Linus Torvalds on semaphores (1999)
<i>"Dijkstra was probably a
bit heavy on drugs or something (I think the official explanation is
that P and V are the first letters in some Dutch words, but I personally
find the drug overdose story much more believable)."</i><p>Quotes like this are why I always read what Linus has to say, regardless of whether the subject is relevant to my life in the slightest.<p>Edit: Yes people, those Dutch words exist! I get it! I'm sure Linus was well aware of that when he made this remark. However, the point Linus was making (in a humorous way) was that like most computer scientists / mathematicians, Dijkstra was overly fond of obscure, single-letter names, which nobody ever intuitively understands. Whereas the names "up" and "down" (see the rest of Linus' quote) are far more intuitive. Personally, I would argue that "hold" and "release" convey the intent in a clearer, more abstract way.