kiawe_fire

> Just as the anti-Trump crowd doesn't like Trump's personality, you reject Pike for his arrogance.

This feels like an odd and unfair comparison.

I have nothing but respect for Pike and what he’s accomplished.

I don’t dislike him in some anti-cult-of-personality. I’m not ignoring good work he’s done just because it doesn’t fit my world view.

But I CAN criticize his individual work for being limiting or lacking ergonomics that I like.

And it’s entirely fair to look at Pike’s personal motivation for making the decisions he made, because it has an impact not only on what Go is currently, but also what it’s likely to be (or likely to not be) in the future.

If Go were created with the intention to be, say, a cleaner C++ with garbage collection, then I’d be all over it. I’d know that even if I don’t fully like it’s implementation today, it might eventually “get there”.

But instead it was created as an admittedly dumbed down language for people that Pike personally decided needed a dumbed down language, so I know that it’s never going to be what I want it to be.

That’s not an attack on Pike as a person. It’s not me blindly following a media campaign trying to destroy someone.

It’s me saying that I benefit greatly from generics and more robust error handling, and Go is not likely to have those in the capacity that I want because the whole motivation behind the language was to avoid those things at all costs.

None of which takes away from Pike’s career in its entirety.

Agreed.

We’ve had contests before in games where “the winner gets to be in the game!”

We’ve had games with and without cosmetic upgrades, and it seems if you don’t have them now, then “there’s no incentive to keep playing” and “why can’t I make my character more unique?”

But with them, then “they’re just trying to take more money from us” and “I don’t care about this cosmetic stuff so neither should anyone else”.

NFTs are an additional layer on top of what has been part of gaming in some capacity for a long time.

There are a couple of additional arguments to be made around the ecological impact with NFTs, but otherwise it’s the same old, tired debate that just seems to get more angry and less rational with every iteration, and I don’t get it.

Mostly, I don’t see any scenario where anyone ends up actually happy with the result. Like people are complaining just to complain. When there is a rational complaint to be made, it gets downvoted to oblivion by one side or the other.

Some of it is a matter of what type of work motivates you and how your current work matches up.

My coworkers tend to put in 10 hour days in the fall and winter during our busy season, in which we are bombarded with smaller tasks and bug fixes. They thrive on knocking out a large number of small things quickly.

But they then do “almost nothing” the other half of the year, when we should be working on large new initiates and better tooling.

I’m the opposite - give me a list of small soul crushing manual tasks, and I’ll procrastinate like crazy. But give me some vague user stories and a big new project with the freedom to be creative, and I’ll be pulling nights and weekends happily.

One question I think you’re asking without asking it is, “is this ok?”

And that depends on two things.

One, are YOU happy with this? Is your job just a means to an end, or do you want to have a bigger impact, be more productive, and enjoy your work?

If the latter, then you’re likely not in a position that properly challenges you or meshes with your motivations.

If the former, then the next question to ask is, “am I providing my employer with value?”

Are you doing work that would be hard to find others that could do it? Do you bring any unique skills or knowledge? Are you getting enough done that it helps the organization achieve goals, get new customers, or keep existing ones happy?

If so, great, you’re adding value and you aren’t draining the organization.

If not, then you might want to consider what and how you can improve.

And frankly every engineer and developer should be at least vaguely aware of what value they provide, both to make a case for yourself if needed, but also to make sure you’re satisfied in your current role and not just a butt in a seat.

Please do! I love reading these, and the fewer stories lost to time, the better.

I’ve been using elementary OS (Pantheon) and I like so much about it, yet still often find it feeling a bit limited as a daily driver for software development work.

I’d like to try Gnome 40+ with one more distro hop, but if that doesn’t stick, then I’m likely to head back to KDE Plasma (Manjaro) since that’s been the best Linux experience I’ve had so far. Sane defaults, yet still easily customizable wherever I felt the need to.

But those were actual problems back then, and they were solved only through significant engineering work to hide them, each of which had their own problems.

