepted definitions.

        'When _I_ use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it
        means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less.'

        'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you CAN make words mean so many
        different things.'

        'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master--that's
        all.'

                        "Through the Looking Glass", Lewis Carroll

You're perfectly welcome to create terminology for any concept you choose.
But communication is much easier when everyone uses the same meanings for
words.  The commonly accepted definition of "prime" disagrees with yours.

                --Steve Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb