4 ms·

I hate to admit that I just realized the hard -> firm -> soft ware analogy.

by ddispaltro 8y ago

snek 8y ago
holy shit my life is a lie
charlietango92 8y ago
better late than never. Cheers :)
eckza 8y ago
Oh my god so did I
NikolaNovak 8y ago
wow... I... I've been in IT for 25 years, a computer geek for 35, and... never even questioned it :O
shafyy 8y ago
OMG me too. Always thought it's because of "firm" as in a "company". Like, the software the company puts on the device and a user can't change. Haha.
- ethbro 8y ago
  Per Wikipedia, it was coined in 1967 to refer to the glue code that existed at the boundary of hardware and software. Or, in other words, any code which hooks directly to the hardware on one side and exposes abstractions (like an instruction set) that software can code against on the other. I always assumed "firm" stuck, as in "You'll have a helluva time changing it, because it's the code that has to deal with all the complex electrical engineering stuff." (E.g. processor errata, patched board mistakes via fuse or EEPROM, side effects of power supply undervolting or clock skew, or pre-initialized system murkiness) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firmware#History https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firmware#History
mastre_ 8y ago
mind blown
keerthiko 8y ago
It keeps going * hard -> firm -> soft -> wet ware https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetware_(brain) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetware_(brain) Although this one is usually just referred to as the "user" ;)
- potyl 8y ago
  Lets not forget vaporware.
  - pizza 8y ago
    Let's get some plasmaware to market!
ElijahLynn 8y ago
And today I learned (TIL) too! But only because you pointed it out in your comment, thanks.
- subcosmos 8y ago
  Just wait until you encounter vaporware, and it's upcoming block chain variant: plasmaware It's the newest thing, and it's going thermonuclear!
  - wolfgke 8y ago
    > Just wait until you encounter vaporware, and it's upcoming block chain variant: plasmaware But then please introduce also the relevant variants of realtime (in analogy of hard, firm and soft realtime): vapor realtime and plasma realtime.
solarkraft 8y ago
Oh, damn.
teddyh 8y ago
Hardware met Software on the road to Changtse. Software said: “You are yin and I am yang. If we travel together we will become famous and earn vast amounts of money.” And so they set forth together, thinking to conquer the world. Presently they met Firmware, who was dressed in tattered rags and hobbled along propped on a thorny stick. Firmware said to them: “The Tao lies beyond yin and yang. It is silent and still as a pool of water. It does not seek fame, therefore nobody knows its presence. It does not seek fortune, for it is complete within itself. It exists beyond space and time.” Hardware and Software, ashamed, returned to their homes. — The Tao of Programming, Geoffrey James, 1987
- disqard 8y ago
  That made my morning! Thank you for sharing.
pjc50 8y ago
You may also encounter "stiffware", which is software you'd like to update but can't.

I hate to admit that I just realized the hard -> firm -> soft ware analogy.

snek 8y ago

holy shit my life is a lie

charlietango92 8y ago

better late than never. Cheers :)

eckza 8y ago

Oh my god so did I

NikolaNovak 8y ago

wow... I... I've been in IT for 25 years, a computer geek for 35, and... never even questioned it :O

shafyy 8y ago

OMG me too. Always thought it's because of "firm" as in a "company". Like, the software the company puts on the device and a user can't change. Haha.

ethbro 8y ago
Per Wikipedia, it was coined in 1967 to refer to the glue code that existed at the boundary of hardware and software. Or, in other words, any code which hooks directly to the hardware on one side and exposes abstractions (like an instruction set) that software can code against on the other. I always assumed "firm" stuck, as in "You'll have a helluva time changing it, because it's the code that has to deal with all the complex electrical engineering stuff." (E.g. processor errata, patched board mistakes via fuse or EEPROM, side effects of power supply undervolting or clock skew, or pre-initialized system murkiness) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firmware#History https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firmware#History

mastre_ 8y ago

mind blown

keerthiko 8y ago

It keeps going * hard -> firm -> soft -> wet ware https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetware_(brain) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetware_(brain) Although this one is usually just referred to as the "user" ;)

potyl 8y ago
Lets not forget vaporware.
- pizza 8y ago
  Let's get some plasmaware to market!

ElijahLynn 8y ago

And today I learned (TIL) too! But only because you pointed it out in your comment, thanks.

subcosmos 8y ago
Just wait until you encounter vaporware, and it's upcoming block chain variant: plasmaware It's the newest thing, and it's going thermonuclear!
- wolfgke 8y ago
  > Just wait until you encounter vaporware, and it's upcoming block chain variant: plasmaware But then please introduce also the relevant variants of realtime (in analogy of hard, firm and soft realtime): vapor realtime and plasma realtime.

solarkraft 8y ago

Oh, damn.

teddyh 8y ago

Hardware met Software on the road to Changtse. Software said: “You are yin and I am yang. If we travel together we will become famous and earn vast amounts of money.” And so they set forth together, thinking to conquer the world. Presently they met Firmware, who was dressed in tattered rags and hobbled along propped on a thorny stick. Firmware said to them: “The Tao lies beyond yin and yang. It is silent and still as a pool of water. It does not seek fame, therefore nobody knows its presence. It does not seek fortune, for it is complete within itself. It exists beyond space and time.” Hardware and Software, ashamed, returned to their homes. — The Tao of Programming, Geoffrey James, 1987

disqard 8y ago
That made my morning! Thank you for sharing.

pjc50 8y ago

You may also encounter "stiffware", which is software you'd like to update but can't.