Frameworks like .Net WebForms were created to abstract and hide a lot of this from developers, with things like long encoded strings of "view state" that would be re-posted on each request, by serializing things to the URL, or by saving them to Cookie-backed sessions.

But each of these has issues, from privacy concerns using the URL, to security concerns with the "view state", to concurrency and integrity concerns with sessions.

IMO, the biggest reasons these didn't stand out as huge problems in the early 2000's was because:

(a) we didn't use the web like we do today, and our expectations were very different in how things would work if we, for example, added an item to a shopping cart

(b) most heavily interactive / app-like things that more closely work "the way we expect" today, were either still done as desktop apps (like business software) or were implemented as Java applets, Flash, or something else of the sort

(c) in the rare cases that neither (a) nor (b) applied, it was because some very good engineers put in a lot of work to make it work that way.

Great example. This is something I struggle with myself, but it especially annoys me when my non-engineer friends complain about bugs or missing features when we game together.

“Why can’t I just do {x}, it would be easy to implement, any programmer could do it, why are {y company}’s developers so incompetent”.

Now I have a link to send them rather than awkwardly coming up with an example on the spot of why {x} is probably way more complicated than it seems, assuming you want it to actually work in any meaningful way.

To be honest, I think all major desktop environments are in an equally terrible state (including MacOS and Linux), but none particularly more so than another.

I’ve been very happy using Gnome and KDE more so than Windows or MacOS the past year, but they each have odd quirks, as do MacOS and Windows.

In fact, although I’ve had plenty odd graphical bugs and occasional crashes with both Linux DEs, almost every time I’ve had to use Windows or MacOS for something, I’ve experienced even worse over there.

In some ways I think we should all be disgusted that the desktop UI has largely stagnated while still having so many odd issues across the board, but at the same time, I guess pleased that they have all largely caught up to each other in most regards and are all “about as good as it gets, for now”.

That said, I find myself gravitating towards Linux if for no reason other than, if all else fails, the source code is there for me to modify if and when I desire.

Even as I wrote my recommendations, I questioned whether other viewers take the same inspiration I take from them, given the negative consequences explored in each, so I'm glad to see I'm not the only one.

In addition to your points, I do think there is an aspect of human nature that is most strongly fascinated by people who achieve extraordinary things, but simultaneously have some major flaw or deficiency (especially a deficiency in something ordinary that we, ourselves, do not have).

It's as though, while we crave role models and achievements to aspire to, we are also comforted to think that our relative shortcomings with regards to our aspirations are made up for in other areas that our role models may lack.

One that immediately comes to mind is "The Imitation Game", on the life of Alan Turing during WWII.

For something less tech-oriented, "Molly's Game" is inspiring for me. The characterization of Molly as being both smart and relentlessly hard working is motivating to me, while also showing the dangers of taking it to the nth degree.

In a similar vein to "Molly's Game", "The Queen's Gambit" series on Netflix is not about tech, but very much on being the best you can be at something, along with the dangers of taking it too far.

"The Hundred Foot Journey" has nothing to do with technology at all, but rather cooking (which I usually hate). But, it captures the feeling of iteration, hard work, and self-improvement, and the notion of dealing with adversarial people and eventually becoming allies.

While definitely silly and kid-friendly, "Real Steel" gives me similar "iteration and self-improvement" vibes that give me a mental boost.

Finally, on the anime side, I have one hugely overlooked recommendation that I LOVED and yet got very little recognition: Knights and Magic. It's standard "isekai" setup has a software developer transported to another world, but he very much captures the excitement of taking an engineering mindset to problem solving when coming up with new mechanical solutions to each new fight. It's not as technical as I wish it were, but in terms of capturing the spirit of tech and engineering in a stylized way, this show was a ton of fun for me!

And everybody saw it coming from day one.

I’m a mostly PC gamer, but as someone who craves a future in which my iPad or Android tablet can be my one main device, I really hope something like this (and/or Apple Arcade) gives more legitimacy to the mobile gaming space.

Because until recently, sorting through all the adware garbage in the app stores has made mobile gaming all but dead to me.

Having a major brand like Netflix potentially funding AAA, adware and IAP-free games sounds promising.

