Re: [dev] does anyone else think that suckless.org is more about bare-bones minimalism than unix philosophy

From: Michael Farnbach <noble.oblige_AT_gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2011 11:32:03 -0700

Reading this group for a while I can see that it has a certain practical
mindset that you can find elsewhere on the internet.

For instance, the Surly folks in the bike touring groups who talk about wool
paniers and shorts along with leather saddles as the best technology around.
And, to be honest, they are probably right. You may not find more durable,
maintainable materials for those purposes. They believe in steel bikes,
steel bike racks, and heavy duty because you can find anyone anywhere in the
world to weld/solder/etc.. it together if it breaks. And you won't develop
hidden stress fractures over time to ruin an otherwise perfectly good day.

Another example is the Mustang groups, who still tout their Ox-Cart live
axle rwd technology as comparable if not better than what people have today.
It is simple, straight forward, and understood. Indeed, Rouch's team chalked
up yet another win in the current Grand-Am series against BMW's, Lexus,
etc... who's to say they are wrong?

Its a lot like the old RISC vs CISC days in hardware design even.

This group just seems to like static binaries, and straight forward C. Dmenu
is their idea of modularity, and who's to say it doesn't work? Dmenu is one
of the best straight forward tools out there, and it is bundled with a
number of programs. And it got that way because of the mindset, not that
features are bad, but there is no use to a feature that isn't durable,
straight forward, and nails a general need (rather than a specific that is
really a contrivance of other tools you want to use it with).

At least on a good day that is how I like to see this bunch. On a bad day I
just see a bunch of crusty old curmudgeons who can't see past their own
noses and love to have a group called "suckless" because they really like
talking about how much everything sucks.

Either way...
Received on Mon Jun 13 2011 - 20:32:03 CEST

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