Friend who is not a software person sent me this tweet, which amused me as it did them. They asked if “runk” was real, which I assume not.

But what are some good examples of real ones like this? xz became famous for the hack of course, so i then read a bit about how important this compression algorithm is/was.

  • JeffKerman1999@sopuli.xyz
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    5 months ago

    A lot of Microsoft’s success was being in the right place at the right time to make the right deal.

    It was also having friends on the IBM board that signed a contract that didn’t make any commercial sense…

    • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      It was also being ruthless beyond belief, and destroying anything that could have challenged them. They’ve held progress back for 40 or 50 years.

      • AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net
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        5 months ago

        Reflecting on my IT education in school, it feels like it was mostly learning to use Microsoft Office. Reflecting on it makes me horrified, because I feel like we’re heading for a period where only a select few have tech skills and the skills gap we already see is going to get way worse. That’s what intense lobbying from Microsoft will get you

          • explodicle@sh.itjust.works
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            4 months ago

            Yeah! These Generation X programmers know nothing about low-level languages and electrical engineering. They’re compelled to put everything on the World Wide Web even when it’s unnecessary.

            • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
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              4 months ago

              I don’t really mean coding languages. That’s stuff they learn in school. But what a lot of people seem to be lacking is the ability to find answers on their own, how to troubleshoot problems they haven’t encountered before, and the ability to work independently. There’s a whole lot of hand-holding happening.

              • mesamune@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                There is a lot of surface level stuff going on in software development now days. It’s great for getting the job done, but just learning to solve a problem ends up being very difficult for developers. It will be an interesting 10 years with the invent of AI.

          • AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net
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            4 months ago

            The thing I’m concerned about is how little non-programmers know. I think that much of the world went “oh, GenZ are digital natives, that means they’ll know their way around computers naturally” when if anything, being “digital natives” is part of the problem. But like my original comment said, I attribute a lot of blame to Microsoft’s impact on IT education.

            I can’t speak much on how much programmers tend to know, because I am a biochemist who started getting into programming when studying bioinformatics, and then I’ve continued dabbling as a hobbyist. I like to joke that I’m a better programmer than the vast majority of biochemists, and that’s concerning, because I’m a mediocre programmer (at best).

            • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
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              4 months ago

              Oh yes, that is very concerning. They grew up with software developed for the lowest common denominator, and phones that do many of the things that computers were relied upon previously. Most people know how to go online, post stuff to social media, and that’s about it. It’s scary.