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Software can and should be fun, especially if it's harmless. Where is the hacker spirit?

hulitu 2y ago
Hacker spirit is gone. All is left are code writers. Most of them are not able to test their code for the most obvious mistakes (see Crowdstrike ...). /s
voidfunc 2y ago
Software should fulfill its requirements and do nothing more.
- _V_ 2y ago
  [flagged]
- kalleboo 2y ago
  This is Hacker News, not IBM Suits News
- hulitu 2y ago
  > Software should fulfill its requirements and do nothing more. And shall be _tested_ _before_ delivery. I know, it's expensive ... /s
- PetahNZ 2y ago
  Have you never worked for anyone before? The software I make is always expected to do more than what the requirements stated.
- anthk 2y ago
  Not a great motto for Emacs (ORG-Mode, Calc, Info reader, Doctor, IRC, Web, directory browser/editor, shell, games, email, NNTP, text adventures, SSH/FTP/whatever integration...) or Nyxt (complex functions for bookmarking and making discrete-math like graphs on info, scrapping features, shortcut keys for links, and so on.)
- nasmorn 2y ago
  Resistance is futile
- mistercheph 2y ago
  My requirement for all software: make me smile :) Requirement fulfilled, under budget too :))
- scbrg 2y ago
  In this case, it did. The requirement is clearly specified in the top answer: if you invoke man after midnight it should print "gimme gimme gimme", because of the Abba song called "Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight" You might not agree that that's a good requirement. Others' requirements aren't always aligned with yours :)
mrweasel 2y ago
There is simply to little fun and weirdness left in modern software, and that's quite sad. We should stride to make software a little more fun, have a little more character and have certain human touch to it. Obviously don't have your database write "FART" in place of data, just because the user is "dave" and it's not 16:45 in the afternoon, but harmless messages in the code, weird log messages and otherwise harmless reactions to predetermined inputs.

Hacker spirit is gone. All is left are code writers. Most of them are not able to test their code for the most obvious mistakes (see Crowdstrike ...). /s

voidfunc 2y ago

Software should fulfill its requirements and do nothing more.

_V_ 2y ago
[flagged]
kalleboo 2y ago
This is Hacker News, not IBM Suits News
hulitu 2y ago
> Software should fulfill its requirements and do nothing more. And shall be _tested_ _before_ delivery. I know, it's expensive ... /s
PetahNZ 2y ago
Have you never worked for anyone before? The software I make is always expected to do more than what the requirements stated.
anthk 2y ago
Not a great motto for Emacs (ORG-Mode, Calc, Info reader, Doctor, IRC, Web, directory browser/editor, shell, games, email, NNTP, text adventures, SSH/FTP/whatever integration...) or Nyxt (complex functions for bookmarking and making discrete-math like graphs on info, scrapping features, shortcut keys for links, and so on.)
nasmorn 2y ago
Resistance is futile
mistercheph 2y ago
My requirement for all software: make me smile :) Requirement fulfilled, under budget too :))
scbrg 2y ago
In this case, it did. The requirement is clearly specified in the top answer: if you invoke man after midnight it should print "gimme gimme gimme", because of the Abba song called "Gimme gimme gimme a man after midnight" You might not agree that that's a good requirement. Others' requirements aren't always aligned with yours :)

mrweasel 2y ago

There is simply to little fun and weirdness left in modern software, and that's quite sad. We should stride to make software a little more fun, have a little more character and have certain human touch to it. Obviously don't have your database write "FART" in place of data, just because the user is "dave" and it's not 16:45 in the afternoon, but harmless messages in the code, weird log messages and otherwise harmless reactions to predetermined inputs.