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Barring apocalypse, Sagrada Familia will still be standing five hundred years from now. UNIX will be mostly forgotten by then - in the same way blacksmithing an

Barring apocalypse, Sagrada Familia will still be standing five hundred years from now. UNIX will be mostly forgotten by then - in the same way blacksmithing and carriage building are mostly forgotten today. That's the whole point of cathedral projects - make it beautiful and build it right because you're building for the future. Not to scratch your own personal boredom itch, or to nail a bit of wood to another bit of wood because why not.

dnautics 5y ago
That has zero to do with development style, and everything to do with medium. There have been plenty of cathedral software projects that are already lost, much less lost 500 years from now.
- dnautics 5y ago
  btw, the (purported) world's oldest running continuous market -- happens to also be called a bazaar -- was constructed in 1455, so it's been running in excess of 500 years.
the_af 5y ago
> UNIX will be mostly forgotten by then UNIX may not be the best example for your argument: it's often criticized because of how long its legacy has endured, with some people arguing it's time to move on to more modern visions of what an operating system should be. So UNIX, for good or bad, is indeed the software equivalent of an ancient cathedral which endures from ages past.
- lioeters 5y ago
  Indeed, UNIX will definitely not be forgotten 5 centuries from now (if humanity still exists by then). It will at least be in the history books, taught about in schools, and some quirky people will for sure be running it as a "retro computing" hobby.
simiones 5y ago
Still, looking at ancient constructions, 150 years is a huge amount of time. Most roman constructions that have survived to today were built at most in a single life time - at an extreme end, it seems that the Hagia Sophia was built in 5 years. The more than 4500 years old Great Pyramid of Giza was built in a single pharaoh's lifetime. Which is to say, engineering culture and goals can absolutely degrade over time in terms of productivity, even with great increases in construction technology.

dnautics 5y ago

That has zero to do with development style, and everything to do with medium. There have been plenty of cathedral software projects that are already lost, much less lost 500 years from now.

dnautics 5y ago
btw, the (purported) world's oldest running continuous market -- happens to also be called a bazaar -- was constructed in 1455, so it's been running in excess of 500 years.

the_af 5y ago

> UNIX will be mostly forgotten by then UNIX may not be the best example for your argument: it's often criticized because of how long its legacy has endured, with some people arguing it's time to move on to more modern visions of what an operating system should be. So UNIX, for good or bad, is indeed the software equivalent of an ancient cathedral which endures from ages past.

lioeters 5y ago
Indeed, UNIX will definitely not be forgotten 5 centuries from now (if humanity still exists by then). It will at least be in the history books, taught about in schools, and some quirky people will for sure be running it as a "retro computing" hobby.

simiones 5y ago

Still, looking at ancient constructions, 150 years is a huge amount of time. Most roman constructions that have survived to today were built at most in a single life time - at an extreme end, it seems that the Hagia Sophia was built in 5 years. The more than 4500 years old Great Pyramid of Giza was built in a single pharaoh's lifetime. Which is to say, engineering culture and goals can absolutely degrade over time in terms of productivity, even with great increases in construction technology.