4 ms·

This idea that vendors should seek to actively break working software simply because it's "old" is repellent to me. I use several 32-bit apps and components reg

This idea that vendors should seek to actively break working software simply because it's "old" is repellent to me. I use several 32-bit apps and components regularly because they continue to function better than the alternatives. Many are unlikely to ever be rewritten or replaced because the developers, ecosystems, and business models that made them possible are today either gone or moribund.

Bahamut 7y ago
And this is how we end up with long lifetimes for software like Internet Explorer, which ends up holding back most people's experience with the web, especially mobile, because a lot of extra scripts/code has to be shipped to maintain compatibility (polyfills, newer features can't be used and thus must be compiled around, etc.), which directly impacts the value being able to be delivered to end users costing more or having less time being able to be allocated to doing so. More people have to suffer usually if software ends up long lived without being pushed to upgrade when there are newer technologies that improve the experience - it's a heavy price of others you're asking for a lot of times when choices have to be made between compatibility and improvements that often get discounted unreasonably.
- bangonkeyboard 7y ago
  > More people have to suffer usually if software ends up long lived without being pushed to upgrade when there are newer technologies that improve the experience - it's a heavy price of others you're asking for a lot of times when choices have to be made between compatibility and improvements that often get discounted unreasonably. I look at all of the Mac software I've lost and will lose to upgrades over the years, including the offline-only parts of my workflow that held back only myself, and weigh them against this bright new future of low-effort blown-up tablet apps on my desktop that they were sacrificed for. A heavy price certainly has been paid here.
- alacombe 7y ago
  Just think of all the software infrastructure you rely on is probably running COBOL or very, very old tech, you really don't want those to be re-written today. Also, the industry (think CNC controllers) relies on tried and true interfaces that are just unavailable today (USB is utter rubbish in high electrical noise environment) and there is barely replacement either. Not to mention the cost of training blue-collars operators... Real world is not the web cocoon, even there, switching front-end every 2 years is not acceptable. disclamer: I know that for a fact as I'm in the process of replacing a CNC control system with modern parts, trust me it's HARD.
- erik_seaberg 7y ago
  If only IE can render a web page, that's not a problem only because IE got old, it was always a problem with bad work on that page, and people were rightly complaining back when it happened. It's crazy that we can't run old software on vastly more powerful hardware. Imagine if we suddenly couldn't read old books.
simongr3dal 7y ago
I don't believe that people are actively breaking software. It is simply a side-effect of how progress happens in this industry. Computers are made up of many small parts the same with software, every component comes from different vendors and they are all working asynchrously to each other and adjusting to the changes around them every time they update or make a new component. Each new change looks like a tiny leap-frogging, but if you don't update or rearchitechture for a long while it becomes an insurmountable to task to update because the whole world has moved away from under you. Not by monumental breaking changes but by thousands small changes that has added up.

Bahamut 7y ago

And this is how we end up with long lifetimes for software like Internet Explorer, which ends up holding back most people's experience with the web, especially mobile, because a lot of extra scripts/code has to be shipped to maintain compatibility (polyfills, newer features can't be used and thus must be compiled around, etc.), which directly impacts the value being able to be delivered to end users costing more or having less time being able to be allocated to doing so. More people have to suffer usually if software ends up long lived without being pushed to upgrade when there are newer technologies that improve the experience - it's a heavy price of others you're asking for a lot of times when choices have to be made between compatibility and improvements that often get discounted unreasonably.

bangonkeyboard 7y ago
> More people have to suffer usually if software ends up long lived without being pushed to upgrade when there are newer technologies that improve the experience - it's a heavy price of others you're asking for a lot of times when choices have to be made between compatibility and improvements that often get discounted unreasonably. I look at all of the Mac software I've lost and will lose to upgrades over the years, including the offline-only parts of my workflow that held back only myself, and weigh them against this bright new future of low-effort blown-up tablet apps on my desktop that they were sacrificed for. A heavy price certainly has been paid here.
alacombe 7y ago
Just think of all the software infrastructure you rely on is probably running COBOL or very, very old tech, you really don't want those to be re-written today. Also, the industry (think CNC controllers) relies on tried and true interfaces that are just unavailable today (USB is utter rubbish in high electrical noise environment) and there is barely replacement either. Not to mention the cost of training blue-collars operators... Real world is not the web cocoon, even there, switching front-end every 2 years is not acceptable. disclamer: I know that for a fact as I'm in the process of replacing a CNC control system with modern parts, trust me it's HARD.
erik_seaberg 7y ago
If only IE can render a web page, that's not a problem only because IE got old, it was always a problem with bad work on that page, and people were rightly complaining back when it happened. It's crazy that we can't run old software on vastly more powerful hardware. Imagine if we suddenly couldn't read old books.

simongr3dal 7y ago

I don't believe that people are actively breaking software. It is simply a side-effect of how progress happens in this industry. Computers are made up of many small parts the same with software, every component comes from different vendors and they are all working asynchrously to each other and adjusting to the changes around them every time they update or make a new component. Each new change looks like a tiny leap-frogging, but if you don't update or rearchitechture for a long while it becomes an insurmountable to task to update because the whole world has moved away from under you. Not by monumental breaking changes but by thousands small changes that has added up.