I had the same insight. If I'm having trouble bringing myself to do something, there is usually a good reason for it. Often it's because there is more thinking needed, or some other fundamental underlying reason. It's smart to learn to trust one's instincts, and to examine things more deeply, instead of trying to forcibly overpower one's subconscious.
On a related note, some people say that smoking weed doesn't make you lazy, it just makes you realize that the thing you were about to do isn't worth the effort. Also true.
What I have learned from decades of smoking weed and observing things, is that this society has absolutely no idea what the hell it's doing. It's a bunch of kids who are desperately pretending to be adults. The "reasons" given for the things people do are mostly just rationalizations and excuses. At least 90% of these things people are trying to force themselves to do, they likely shouldn't be doing in the first place.
But what real enhancements does Windows 10 provide, which couldn't have simply been done as patches to Windows 7, keeping the same main structure and layout and overall design, but just continually improving it, the way Henry Ford did with the Model T for 20+ years?
For that matter, one could for example take the Windows NT 4.0 source code, add in drivers for the necessary hardware, fix boot code, linking, etc to be compatible with late model computers, spruce up the UI with better font rendering, antialiasing, 24-bit color wallpaper, OpenGL rendering even--and in the end, you'd have something just as functional as Win 7/10 but at 1/4 of the bloat.
This sort of thing would be technically very easy to do. It's much easier than the status quo of continually reinventing the wheel. So why, oh why, is there this overpowering desire to continually throw out good code and replace it with heavier, more bloated junk, which doesn't really offer any real increase in functionality?
> For that matter, one could for example take the Windows NT 4.0 source code, add in drivers for the necessary hardware, fix boot code, linking, etc to be compatible with late model computers, spruce up the UI with better font rendering, antialiasing, 24-bit color wallpaper, OpenGL rendering even--and in the end, you'd have something just as functional as Win 7/10 but at 1/4 of the bloat.
My point isn’t that they couldn’t or shouldn’t be more efficient, it’s that there’s no market pressure. No incentives means no change in behaviour. The only way to fix it is to change the incentives, otherwise we’re just in “old man yells at clouds” territory.
Besides, you could essentially do what you’re describing by piecing together a Linux desktop from a lean distro. It’s not hard to find efficient software, it’s just not really mainstream
Except that it also happens with internal software, where there's no separation between developers and end-users. It's second-system effect writ large. "We'll rewrite this old, outdated software and add plenty of bells and whistles! This time will be different, we'll finally be doing it right."
See, to me, internal software may be the one place where "developer time" really is more valuable (depending on the size of the organization), because you're developing for far fewer uses.
One second times five million users is almost two months. One second times five thousand users is less than 90 minutes.
To put a finer point on it, software today is absolute garbage. I've been screaming about this for decades.
All of this bloated 'shitware' today is the result of it having been written by people who a) have no deeper understanding of what the computer is actually doing; also known as typical Python/Java/etc/etc/etc programmers, and/or b) simply not giving a damn about conservation of resources--as further evidenced by all of the other extremely wasteful and destructive habits they hold in their personal lives, and in their societies in general.
After all, this is the same civilization that's burning through increasingly vast quantities of oil at an astounding rate, despite the fact that previously existing abundant and cheap oil is nearly depleted, with no possibility of replenishment or replacement. So is it any surprise that foolish developers also burn through CPU and memory with reckless abandon?
Really, the problems we face aren't just in software; they're more about the foundations of our entire Western 'civilization.' Such problems generally tend to be rather intractable, in the historical view.
I'm working to construct, in my own computing life, something of a 'personal oasis', which is increasingly removed and estranged from all of the horrible things I see Other People out there having to suffer in their personal computing lives, thanks to talentless 'developers' who Just Don't Fucking Care. Some of these pricks actually have the audacity to call themselves 'engineers', even.
> To put a finer point on it, software today is absolute garbage. I've been screaming about this for decades.
That statement contradicts itself. Is this satire?
> All of this bloated 'shitware' today is the result of it having been written by people who a) have no deeper understanding of what the computer is actually doing; also known as typical Python/Java/etc/etc/etc programmers, and/or b) simply not giving a damn about conservation of resources--as further evidenced by all of the other extremely wasteful and destructive habits they hold in their personal lives, and in their societies in general.
Everything has a cost / benefit associated with it. Pretending otherwise show how little you know about engineering.
> I'm working to construct, in my own computing life, something of a 'personal oasis', which is increasingly removed and estranged from all of the horrible things I see Other People out there having to suffer in their personal computing lives, thanks to talentless 'developers' who Just Don't Fucking Care. Some of these pricks actually have the audacity to call themselves 'engineers', even.
I dunno how far your head has to be up your own behind to actually believe this? It not like most developers these days work on large software projects that are normally poorly costed, estimated, planned usually with stifling restrictions because certain "enterprise" technology is mandated by some architect who hasn't written a line of code in a couple of decades. Most people like a consistent regular income which allows them to support themselves and their family. I suspect these concerns are more important then incoherent ramblings of some guy on HN.
> this bloated 'shitware' today is the result of it having been written by people who a) have no deeper understanding of what the computer is actually doing; also known as typical Python/Java/etc/etc/etc programmers, and/or b) simply not giving a damn about conservation of resources
Much of the blame lies with bloated frameworks, such as Electron, rather than with the developer who uses the framework. You've covered this under Option B.
This topic cropped up recently on a Show HN. Someone built a Slack client for Windows 3.1. [0] It uses a tiny fraction of the memory used by the official Electron-based client, of course.
Did you notice the subtle contradiction in your post?
> they're more about the foundations of our entire Western 'civilization.'
> talentless 'developers'
It's not talentless developers, it's the foundations of civilization. Capitalism, chasing the $ not the writing of beautiful software. If an Electron app makes me more money (e.g. by getting to market quicker) than a well crafted native app, then the Electron app will be built. See also building construction and why we end up with 60m^2 poorly constructed but funky looking apartments - who to blame. The concrete pourers? The architect? I don't think it is that simple.
They seem to believe civilization is always and is necessarily a good thing, and is not a bad things. No! Like many things, civilization is both good and bad.
On a related note, some people say that smoking weed doesn't make you lazy, it just makes you realize that the thing you were about to do isn't worth the effort. Also true.
What I have learned from decades of smoking weed and observing things, is that this society has absolutely no idea what the hell it's doing. It's a bunch of kids who are desperately pretending to be adults. The "reasons" given for the things people do are mostly just rationalizations and excuses. At least 90% of these things people are trying to force themselves to do, they likely shouldn't be doing in the first place.