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This is from the Kubernetes saying of "treat servers like cattle, not pets". Of course, some people like me keep cattle as pets, but then again I also name my s

This is from the Kubernetes saying of "treat servers like cattle, not pets". Of course, some people like me keep cattle as pets, but then again I also name my servers, even the virtual or containerised ones.

sunshowers 4mo ago
Yeah that was indeed the inspiration (though I'm pretty sure it predates Kubernetes!) but the juxtaposition with "terminate" is unfortunate.
- wojciii 4mo ago
  I liked the way it was phrased. You can't make everybody happy. :)
seanhunter 4mo ago
It’s a horrible saying in that context also.
- embedding-shape 4mo ago
  I mean, I like animals too, but in context it does make sense. The context was to treat them as "obtainable yet ultimately killable entities you keep as a group, not individuals", which cattle pretty much is. Unless you consider keeping cattle as draft animals, but I think that stopped being the main purpose a long time ago. It got the point across, at a time where most people basically acquired servers, kept them until they died, and he was trying to push a development workflow where you constantly close("kill")/bring up new servers.
  - entrope 4mo ago
    IMO, "make your servers fungible" is a better way to express the intent: slightly shorter, no metaphors, although "fungible" is a less common word. Maybe that's just me. (Edited to add: "make your tests fungible" has I think the wrong connotation; I think the original wording on the blog is about test executions -- and "make your test executions fungible" does seem like a good goal, similar to ACID guarantees for database transactions.)
    - embedding-shape 4mo ago
      Before that, I used to call them "ephemeral", and of course half the people asked what "ephemeral" means, probably "fungible" would be met with similar question, unless the crowd is cryptocurrency-adjacent, that term seems understood there.
jen20 4mo ago
That (unpleasant) saying predates Kubernetes by at least half a decade.
nixosbestos 4mo ago
Who here is old enough to know about PetSets, since we're talking this topic and k8s...

sunshowers 4mo ago

Yeah that was indeed the inspiration (though I'm pretty sure it predates Kubernetes!) but the juxtaposition with "terminate" is unfortunate.

wojciii 4mo ago
I liked the way it was phrased. You can't make everybody happy. :)

seanhunter 4mo ago

It’s a horrible saying in that context also.

embedding-shape 4mo ago
I mean, I like animals too, but in context it does make sense. The context was to treat them as "obtainable yet ultimately killable entities you keep as a group, not individuals", which cattle pretty much is. Unless you consider keeping cattle as draft animals, but I think that stopped being the main purpose a long time ago. It got the point across, at a time where most people basically acquired servers, kept them until they died, and he was trying to push a development workflow where you constantly close("kill")/bring up new servers.
- entrope 4mo ago
  IMO, "make your servers fungible" is a better way to express the intent: slightly shorter, no metaphors, although "fungible" is a less common word. Maybe that's just me. (Edited to add: "make your tests fungible" has I think the wrong connotation; I think the original wording on the blog is about test executions -- and "make your test executions fungible" does seem like a good goal, similar to ACID guarantees for database transactions.)
  - embedding-shape 4mo ago
    Before that, I used to call them "ephemeral", and of course half the people asked what "ephemeral" means, probably "fungible" would be met with similar question, unless the crowd is cryptocurrency-adjacent, that term seems understood there.

jen20 4mo ago

That (unpleasant) saying predates Kubernetes by at least half a decade.

nixosbestos 4mo ago

Who here is old enough to know about PetSets, since we're talking this topic and k8s...