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Be Aware of the Makefile Effect

(blog.yossarian.net)
431 points thunderbong | 2 comments | 11 Jan 25 04:13 UTC | HN request time: 0.207s | source
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myhf ◴[11 Jan 25 18:52 UTC] No.42668065[source]▶
"A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You have to start over with a working simple system."

– John Gall (1975) Systemantics: How Systems Really Work and How They Fail

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Gall_(author)#Gall's_law

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jfengel ◴[11 Jan 25 19:03 UTC] No.42668139[source]▶
It's why I'm always very skeptical of new languages and frameworks. They often look great on a PowerPoint slide, but it's not clear how they'll look on something complex and long-lasting.

They usually pick up warts added for some special case, and that's a sign that there will be infinitely many more.

There's a fine line between "applying experience" and "designing a whole new system around one pet peeve". But it's a crucial distinction.

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wellbehaved ◴[11 Jan 25 21:53 UTC] No.42669222[source]▶
With that attitude how would the presently accepted languages/frameworks have come about?
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oblio ◴[11 Jan 25 22:07 UTC] No.42669306[source]▶
Probably slower and with more respect for existing tech.

But hey, now we have npm, so who cares anymore? :-)

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mrcsd ◴[11 Jan 25 22:34 UTC] No.42669483[source]▶
Disrespect is part of progress, respectful humans are liable to blindness of flaws. Just as part of youthful creativity is disregard for what has come before.
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1. johnnyanmac ◴[11 Jan 25 23:38 UTC] No.42669878{3}[source]▶
I can't agree with that take. Criticism is a part of progress. You can be a critic but still be respectful.

Disrespect is simply to belittle and look down upon. I don't see many situations where such an attitude leads to progress.

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2. mrcsd ◴[13 Jan 25 15:57 UTC] No.42684833[source]▶
If all disrespecting is to belittle and look down upon, then fair enough, I agree with you. What I meant, in perhaps an ill-phrased manner, was that overemphasised respect can often lead to stasis, where people might not want to change in case they are seen as disrespectful. Hence my use of disrespect, in that it is a relative judgement, and which can and has been used to discourage creative difference or just difference in general.