Notes from C++ static analysis

[Jonathan M Davis]

On Wednesday, June 26, 2013 23:47:15 Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
> >>> That
> >>> behavour is surprising, and it risks hiding some information silently.
> >> 
> >> Doesn't surprise me one bit.
> > 
> > Well, it shocks most of us.
> 
> I'm also not moved by argumentum ad populum.

ad populum obviously isn't enough. But if we make a design decision that 
favors 1% of our user base and causes problems for the other 99%, then I think 
that we've made a big mistake. And while having most everyone disagree with 
one person does not make that person wrong, it _does_ make it more likely that 
they're wrong. So, while ad populum should not be the sole reason to make a 
decision, I think that it's generally a bad idea to ignore it. I'm not trying 
to say anything about this particular discussion and whether we should go with 
the majority on this; I'm just pointing out that ignoring what the majority 
thinks is not necessarily a good idea.

- Jonathan M Davis