On: Skip the API, ship your database

[TylerE]

There is no such thing as "serverless", that's just a higher than normal level of vendor lying.

[chrisoverzero → TylerE]

I said nearly the same thing decades ago. Smashed a few friends’ so-called “wireless” telephones and showed them all the wires. Just look out a window; what’re those long, wiry things running between the utility poles, huh?! It’s ridiculous, the level of lying.

[rmbyrro → chrisoverzero]

I think it's "lying" if you mislead another person.

In those two examples: serverless and wireless phones, it's not misleading consumers.

Serverless is a way to communicate that the consumer won't need to provision and maintain servers. It is true.

Wireless phone means you can move for quite long distances while talking without any wire connecting your device to the wall. It is true.

You may argue they're "misnomers". But to call it a "lie" is quite a stretch...

[impulser_ → TylerE]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serverless_computing

[TylerE → impulser_]

The first sentence in your link includes "in which the cloud provider allocates machine resources on demand, taking care of the servers". =

There is NO SUCH THING as serverless. There are always servers.

[brokenbyclouds → TylerE]

Dear God this is a tired point. The rest of the damn paragraph of the Wikipedia article fully addresses that. Nobody who uses the term "serverless" thinks that magic fairies are replacing servers. The point is who is managing it for your application or business.

[robertlagrant → TylerE]

Serverless doesn't mean servers don't exist, any more than calling a radio a "wireless" doesn't mean wires don't exist. It just means for the consumer, servers aren't a consideration, just as with a wireless wires aren't.

[growse → robertlagrant]

The irony is that many things that are advertised as wireless actually need wires, and things that aren't, don't.

My wireless printer needs a wire for power.

My dog doesn't need a wire for anything, but no-one talks about them being 'wireless'.

(Come to think of it, my dog is serverless too...)

[robertlagrant → growse]

> My dog doesn't need a wire for anything, but no-one talks about them being 'wireless'.

Indeed :-) But isn't this the same sort of definition you want for "serverless"? Not something relevant to consumers (e.g. "you don't manage servers") but a description of something where servers are not involved in any way?