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Ah I do to be honest. I loved the construction job, but I see lads my age now struggle physically.

I think the best part of my journey was the unpredictable nature of it.

And having a laugh along the way

Thank you. I’ve not heard of “Making Software”, but I’ll give it a read.

I’m always fascinated by what people believe, both about software, and in general.

That’s a great line. But it does simplify to a single axis. Maybe even Steve Jobs was are wired to see the most simple solution to a problem. Or maybe it’s just a joke

Thank you. I was looking at it through the lens of social constructionism, but in a wider context, I agree with you. It seems to me that unscrupulous people use this idea for their own ends

I love the cats analogy. It reminds me of the book even tougher than herding cats (about tech management) https://www.amusingmulcahy.com/my-first-book-even-tougher-th...

No mention of autistic cats there as far as i remember!

I used to be a musician and as i worked in tech, I set up my own website. Everyone else thought i was crazy, MySpace was here to stay - that was the standard that everyone used, anything else was a waste of effort.

Because platforms (like MySpace) can disappear almost overnight, I would always recommend setting up a blog on a domain that you own and control. Mine is https://markgreville.ie and i have been on the front page of HackerNews a couple of times. I have had lot of people reach out to me over the years, including some very famous tech luminaries (people who’s books i read from cover to cover as i was learning to be a programmer, then architect, then leader). I have also found a lot of great talent through it.

My struggle initially was worrying that i would seem pompous for writing publicly, and that no-one would find any of it interesting. However, most of my friends ignored it, and i found a community on HN that was my tribe instead.

If you are reading this and haven’t blogged before 1. Register a domain now 2. Set up a simple site (Wordpress will do for now, don't over think this bit) 3. Write about something you have done, or something you are passionate about 4. Have a trusted person read it for you and take feedback 5. Edit, publish, and post on HN 6. Start the next post

The well cited “Conways Law” in technology falls into this category. I can barely remember a week going past in the last 3 years without someone quoting it. As part of my PhD research, I’ve read the paper deeply, and the idea that it proves the companies ship their organisational structures is such a misuse of the research. I wonder how many people have ever read the original

I like the site, but because you only support arxiv, you are issuing out on lots of great research. You should consider supporting doi, i tried to load one of my papers (not on arxiv) and its rejected - now im sad!

This is an outstanding book. Here is a review for those who may be interested in whether to read it or not - http://markgreville.ie/2022/06/22/book-summary-how-to-know-e...

Came here to say both these things. I also read it every ten years, and take something entirely different from it each time. A philosophy book, a novel, a road trip story, a discussion of mental illness, and a father and son book alll rolled into one.

Ive read it 4 times in the past 30 years. Every time i get something totally new from it. It’s a story about a father and son, about the meaning of quality, its a travel book, and book about mental health. It introduced me to philosophy. An astonishing book.

Great point. If we name things, we should understand what the name means, and just as important, what it doesnt mean. We all know naming is difficult, which brings to mind the old joke -

"what are the 2 hardest things in technology?"

"Cache invalidation, naming, and off by one errors"

You make a god point about the generally accepted meanings for terms for technical debt. However, there are lots of companies ive worked in (and more I know of) that try to scientifically calculate a numerical value for Technical Debt. At best, it's a metaphor, a mental aid to understand a loose concept. Any attempt to calculate implies that there is some 'best solution' that should be achieved. However, this almost never exists, any best solution is in the eye of the beholder, it will differ depending on whether you are a developer, DevOps, client, manager, CISO, barista, best friend, pet.........

Thats a great point. I've spoken to a few people who chose a microservices architecture because it seemed to be the only choice discussed online. Whatever regrets they had now are not useful, because its too late/expensive to change. To choose an appropriate architecture, the business case and pros and cons of different architectures need to be considered using a well established method, such as the one described here http://markgreville.ie/2021/02/17/how-architects-make-decisi...

Thank you for sharing @yannikyeo. I originally wrote this for the Cutter Journal, and i wrote over 100 pages, including a long piece about the history of IT architecture and how its broken. The editors took a large pair of scissors to it, so the is what survived. I did get a nice note from Kent Beck about the article, which was a genuine thrill.

The Kurzweil stuff is amazing. He has been predicting things publicly for a long time, here is a summary (2010) of how his predictions have worked out http://www.kurzweilai.net/images/How-My-Predictions-Are-Fari...

Its scary how much stuff he got right

I love your site Bill. It’s a great idea, I use HN as a source, but the submission rate is so high that I often miss great posts. Could I suggest my blog as a possible addition please? Markgreville.ie

Kind of an Irish Nirvana - the first song was a hit on Irish Radio, the second song got a lot of play on US College Radio https://open.spotify.com/artist/4AyXe7S95L5x4u2fSQ2vOx

Kind of an Irish acoustic White Stripes - the second song got airplay and a session on the BBC https://open.spotify.com/track/5kOhCkezyKzcjmKv1r3HN7

Id love any feedback, I used to be a musician for a living. Fun but a tough life.

I love the markdown MADR you have referred to. I have worked in tech for 25 years, 16 in architecture, and capturing alternatives is pretty rare in my experience, so thank you for sharing.

I’ve also come across departments and organisations who use a template as an reason to stop thinking. For me, the most important point from Simon and the EA Anamnesis paper is to think, and be aware of how you think.

Incredible to think he died at 31, and composed more than 1,500 works, many of which are adored today. He makes me want to work harder every day.

My 11 years doesn’t quite cut it.

I’ll have to apply for the RUST job I’ve been keeping an eye on. 12 years experience should put me on a short shortlist.

Ah, I hadn't realised, sorry masonic. Some impressive lists on there all the same. I’ve begun reading a lot of philosophy books. I don't have a great background so I found the lists useful. Strangely enough, I own 12 of the books recommended. Maybe my compulsion to buy enough books for ten lifetimes reading is useful in this one instance. I hope this list was useful.

That’s true. I used to work in one of the biggest banks in the world. More than half the divisions were dependent on Excel. Every time there was an audit, a huge bunch of spreadsheets were automated. By the time the automation was complete, another hundred spreadsheets would have popped up. It was like trying to spray weeds. I remember one spreadsheet that contained the only formula for calculating risk in an almost billion dollar portfolio. Genuinely scary stuff.