A tribute to Daniel Bristot de Oliveira from Linux Plumbers. https://lpc.events/blog/current/index.php/2024/07/06/in-memory-of-daniel-bristot-de-oliveira/
I'm really really really not interested in computers getting more powerful.
I am super interested in them being more repairable and modifiable, drawing less power, lasting and being supported for way longer etc. That stuff still gets me excited
In software architecture you have to recognize when you're adding a rocket stage.
In rockets and aeroplanes it's a simple truth that weight adds more weight. To carry more you need bigger engines, a bigger fuel thank, more fuel. More weight becomes even more weight.
For rockets to make it out of the atmosphere they use multiple stages. Each stage carries the rocket to a certain height, once the fuel is used up the stage is ejected so the next stage can push forward a lighter rocket. So adding a stage will get you further, but at the cost of much more machinery, engineers, and complexity. You now have a much heavier rocket to launch.
Switching to kubernetes, kafka, microservices, a single page app, ... is adding a rocket stage. Maybe it's what you need to get where you want to go, but be clear about the extra weight, operational cost, engineering overheard, mental overhead.
The toot length version goes like this
🌸 Open source is a public, common resource. Anyone can contribute, and everyone benefits
🌸 That makes it a "commons", or perhaps many commons
🌸 Commons need long term organized care to sustain them. That's called governance
🌸 The governance of the open source commons has been neglected for a long time, and that burden falls on maintainers
🌸 What if we didn't do that?
The tragicomedy of corporate dependence on free labor continues:
Here, we see $3.1T-market-cap Microsoft, who've built a dependency on ffmpeg into Teams, trying to convince an all-volunteer community to treat their bug as high priority.
https://twitter.com/FFmpeg/status/1775178803129602500
Will they pay for a support contract or anything? No, of course not. Instead, they'll try the advice of some rando calling themselves "Elon Musk".
https://twitter.com/FFmpeg/status/1775178805704888726
(Err: originally read $400B, not $3.1T; thanks @danielnazer)