Reality is not some immutable force. We all take a role in shaping it. In my current role I work on a very large build chain for a very large software product

Reality is not some immutable force. We all take a role in shaping it. In my current role I work on a very large build chain for a very large software product. I have pushed and chipped away at that build chain over the last three years, and at current measure a clean build now takes an hour and a half, where it used to take eight hours. Why do I care so much about things being lean and small? There are a plethora of tangible benefits, but... maybe eight years ago or so I stumbled across Niklaus Wirth's (author of this article) works, and they struck a chord with me. But I had questions. So... I emailed him. I'm nobody special. I wasn't expecting a reply. But he wrote me back a wonderful reply to my questions, and that, too, has stuck with me over the years. So, I'd like you to keep in mind that that 'plea from a purist removed from reality' had a strong impact in at least the reality for one large software product.