As someone who recently worked on my company’s website redesign, I can say it was none of the above.

We’re actually a quite diverse staff. At the risk of saying something non-PC, many of us are quite attractive and photogenic, including those of non-white skin tones and other diverse backgrounds.

I originally fought for taking “real photos” of “real employees”, but was shot down due to:

1. Time and effort involved in getting good shots with good lighting

2. “Decent but not as nice as stock photo” office scenery (cubicles are drab compared to bright white offices with fake plants)

3. My boss let slip that he didn’t want to give visual aids to help poachers in their ability to find and hire us (nope, not joking about that one, and yes, it is a red flag)

I have to second watching the “Mother of all Demos”.

In fact, in general, make it a habit to revisit 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s technology. Look up old computer magazines, read some articles.

There are TONS of ideas that were pioneered back then that have either been forgotten, have not fully evolved to reach their potential yet, or have evolved in negative ways such that they “lost the thread” (and therefore, provide fertile ground for revisiting and iterating upon).

One of the most monumental mindset shifts I’ve had in my career was looking into the whole Xerox Parc Smalltalk stuff. The concept of a live environment that you can change anything about it, right then and there, was a magical lightbulb that got me thinking about the UIs I build and the data behind them in new ways. It shifted my mind towards user empowerment rather than tight controls and structures.

Rediscovering some of these core ideas in their pure, early forms can be really inspiring.

I was brought back to the office early September on a one-day-per-week basis to facilitate “face to face” communication.

Since then, we’ve had exactly zero in person meetings. We each use Teams even when in the office.

The one time I suggested meeting in a conference room, the consensus was “it’s easier to see the presenter’s screen over Teams”.

I enjoy talking to my nearby colleagues and having a little adventure one day per week, but it’s clear that the management motivation for this is not in person communication, but stems from the same lack of trust and need to micromanage that prevented frequent WFH in the first place.

The counter narrative is rarely banned because the in-power authorities openly say “you expressed dissent against our official narrative”. It’s almost always done “to protect people”.

Although it seems your criteria has already quickly expanded from “hate speech” to also “dangerous and damaging speech”, I’m curious at what point you would become concerned yourself?

Is your only criteria for when the line is crossed an open admission by those in charge that they are enforcing one political side over another, with no attached moral justification?

What if someone you respected in your personal life were suddenly deplatformed? What if, tomorrow morning, you personally experienced and verified something to be untrue that today, based on the current narrative, you believe to be true (and therefore “fucking dangerous” if opposed)?

If I’m wrong, and truly only the most vile of speech is being (justifiably) removed, then what circumstances would have to change for you to share my concern?

I’m not being rhetorical or facetious, I’m generally interested in hearing where the line is for you.

I thought the same when starting my current job (small company co-owned by two software devs), but this has proven false for me.

The biggest problem I have is that, while both managers are OK software devs (but not great), anything I advocate for that is above their skill level is perceived to be “too complicated”, or “takes too long to do, let’s just get it done quickly for now”.

So, instead of proper config files or method dispatching for client-specific behavior, we end up with if/else and switch statements with hard coded client primary keys.

Then, when a huge bug comes along on a Friday at 5pm as a result of how we built the thing, I get to be the one to dig us out of the hole while my managers are busy “working on the next big feature” which will almost certainly be done just as poorly.

So, conveniently, only myself and our customers ever get to experience the consequences of their decisions.

And what can I do? I can fight to get my way, sometimes, on new features, but when “their way” becomes a problem, I can’t use it as an example to support my ideas or say “I told you so” without hurting feelings or going against the people signing my paycheck.

Moreover, we live in a time where simple guilt by association and even asking simple counter narrative, science-driven questions is enough to get one blocked from all other mainstream registrars and hosts.

There aren’t many other options that I’m aware of.

So, it’s entirely possible even new customers have joined for lack of other options.

I’ve resisted using them, and this incident vindicates why I’ve been hesitant to, but that still leaves me with no options for safely hosting thought that’s against authoritarian-approved narratives.

