Comment by Yokohiii | Hacker News Reader

Comment by Yokohiii | Hacker News Reader

An almost 2h talk which is very worth it for everyone who has an interest in minimalism, simplicity, performance or anyone who has a feeling there is something wrong in software.

Casey's complaint is basicly that there are several million lines of code between an application and the hardware. This creates a large problem surface i.e. performance/security/complexity. In addition, the current hardware is so complex that an software/os (r)evolution is not possible. Casey suggests an SoC+ISA and vastly simplified interfaces for SATA/USB/NICs/etc. Which would make it feasible to ship custom OSes with just a few 10 thousands lines of ASM/code. Downside is that this would require interest from chip/hardware vendors.

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I lack technical depths regarding hardware and OSes, but I like that idea very much. Shrinking the OS parts to comprehensible sizes would vastly change the landscape. Programming computers would be so much more interesting if a single individual could grasp all of it.

Casey always makes interesting points about modern computing and I tend to agree with a lot of what he says. Unfortunately he has a bad habit of insulting people on public platforms. Windows aggravates me as much as the next person but then he'll go off on Twitter asking if Microsoft is run by babies in diapers or whatever. Pretty sure he's also called web developers incompetent idiots more than once too.

It's one thing to say in that private out of frustration but in public all you'll do is just alienate the side you're trying to appeal to and they'll carry on doing what they do.

Edit: typos.

Thing is, Microsoft completely deserves it because they are insulting their users every day. They are now consistently forcing changes on their users that nobody asked for, and it takes significant amounts of complaints for them to yield in even the slightest degree.

See: Metro replacing the start button, forced Windows 10 upgrades, and forced updates in Windows 10 in for starters. Users said they didn't want these things, Microsoft told them to get bent.

Casey complained about some issues with VS on HMH, Microsoft reached out and made some suggestions, suggestions completely broke his build environment. That's the kind of crap we're dealing with from today's Microsoft. Calling them babies is far more polite than what I routinely call them.

It doesn't matter if they deserve it or not. I have problems with Windows 10 every time I turn on my PC. I hate the state of modern software. But I don't go out on Twitter and call everyone an idiot. What's the aim here? You think employee #2822156 in the Visual Studio team is gonna think damn, Cassie is right, I'm an idiot and we need to turn this ship around? You think web devs are gonna sign a petition to cancel JavaScript in browsers?

All this does is create is this big network of animosity from like-minded people who like to complain together. At the end of day I'd find it much healthier to spend time with someone like Stephanie Hurlburt than Casey.

He could just stick to providing educational material like he does with HH. Lots of people gain insights from those. The Linus-like talk brings literally nothing to the table except bad feelings.

EDIT: I should also mention that for every person like you and I (because we're on the same wavelength regarding software quality, no arguments there) there's also a crapton of people who are very happy with modern software development. I just have to look around my desk at work and I'll find people cheering for the next VS or Electron or whatever toy release. Hell, even Tommy Refenes said he liked Windows 10. These people exist, are in great numbers and are not going anywhere. So you're better off simply laying down informative facts and tips for anyone willing to listen, rather than engage in name calling.

It doesn't matter what Microsoft did. As a programmer imparting knowledge in a public forum, you have a duty to be professional and state your case or air your grievances in a civilized way. What Casey did was unprofessional and toxic.

I'll grant it might have been unprofessional, but we're also talking about Casey's personal twitter and his personal project that he streams to the world for free.

I guess I come from a different culture/generation, where if someone is doing as badly at their jobs as a lot of people at Microsoft are right now, then it is acceptable to call them out on it. I mean christ, we live in a world where it's ok to fire people expressing a mildly controversial opinion at work when asked to do so , or over tweets they made in the distant past that they've long since apologized for, but we have to treat people who are really crap at their jobs with kid gloves?

Yup it's his personal Twitter. No one was contesting his right to post whatever he wants. But as soon as you're trying to address an audience it comes with certain responsibilities. You're free to ignore these of course but then don't be surprised if you get backlash or if new people don't listen.

I'm not really sure why you need to equate being civilized with wearing kid gloves? Is it hard for you to not call people stupid when addressing an audience? Or rather, if you do, does it help? You can call people stupid all you like in private but if you want to educate developers on how to do better I'm not sure why you're so intent on going down this route.

People also often try to make this a generational thing and blame silly emotional millenials but not attacking individuals isn't a brand new concept. And until people stop buying Windows and VS licenses en masse these people have no real reason to worry over their job and thus no real reason to listen to personal insults.

I feel like you intended to link this [0]?

[0] The 30 Million Line Problem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZRE7HIO3vk

The article is about Casey's work verifying collision geometry and movement code in Jonathan Blow's The Witness, to ensure that the player can't get stuck anywhere or fall through the ground or anything like that.

Oh wow I totally ended up reading the 30m line problem story. I actually was confused about the title on HN.

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