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[1]datagubbe.se » the stubborn computing manifesto
The Stubborn Computing Manifesto
Autumn 2022
Everyone is conservative about what he knows best.
- Robert Conquest
Stubborn computing is about using computers the way you want to.
Stubborn computing is about being able to pick - and stick to - what
you think is the best tool for the job. It's an investment in software
over time: As with the carpenter's hammer, the chef's knife or the
weaver's loom, it's about subconscious and intrinsic mastery of the
tools of one's craft - a deep-seated skill growing along with a
never-ending creative process. Ars longa, vita brevis.
Stubborn computing isn't about rejecting what's new; it's about
embracing what's good. The stubborn user realizes the benefits of
faster hardware, better encryption, higher resolutions, more colours
and increased bandwidth, but will practice extreme caution when
discerning between change and improvement. Stubborn computing
appreciates real improvement, but is wary of unforeseen danger and thus
careful to rely too heavily on it initially. Stubbornness builds
slowly.
Stubborn computing isn't an ironic fling with a past never experienced,
nor is it about sentimental reminiscing. The stubborn user doesn't
install a Windows 95 theme because of a superficial whim or in a
pointless search of lost time. The stubborn user might do so because
their brand of stubbornness is rooted in the Windows 95 workflow, and
they will go to great lengths to recreate this workflow in many more
aspects than shallow aesthetics.
Likewise, the stubborn user doesn't fire up xterm in a fit of
nostalgia. They do so because it's something they've been doing all
their life, and because they haven't, so far, found another similar
program worthy of replacing it. Stubborn programmers write code in
Emacs, vi, Acme or any other editor of choice not because of the thrill
in transgressing the mainstream or because it increases their nerd
cred. They do so because their way of approaching their craft is helped
by a tool that has shaped them as much as they have shaped it.
Stubborn computing is about working - sometimes hard - towards
maximizing personal computational enjoyment. The stubborn user may
present initiated comments on the current zeitgeist in hard- and
software, and offers helpful advice if asked. However, stubborn users
do not preach indiscriminately, nor do they dismiss the choices made by
other stubborn users.
Instead, they appreciate all like-minded efforts and realize that it
isn't blind zealotry, but stubbornness, that unites them - no matter if
it's [2]running Plan 9 as a daily driver, going to great lengths [3]to
avoid advertising or spending considerable time on fighting [4]a
blinking cursor.
Hence, stubborn users value all stubborn software. Between us all and
the abyss of despair stands a thin line of stubborn people - some of
them vi aficionados - hellbent on stopping Emacs from turning into yet
another Atom clone. You can sleep safely at night because stubborn
users are out there, watching, ensuring the existence of stubborn
software for future generations of stubborn users.
Stubborn computing recognizes the importance of lowest common
denominators. Stubborn developers often keep their web pages stubbornly
simple, stick to open standards and protocols and prefer digital
communication to stay as close to plain text as possible. Stubbornness
can only thrive if stubborn propaganda is easily accessible.
To a layperson, stubborn computing may seem like trite, luddite
contrarianism, but the stubborn user knows better. For in the end,
stubbornness is about the freedom of choice. It's about the
increasingly elusive idea that good tools make for happier, more
efficient and thus more productive computing.
Productive to whom, you ask?
Why, stubborn computer users, of course.
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References
1.
https://www.datagubbe.se/
2.
http://helpful.cat-v.org/Blog/2019/12/03/0/
3.
https://www.devever.net/~hl/total-advertising-denial
4.
https://jurta.org/en/prog/noblink
5.
https://www.datagubbe.se/atom.xml
