From e52b77b695721cc141585c194d0d0e6cd428b4a0 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Paul Buetow Date: Fri, 22 Oct 2021 10:31:24 +0300 Subject: Publishing new version --- gemfeed/atom.xml | 6 +++--- gemfeed/index.gmi | 2 +- 2 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-) diff --git a/gemfeed/atom.xml b/gemfeed/atom.xml index 08e2864d..e7f8d80d 100644 --- a/gemfeed/atom.xml +++ b/gemfeed/atom.xml @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ - 2021-10-22T10:09:20+03:00 + 2021-10-22T10:31:08+03:00 buetow.org feed Having fun with computers! @@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ / ************ \ / ************ \ -------------------- -------------------- -

Written by Paul Buetow 2021-09-12, last updated 2021-10-02

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Written by Paul Buetow 2021-09-12, last updated 2021-10-22

A robust computer system must be kept simple and stupid (KISS). The fancier the system is, the more can break. Unfortunately, most systems tend to become complex and challenging to maintain in today's world. In the early days, so I was told, engineers understood every part of the system, but nowadays, we see more of the "lasagna" stack. One layer or framework is built on top of another layer, and in the end, nobody has got a clue what's going on.

Need faster hardware

This not just makes the system much more complex, difficult to maintain and challenging to troubleshoot, but also slow. So more experts are needed to support it. Also, newer and faster hardware is required to make it run smoothly. Often, it's so much easier to buy speedier hardware than rewrite a whole system from scratch from the bottom-up. The latter would require much more resources in the short run, but in the long run, it should pay off. Unfortunately, many project owners scare away from it as they only want to get their project done and then move on.

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I don't say that the ELK stack doesn't work, but it requires experts and additional hardware resources to support it. But instead, if you keep your infrastructure simple (e.g. only use DTail), it will maintain pretty much by itself.

More KISS

The Adslowbe PDF Reader

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Another perfect example is the Adobe PDF reader. How can it be that the inventor of the PDF format creates such a terrible user experience with its official reader? The reader is awful bloated, and slow. There are much better alternatives around (especially for Linux and other UNIX like operating systems). I believe the reason Adobe's reader is like this is featuritis, and 90% of the users don't use 90% of all available features. Less is more; keep it simple and stupid.

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Another perfect example is the Adobe PDF reader. How can it be that the inventor of the PDF format creates such a terrible user experience with its official reader? The reader is awful bloated, and slow. There are much better alternatives around (especially for Linux and other UNIX like operating systems, look at Zathura for example). I believe the reason Adobe's reader is like this is featuritis, and 90% of the users don't use 90% of all available features. Less is more; keep it simple and stupid.

The power of plain text files

Speaking of file formats, never underestimate the power of plain text files. Plain text files don't require any special software to be opened, and they outlive the software which created them in the first place. You will still be able to read a plain text file on a modern computer system ten (or twenty) years from now, but you probably won't be able to read such an old version of an Adobe Photoshop image file if the software required for reading that format isn't supported anymore and doesn't run anymore on modern computers.

KISS for programmers

diff --git a/gemfeed/index.gmi b/gemfeed/index.gmi index 031a82c3..5469d4ec 100644 --- a/gemfeed/index.gmi +++ b/gemfeed/index.gmi @@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ ## Having fun with computers! => ./2021-10-22-defensive-devops.gmi 2021-10-22 (2276 words) - Defensive DevOps -=> ./2021-09-12-keep-it-simple-and-stupid.gmi 2021-09-12 (1360 words) - Keep it simple and stupid +=> ./2021-09-12-keep-it-simple-and-stupid.gmi 2021-09-12 (1365 words) - Keep it simple and stupid => ./2021-08-01-on-being-pedantic-about-open-source.gmi 2021-08-01 (2919 words) - On being Pedantic about Open-Source => ./2021-07-04-the-well-grounded-rubyist.gmi 2021-07-04 (2048 words) - The Well-Grounded Rubyist => ./2021-06-05-gemtexter-one-bash-script-to-rule-it-all.gmi 2021-06-05 (1191 words) - Gemtexter - One Bash script to rule it all -- cgit v1.2.3