ddate is a program that allows Discordians to quickly check what the date is. It was in my previous Ubuntu installation (10.04 I believe). But... ddate was part of util-linux, and it was decided to drop ddate. So now Ubuntu (12.04) no longer comes with ddate by default.

I can see no good reason for ddate being dropped. On the Fedora buglist Jonas Wielicki has been pushing for a reintroduction. Of course, a Fedora buglist issue normally might have nothing to do with Ubuntu. But in one of his posts, Jonas points out that other Linux distros have put ddate back in. So why not Ubuntu?

Let's have a nice community poll. ddate back? yes or no (or don't know, or don't care). I will happily go along with the results of the poll, so long as that result mirrors my own opinion. If not, I will be forced to take this up with A Higher Power (and you don't want to get on her bad side...).


In Hesiod's Works and Days 11–24, two different goddesses named Eris are distinguished:
So, after all, there was not one kind of Strife alone, but all over the earth there are two. As for the one, a man would praise her when he came to understand her; but the other is blameworthy: and they are wholly different in nature.For one fosters evil war and battle, being cruel: her no man loves; but perforce, through the will of the deathless gods, men pay harsh Strife her honour due. But the other is the elder daughter of dark Night (Nyx), and the son of Cronus who sits above and dwells in the aether, set her in the roots of the earth: and she is far kinder to men. She stirs up even the shiftless to toil; for a man grows eager to work when he considers his neighbour, a rich man who hastens to plough and plant and put his house in good order; and neighbour vies with his neighbour as he hurries after wealth. But Strife is unwholesome for men. And potter is angry with potter, and craftsman with craftsman, and beggar is jealous of beggar, and minstrel of minstrel.
from Wikipedia. There's plenty more nasty stuff where that came from, but I hope this taster might be enough. Hail Eris!


Oh, and in case you're wondering, today's ddate is Boomtime, Bureaucracy 43, 3178 YOLD