* * * * *
And now some metacommentary on the artisanal code I just wrote
When I wrote the two programs [1] to retrieve output from syslog from my
public server, the thing I did not do use was any AI (Artificial
Intelligence) program (aka (also known as) Cat [2]) to help with the design
nor the code. It was a simple problem with a straightforward solution and
it's sad to think that more and more programmers are reaching for Cat for
even simple programs.
I wonder though—is the popularity of Cat because of business demands that
incentivize quick hacks to get new features and/or bug fixes and
deincentivize deep knowledge or methodical implementations? Because of the
constant churn of frameworks du jour and languages with constantly changing
implementations? Because of sprawling code bases that not a single person can
understand as a whole? Because businesses want to remove expensive
programmers who might say “no”?
Anyway …
I don't expect the code I wrote to be of use for anyone else. The issue I'm
solving is probably unique to me (and to the death of the true peer-to-peer
Internet but I digress). But I also feel that such simple programs, ones that
can be thought of as “disposable” almost, are not popular these days.
Although I'll admit that could be just a bias I'm forming from some [3]
forums [4] I hang out on. These programs are too simple, there's no need for
Docker (which is what? A tar file with some required files for use with a
custom program to get around the fact that shared libraries are a mess?) or
Kubernetes (which is what? A Google project Google doesn't even use but
convinced enough people it's required to run at Google Scale?). Yeah, there
are a few dependencies but not the hundreds you would get from using
something like NodeJS.
I don't know … I'm just … in a mood.
[1]
gopher://gopher.conman.org/0Phlog:2025/02/02.1
[2]
https://translate.google.com/?sl=en&tl=fr&text=Cat%20I%20farted&op=translate
[3]
https://news.ycombinator.com/
[4]
https://lobste.rs/
Email author at
[email protected]
