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The JS libraries usually fail at the "do it well" part. * UNIX tools don't get updated every week. * UNIX tools don't get deprecated and replaced every month.

by DCoder 8y ago

The JS libraries usually fail at the "do it well" part. * UNIX tools don't get updated every week. * UNIX tools don't get deprecated and replaced every month. * When UNIX tools do update, the updates don't carry a risk of adding shady code from new maintainers because the original author "got bored lol" and handed the repo over to the first person who asked. * When UNIX tools do update, the updates don't introduce unvetted and undocumented code that will, for example, start displaying Christmas decorations in your UI on certain dates. How many UNIX tools actually come in "writing this from scratch is faster than searching for a tool that already does this, so I'll just write my own" size (except for `yes` and such)? Trick question: is trying to install a new UNIX tool similar to this [0]? [0]: https://what.thedailywtf.com/post/1441806 https://what.thedailywtf.com/post/1441806

JdeBP 8y ago
In counterpoint, just for fairness' sake, we have: The jokes in the Linux "man" command that indeed did trigger at a certain magic time. * https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/405783/ https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/405783/ The failure to take on board the improvements to Linux "ifconfig" from 2009. * https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=359676#41 https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=359676#41 Changes to GNU "ls" that did not go unnoticed. * https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1361694 https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1361694
- twic 8y ago
  That ls change is absolutely bizarre! One of the aspects of, ahem, bazaar-style development that we don't talk about much is that decisions get made by whoever can be bothered to turn up. If it so happens that the only people maintaining ls are the three people crazy enough to care about maintaining ls, then ls gets crazy decisions.
ATsch 8y ago
Another difference is that the unix tools are a bounded and known set of utilities that work independently and compose well together and try not to overlap in functionality. Meanwhile, js modules are an unbounded set of unknown modules that are intertwined and aren't designed to work together and overlap in functionality.

by DCoder 8y ago

JdeBP 8y ago

In counterpoint, just for fairness' sake, we have: The jokes in the Linux "man" command that indeed did trigger at a certain magic time. * https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/405783/ https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/405783/ The failure to take on board the improvements to Linux "ifconfig" from 2009. * https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=359676#41 https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=359676#41 Changes to GNU "ls" that did not go unnoticed. * https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1361694 https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1361694

twic 8y ago
That ls change is absolutely bizarre! One of the aspects of, ahem, bazaar-style development that we don't talk about much is that decisions get made by whoever can be bothered to turn up. If it so happens that the only people maintaining ls are the three people crazy enough to care about maintaining ls, then ls gets crazy decisions.

ATsch 8y ago

Another difference is that the unix tools are a bounded and known set of utilities that work independently and compose well together and try not to overlap in functionality. Meanwhile, js modules are an unbounded set of unknown modules that are intertwined and aren't designed to work together and overlap in functionality.