[fpc-pascal] the unexplained 666

[Mark Morgan Lloyd]

Mattias Gaertner wrote:

> constructor TFileStream.Create(const AFileName: string; Mode: Word);
> 
> begin
>   Create(AFileName,Mode,438);
> end;

> The octal value of 438 is &666, which is read/write
> permissions for other/group/owner.
> 
> Why not write &666? Maybe some religious reasons? ;)

Default radix for debugger variable display? Non-unix programmer not 
appreciating the "natural" way that the bits group?

/Anything's/ better than starting an argument over mysticism and 
gullibility exhibited by certain communities.

I find that Burroughs was using Octal in about 1960, which predates its 
popularisation by DEC etc. by some years.

-- 
Mark Morgan Lloyd
markMLl .AT. telemetry.co .DOT. uk

[Opinions above are the author's, not those of his employers or colleagues]