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> This thread has (at least at the moment) serious Bob Martin Sudoku Solver energy to it. To the forum's credit, the top comment (by u/judofyr) the last time t

> This thread has (at least at the moment) serious Bob Martin Sudoku Solver energy to it. To the forum's credit, the top comment (by u/judofyr) the last time tailscale blogged about their unusal db setup, got it exactly right: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25768042 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25768042 > Interesting choice of technology, but [tailscale] didn't completely convince me to why this is better than just using SQLite or PostgreSQL with a lagging replica. > In particular [tailscale has] designed a very complicated system: Operationally you need an etcd cluster and a tailetc cluster. Code-wise you now have to maintain your own transaction-aware caching layer on top of etcd. That's quite a brave task considering how many databases fail at Jepsen. > Considering that high-availability was not a requirement and that the main problem with the previous solution was performance ("writes went from nearly a second (sometimes worse!) to milliseconds") it looks like a simple server with SQLite + some indexes could have gotten [tailscale] quite far.

tptacek 5y ago
I did commit the cardinal sin of HN metacommentary and referred to the state of the thread at a point in time as if it was a durable property of the thread, which was a mistake I own and take full responsibility for.
- reilly3000 5y ago
  If anything, this ^^^ is how you win the long game. History will surface itself when you make assertions. Gracefully revocability scales.
  - 0des 5y ago
    At least he's not the Dropbox guy
    - Issaclabs 5y ago
      What does that mean? Can you explain?
      - Operyl 5y ago
        This comment trivializing Dropbox: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224
        pooper 5y ago
        I for one do not think the comments trivialized anything. I see these as inevitable questions that a leader like Drew Houston should be prepared to answer at some point. Think of it this way, would you disqualify me if you were hiring and I asked a similar question at the interview? I think the underlying actual question for Dropbox to ponder (but perhaps not answer publicly) was "what is your moat?" without the business development language and at least for me that remains an open question. I remember I was in college when Dropbox started and I thought Dropbox was silly to offer more storage for inviting more users. It was easy to approach people and ask them to try something in college. I think I almost maxed out my invites. I remember feeling I was taking Dropbox to the cleaners... One activity question for HN: why do you think Dropbox continues to exist today while copycats like Barracuda Copy have failed?
        sgbeal 5y ago
        > One activity question for HN: why do you think Dropbox continues to exist today while copycats like Barracuda Copy have failed? FWIW, i've been using Dropbox since practically the day they went online, and have been a subscriber for all but the first few months of that time. They've never once failed me, never been offline when i needed them, never lost anything, they created a Linux sync client out of the box (whereas Google first claimed the would make GDrive for Linux but never did), and it's easy to manage via multiple interfaces (mainly their own web UI and https://rclone.org https://rclone.org, which can proxy your dropbox behind an add-hoc FTP server running in your LAN). They're extremely pricey compared to the same storage in GDrive, but Dropbox has never let me down so i'm in no hurry to drop them.
    - techdragon 5y ago
      This and the “no Wi-Fi less space than a Nomad” comments on slash dot about the iPod are my favourite examples of “you don’t get consumers” comments.
      - ignoramous 5y ago
        to quote u/InGoodFaith (news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29555814): > Wouldn't also be HN without the misinterpretation of BrandonM's response. Here is dang's comment about that topic/meme: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29178442 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29178442
        0des 5y ago
        As someone who was there to witness it when it happened, that is not the impression I got at all, and I think Dang may have taken the more humble interpretation in that remark.
        stavros 5y ago
        You don't need to have been there, though, as anyone can read the perfectly-preserved exchange even now.
        recuter 5y ago
        And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth...
        0des 5y ago
        Lmao Stavros we should share a laptop or something or just speak over the phone the way we run in to each other so often. Its different reading it at the time because it factors in the context of the community at the time as well as the lived experience of what it was like at the time to be a member or participant in given discussions. With that contrast, you can then get an idea of the intent of those comments beyond just the words, as they are often (and in this case) reinterpreted through the lens of current day contexts. Example: ask what people think of the hit TV show The Apprentice today in the present, then hop in a delorean and ask someone before the trump presidency or candidacy what they think of the show.
    - stavros 5y ago
      The Dropbox guy admitted he was wrong too, but we won't let him live it down. At least we don't remember his name.

tptacek 5y ago

I did commit the cardinal sin of HN metacommentary and referred to the state of the thread at a point in time as if it was a durable property of the thread, which was a mistake I own and take full responsibility for.

reilly3000 5y ago
If anything, this ^^^ is how you win the long game. History will surface itself when you make assertions. Gracefully revocability scales.
- 0des 5y ago
  At least he's not the Dropbox guy
  - Issaclabs 5y ago
    What does that mean? Can you explain?
    - Operyl 5y ago
      This comment trivializing Dropbox: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9224
      - pooper 5y ago
        I for one do not think the comments trivialized anything. I see these as inevitable questions that a leader like Drew Houston should be prepared to answer at some point. Think of it this way, would you disqualify me if you were hiring and I asked a similar question at the interview? I think the underlying actual question for Dropbox to ponder (but perhaps not answer publicly) was "what is your moat?" without the business development language and at least for me that remains an open question. I remember I was in college when Dropbox started and I thought Dropbox was silly to offer more storage for inviting more users. It was easy to approach people and ask them to try something in college. I think I almost maxed out my invites. I remember feeling I was taking Dropbox to the cleaners... One activity question for HN: why do you think Dropbox continues to exist today while copycats like Barracuda Copy have failed?
        sgbeal 5y ago
        > One activity question for HN: why do you think Dropbox continues to exist today while copycats like Barracuda Copy have failed? FWIW, i've been using Dropbox since practically the day they went online, and have been a subscriber for all but the first few months of that time. They've never once failed me, never been offline when i needed them, never lost anything, they created a Linux sync client out of the box (whereas Google first claimed the would make GDrive for Linux but never did), and it's easy to manage via multiple interfaces (mainly their own web UI and https://rclone.org https://rclone.org, which can proxy your dropbox behind an add-hoc FTP server running in your LAN). They're extremely pricey compared to the same storage in GDrive, but Dropbox has never let me down so i'm in no hurry to drop them.
  - techdragon 5y ago
    This and the “no Wi-Fi less space than a Nomad” comments on slash dot about the iPod are my favourite examples of “you don’t get consumers” comments.
    - ignoramous 5y ago
      to quote u/InGoodFaith (news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29555814): > Wouldn't also be HN without the misinterpretation of BrandonM's response. Here is dang's comment about that topic/meme: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29178442 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29178442
      - 0des 5y ago
        As someone who was there to witness it when it happened, that is not the impression I got at all, and I think Dang may have taken the more humble interpretation in that remark.
        stavros 5y ago
        You don't need to have been there, though, as anyone can read the perfectly-preserved exchange even now.
        recuter 5y ago
        And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth...
        0des 5y ago
        Lmao Stavros we should share a laptop or something or just speak over the phone the way we run in to each other so often. Its different reading it at the time because it factors in the context of the community at the time as well as the lived experience of what it was like at the time to be a member or participant in given discussions. With that contrast, you can then get an idea of the intent of those comments beyond just the words, as they are often (and in this case) reinterpreted through the lens of current day contexts. Example: ask what people think of the hit TV show The Apprentice today in the present, then hop in a delorean and ask someone before the trump presidency or candidacy what they think of the show.
  - stavros 5y ago
    The Dropbox guy admitted he was wrong too, but we won't let him live it down. At least we don't remember his name.