Once again, nuance seems dead, with no place for free thinkers in the middle between the extremes.

Not to mention, recent work with things like Maui in KDE and the “platform building” nature of Gnome 40+ have lent a growing polish to the desktop experience of both environments.

There’s still a lot of work to be done for Linux to reach the hardware and software ubiquity of Windows or the UX polish of MacOS, but I increasingly see a more diverse set of talent, including design talent, lending their experience to the platform.

And as more disciplines work on the ecosystem, eventually demand for a more diverse set of software will follow.

Combine that with an initially lukewarm reception to Windows 11 so far, and growing privacy concerns on MacOS, and the incentives for an alternative platform are more widespread than they’ve been in a long time.

I know “the year of Linux desktops” has been a thing for forever, but it really does feel closer to the tipping point than ever.

Doesn’t mean it will definitely happen, but the momentum feels more with it than against it, IMO.

Oh my!

I’ve often seen rates given by banks with at least one extra digit and wondered why.

It never occurred to me it was a marketing ploy.

I've found the distinction kind of odd.

As a so-called "full stack" developer, every project I've worked on in which the frontend and backend developers were clearly delineated has led to a mismatch in needs between the two.

The frontend devs asking for the API they need for the UI they want to achieve, and the backend devs having to predict the ways the frontend will need this data for now and in the future as the UI evolves and as the backend system is built out.

The frontend devs are at the mercy of potential backend choices affecting the "feel" of the UI over time, and the backend devs at the mercy of their data model, infrastructure, and system design choices not meshing with the future needs of the frontend over time.

I know the projects this sort of thing has gone bad for me on had other communication issues, but I still don't know if I could deliver a solid end product nearly as effectively without being able to jump into either end, understand the problems and desired outcomes, and be able to help both evolve in a maintainable and scalable way, together.

To be fair, in the last 4 years especially, the US has set its own precedent of raiding the homes of political opponents, supporters and even lawyers.

In one case last year, a person was even visited by officers for simply saying a politician’s rhetoric was “underwhelming”.

To say nothing of the peaceful protestors who have been detained, in some cases without charges or even access to lawyers.

We may like to think we’re still the bastion of freedom we want to see, but the trend certainly doesn’t point that way.

Right. People presumably don’t start political movements because they’re happy.

They typically do so to affect change.

Change that may well be required, for example, to address problems in said one-party healthcare system.

Your point is well taken that the headline is misleadingly conflating “who he was” with “what he did wrong”.

But is the actual crime any better, though?

If squatting and resisting arrest were the crimes, then I don’t see what justification there could be for wanting to probe into his emails.

They already know the extent of what he did, and where he did it, by nature of the crimes themselves… no?

This is the attitude anyone who cares about this stuff needs to adopt. Especially those with engineering, design, or documentation skills.

Now is the time to get the open alternatives shored up, and to start creating a viable and concise pathway and ecosystem that we can recommend to “non-techies” who are looking for an alternative.

That can only happen if we start using this stuff now, and commit to donating some time and effort to take the deficiencies we find in our own use and make them better.

It’s fine to vent, and I hope to see people continue to call big tech out. But putting on a more positive mindset, this is actually an amazing opportunity we have to start creating the change we want to see.

I noticed a similar trend with Howard Stern and others once signing on with SiriusXM.

My unsubstantiated take: audio has to be ubiquitous to work. It’s somehow more commoditized than video or other mediums.

If it’s a radio show / podcast, you already have your “player” of choice (AM/FM radio, or a particular mobile app) and you expect the audio to work like tuning a radio station to your syndicated show, or putting in a CD, and the player just plays it.

For some reason with video streaming, we equate services like Netflix with TV networks, so exclusivity is ok.

But audio apps and services don’t feel like different stations or CDs, they feel like different mediums entirely. So while Netflix is to Hulu as NBC is to HGTV, Spotify is to Apple Music as CDs are to MiniDisc.

I hope for this as well. The best time to build up freedom-focused big-tech alternatives is before things become dire, not after.

