But What is the Best Computer Operating System During Lent?

In Unix class we learned the command GREP last month.  What's it good for? I had to test my new GREP command on something interesting.

As arbitrary fodder I took the entire page called "Catholic FAQs" and tried to robotically dissect it with grep.   Say what you want about Linux but with just a few keystrokes (see below!) I sifted just the good parts, leaving a crude catechism ex machina. 

The first GREP command below tells the computer that you want it to take all the text from a file called catholicQs, sift it for any line that ends in a question mark, and save it someplace. 

• cat catholicFAQs | grep '?$' > catholicQs
• cat catholicQs | grep [^Lent] > catholicQno_lent

The second GREP command tells the system to throw away any questions that deal with lent ( [^Lent] means not Lent) and save the remaining questions in a file called no_lent.

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I'm sure at this point you are wondering what vital theological questions my Unix commands found at 'Catholic FAQs'.

Here are the most popular questions good parishioners were asking their priests.  (Because there was an enormous preoccupation with Lent, way out of proportion with anything Jesus or Paul ever said about fishfries, I am listing those questions seperately at the end):
1:Do ghosts exist?
2:Can Catholics celebrate Halloween?
3:Why meat but not fish?
4:What are the rules for attending weddings?
5:How do I address a bishop?
6:What's the Catholic theory behind such phenomena as ghosts?
7:Are Lenten fumbles mortal sins?
8:Can you answer a question about masturbation?
9:Is this really a rule of Lent?
10:Where did Lent come from?
11:Can I eat eggs on Fridays during Lent?
12:Is adultery always adultery?
13:What is the Lenten fast?
14:Should I eat meat at a company dinner party on a Friday of Lent?
15:Why are holy water fonts drained during Lent?
16:Can I eat meat on Friday if I abstain another day?
17:Why the covering of statues during Lent?
18:Should I get a rosary tattoo?
19:When does Lent end?
20:How do vegetarians observe Lent?
21:Can you explain for me the evilness of the Harry Potter series?
22:It is wrong to change what you "give up" for Lent?
23:Should I care that Dumbledore is gay?
24:Must I be celibate in my marriage?
25:Can Catholics be comfortable with C. S. Lewis?
26:Do you have to confess if you break your Lenten resolutions?
27:What does one do if he/she falls in love with a non-catholic?
28:Is "Amazing Grace" Catholic?
29:What do I do if the priest cuts me off in Confession?
30:Should the holy water fonts be drained during Lent?
31:Do our beloved pets go to heaven when they die?
32:What do we do if my wife is ordered not to become pregnant?
33:May we eat juices and sauces from meat on Lenten Fridays?
34:Is "steady dating" really a sin?
35:Why did God create hell?
36:At what point in Mass does a later arrival not fulfill the Mass obligation?
37:Do I really need to confess this now?
38:Is Christmas a holy day of obligation this year?
1:Are Lenten fumbles mortal sins?
2:Is this really a rule of Lent?
3:Where did Lent come from?
4:Can I eat eggs on Fridays during Lent?
5:What is the Lenten fast?
6:Should I eat meat at a company dinner party on a Friday of Lent?
7:Why are holy water fonts drained during Lent?
8:Why the covering of statues during Lent?
9:When does Lent end?
10:How do vegetarians observe Lent?
11:It is wrong to change what you "give up" for Lent?
12:Do you have to confess if you break your Lenten resolutions?
13:Should the holy water fonts be drained during Lent?
14:May we eat juices and sauces from meat on Lenten Fridays?

I think #12, #18, and #36 (non-Lenten) are the funniest.

Comments

[Peter]

#24 sounds interesting . . .

If I'm to have a good Lent, I suppose I'd have to go back to Windows.

[Denise]

We're these questions from children? Surely Dumbledoor's sexuality is a biggie for the pope. I worship at a Catholic congregation, but years of Pentecostal insanity keeps me wary of man made rules.

[Amy]

I think the one about vegetarians is funny, too.

And I notice way more questions about where the line is so they can step right up to it without crossing over than I do questions for better understanding, so they can know for themselves what the rules are for. Which is a disappointing thought. But then, probably non-Catholics aren't any better; they probably have the same degree of sincerity but with fewer rules. Although there's an awful LOT of Catholic rules.

Re: grep
It doesn't look as though you were successful in sorting out "Lent".

[Anonymous]

The problem is '[^Lent]' is not "not lent". The '[....]' is defining a set of letters and the leading '^' in the set is not this set of letters.

You might want to try:

cat catholicFAQs | grep '?$' | grep -v '[Ll][Ee][Nn][Tt]'