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AWS is hard by design. This created a cottage industry of consultants that further push AWS into enterprises and basically create a form of job security.

nathants 4y ago
it’s certainly possible this was the original intent, or just an accident and they leaned into it. we’ll never know. either way the essential core of primitives is down there, just wrapped in multiple levels of nutshell. the sre excellence is probably indisputable.
cosmodisk 4y ago
I think there's an ongoing notion that all things somehow suppose to be easy, even trivial. AWS enables running very complex system and caters to a wide spectrum of users,so it can't be one fits all solution with button to click. The same can be said about virtually anything from Java to Linux administration.
- mstipetic 4y ago
  Sure, it may be suited for large enterprise customers. But no early stage startup should start on AWS imo
  - nathants 4y ago
    no startup should start on aws unless they have years of expertise with it. unless they can tape over all the knobs they don’t need with little notes that say: peel off when your on the moon. this is what i’ve done here. i believe there should be fewer knobs. i believe i shouldn’t have to remember which knobs to tape over every time i launch a new product. i believe for almost every use case, a single subset of the knobs is sufficient. i believe that when the day comes this is no longer true, it should be just as easy to peel off the tape. aws is easy, and is fun, and (egress aside) is cheap thanks to scale-to-zero and spot. i believe this more every day.
- nathants 4y ago
  aws absolutely should be easy, and needn’t sacrifice any capability to do so. i can choose to use none of apigateway but wiring up a domain to a lambda. i haven’t removed any of its other functionality, i’ve just chosen not to use it. it will always be there, if i change my mind. one of the best reasons to use aws is that all those extra knobs are there, just waiting for you, if you need them. trying to fiddle with all the knobs immediately is usually where the problems start, and the fun dies. aws should be easy. maybe later, if it’s worth it, it can be hard.

nathants 4y ago

it’s certainly possible this was the original intent, or just an accident and they leaned into it. we’ll never know. either way the essential core of primitives is down there, just wrapped in multiple levels of nutshell. the sre excellence is probably indisputable.

cosmodisk 4y ago

I think there's an ongoing notion that all things somehow suppose to be easy, even trivial. AWS enables running very complex system and caters to a wide spectrum of users,so it can't be one fits all solution with button to click. The same can be said about virtually anything from Java to Linux administration.

mstipetic 4y ago
Sure, it may be suited for large enterprise customers. But no early stage startup should start on AWS imo
- nathants 4y ago
  no startup should start on aws unless they have years of expertise with it. unless they can tape over all the knobs they don’t need with little notes that say: peel off when your on the moon. this is what i’ve done here. i believe there should be fewer knobs. i believe i shouldn’t have to remember which knobs to tape over every time i launch a new product. i believe for almost every use case, a single subset of the knobs is sufficient. i believe that when the day comes this is no longer true, it should be just as easy to peel off the tape. aws is easy, and is fun, and (egress aside) is cheap thanks to scale-to-zero and spot. i believe this more every day.
nathants 4y ago
aws absolutely should be easy, and needn’t sacrifice any capability to do so. i can choose to use none of apigateway but wiring up a domain to a lambda. i haven’t removed any of its other functionality, i’ve just chosen not to use it. it will always be there, if i change my mind. one of the best reasons to use aws is that all those extra knobs are there, just waiting for you, if you need them. trying to fiddle with all the knobs immediately is usually where the problems start, and the fun dies. aws should be easy. maybe later, if it’s worth it, it can be hard.