Having had time to cool off, my response to this is to continue using Apple devices and supporting their privacy-focused way of CSAM scanning rather than the worse alternatives.

BUT, I'm going to start buying and supporting alternatives in parallel, and eventually start contributing to them.

If my biggest concern is government overreach, yet I think that we're "not there yet", then its incumbent upon me to be a small part in helping to make sure the alternatives are ready once we do "get there".

I appreciate Apple’s design here, and I think that there’s an overreaction to it.

This is probably the best design we have so far for something that everyone else is already doing, and I give Apple credit for going to greater lengths to preserve privacy.

But the “just trust us, we only want to do good things and we will be ruined if you ever catch us doing bad things” rationale doesn’t help. In fact it sends me right back into protest every time I’ve seen it posted.

There will not be legal ramifications for “what if” scenarios. Not enough to prevent abuse.

Especially if these would be the same (weak) legal ramifications that prevent people from being wrongfully accused of murder, arrested for peaceful protest, or bank accounts frozen on baseless suspicion of fraud or terrorism.

From the same government that has treated legitimate political beliefs and entire religions as terrorism.

If the core defense is that I should just trust that NCMEC exists for a single purpose, will never be manipulated or expand outside that purpose, and is completely uninterested in carrying out any other agenda, then that defense has already lost.

Because that exact scenario has already occurred with other government agencies.

And suggesting that NCMEC is somehow at such a disadvantage in power that Apple has a choice to say “no” (and that Apple will do so at even the slightest hint of impropriety) and that alone will bring NCMEC and all of the good work they do crashing down?

I bought this reasoning fully with the Patriot Act and warrantless wiretaps. I had no doubt these things were being used to do good and prevent deaths, and I’m sure they have.

But I have also since seen enough to know that short term good will was paid for by the long term ruining of innocent lives, and racial profiling that continues to this day.

I’m not interested in supporting that again.

I’m good with “Apple is trying to steer this in a more privacy respecting direction” and “this introduces a new avenue in which NCMEC introduces more checks and balances by having third parties double check their work”.

I’m saying this as someone who is torn about this issue.

But the “separate government organization that will absolutely not bend to pressure and will suffer legal consequences if they do, JUST TRUST US KTHX” reasoning already has such strong precedence of being proven false, it only works against your case.

I’ve made Linux my daily driver going on 6 months now, and it’s mostly great.

I knew that MacOS’ menu organization was a bit better on average and application interop more common (especially with things like Automater) but the keyboard shortcuts thing really surprised me.

Consistently at the system level and application levels, shortcuts seem so much more natural and easier to learn on MacOS. Use of the super key, a letter, and maybe a modifier is the norm, whereas Linux seems to have heavy use of control plus multiple modifiers and even function keys for just about everything.

Moreover, the super key feels so much better placed than control for common shortcuts.

I work about 80-90% with Vue 2 and 10-20% with React, so take this with salt.

But, with React, I rarely find myself wondering why the component isn’t re-rendering when something changes, whereas this happens frequently with Vue.

I also rarely find myself having to plan out how props will flow to state or when something needs to be a computed (or memoized) property. Things usually just kind of come together.

There are several reasons for this, but often times it comes down to either doing the wrong type of assignment that makes Vue lose its wrapper object around the property, or something to do with the way I use props as defaults for reactive state.

Which leads to another complaint - mixing props passed in to the component in the same space as the reactive state. This means the property needs a different name from the state property that it drives, it means having to mentally track which piece of data can be mutated because its state and which cannot because its a prop, and it often means wondering why your component isn’t re-rendering when your prop changes, only to finally realize you really need a computed prop or a prop watcher.

I don’t want to sound overly dramatic though. It doesn’t happen every day, it’s never prevented me from doing anything, and Vue (IMO) makes up for it in other ways like single file components with better styling options. It’s also possible I just haven’t used React enough.

But that said, in my experience, some of Vue’s magic that makes it simpler to get started with, is also what makes it trickier to work with as projects get larger.

Disclaimer: Vue 3 introduces hook like things that I haven’t tried, and perhaps make my complaints less valid.