3 ms·

Two things come to (my) mind. First, if the problem is broken URLs, does it make sense to try to fix that instead of not using them? Some odd blog is likely to

Two things come to (my) mind. First, if the problem is broken URLs, does it make sense to try to fix that instead of not using them? Some odd blog is likely to (eventually) become ephemeral. What about Github links? How long will they last? That seems particularly appropriate for posting code examples. Are there other repositories on the Internet that can reasonably be expected to last? Second, extremes in either direction could be avoided. Code snippets to illustrate a point are entirely appropriate. Complete programs (beyond hello.c from "The C Programming Language"), probably not so much. Even in the first case I'd suggest including a link to a program that uses the snippet so the curious reader can see the snippet in context.

crabbone 3y ago
> That seems particularly appropriate for posting code examples. Github is a proprietary, closed-source service that makes no promises about keeping things for a long time. And even if they do, at the time convenient for them, they'll send out an email titled "We are changing our ToS", and users will just accept it. Doing infra work for researches I encounter so much dead and dysfunctional content on Github, it's a meme at this point. This especially applies to popular technologies and proprietary stuff. Popular technologies are pushed to abandon support for older versions due to the mob craving new features, more and faster releases. Proprietary technologies become obsolete very fast because they rarely / never try to solve generic problems. It's usually more expedient to solve a particular problem in some way: it takes less time and effort to do so. But it also makes the solution very brittle, dependent on too many external factors. So, the things that go bad exceptionally quickly is stuff like Github Actions, Kubernetes, Python. If you see that a Github CI Action didn't run in two years, it's almost guaranteed that it's broken. Same for Kubernetes-related code. Python code has an average shelf life of four years.
- Aurornis 3y ago
  > Github is a proprietary, closed-source service that makes no promises about keeping things for a long time. GitHub doesn’t arbitrarily remove public repos for no reason. GitHub is extremely unlikely to just disappear overnight. If people aren’t willing to accept GitHub as a place to host public code in this thread, I think people are just looking for reasons to complain about things rather than looking for a practical solution.
  - sugaraplha 3y ago
    https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39267200 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39267200
  - kragen 3y ago
    geocities didn't arbitrarly remove public web pages for no reason, yahoo groups didn't arbitrarily remove public files for no reason, and friendster didn't arbitrarily remove public profiles for no reason until, one day, they removed all of them hosting information on a centralized website is a viable way to host it for a year or two, or maybe ten. but books have a lifespan measured in decades or centuries. so centralized websites are not suitable
- HankB99 3y ago
  > Github is a proprietary, closed-source service that makes no promises ... Good point. > Python code has an average shelf life of four years. Wouldn't that also be a problem for examples in print?
  - crabbone 3y ago
    How much are you going to print? If you print "just the program" (i.e. no dependencies), it will spoil very quickly. If you print both the program and dependencies, it will live a little longer. If you print dependencies and the source of the interpreter, it will live even longer. If you print the interpreter and its dependencies -- even longer. As you can see, the general problem with languages like Python is extreme reliance on external components. Essentially, Python programmers don't write whole programs, they add a polish on an automobile manufactured by someone else, and then present it as their work... Unsurprisingly, it's hard to ensure one's car's longevity if all they can control is the amount of polish they apply to it.

crabbone 3y ago

> That seems particularly appropriate for posting code examples. Github is a proprietary, closed-source service that makes no promises about keeping things for a long time. And even if they do, at the time convenient for them, they'll send out an email titled "We are changing our ToS", and users will just accept it. Doing infra work for researches I encounter so much dead and dysfunctional content on Github, it's a meme at this point. This especially applies to popular technologies and proprietary stuff. Popular technologies are pushed to abandon support for older versions due to the mob craving new features, more and faster releases. Proprietary technologies become obsolete very fast because they rarely / never try to solve generic problems. It's usually more expedient to solve a particular problem in some way: it takes less time and effort to do so. But it also makes the solution very brittle, dependent on too many external factors. So, the things that go bad exceptionally quickly is stuff like Github Actions, Kubernetes, Python. If you see that a Github CI Action didn't run in two years, it's almost guaranteed that it's broken. Same for Kubernetes-related code. Python code has an average shelf life of four years.

Aurornis 3y ago
> Github is a proprietary, closed-source service that makes no promises about keeping things for a long time. GitHub doesn’t arbitrarily remove public repos for no reason. GitHub is extremely unlikely to just disappear overnight. If people aren’t willing to accept GitHub as a place to host public code in this thread, I think people are just looking for reasons to complain about things rather than looking for a practical solution.
- sugaraplha 3y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39267200 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39267200
- kragen 3y ago
  geocities didn't arbitrarly remove public web pages for no reason, yahoo groups didn't arbitrarily remove public files for no reason, and friendster didn't arbitrarily remove public profiles for no reason until, one day, they removed all of them hosting information on a centralized website is a viable way to host it for a year or two, or maybe ten. but books have a lifespan measured in decades or centuries. so centralized websites are not suitable
HankB99 3y ago
> Github is a proprietary, closed-source service that makes no promises ... Good point. > Python code has an average shelf life of four years. Wouldn't that also be a problem for examples in print?
- crabbone 3y ago
  How much are you going to print? If you print "just the program" (i.e. no dependencies), it will spoil very quickly. If you print both the program and dependencies, it will live a little longer. If you print dependencies and the source of the interpreter, it will live even longer. If you print the interpreter and its dependencies -- even longer. As you can see, the general problem with languages like Python is extreme reliance on external components. Essentially, Python programmers don't write whole programs, they add a polish on an automobile manufactured by someone else, and then present it as their work... Unsurprisingly, it's hard to ensure one's car's longevity if all they can control is the amount of polish they apply to it.