Link Roundup #6
2023-02-20
Some of these are older links I found languishing, misfiled in my Safari favourites.
The collapse of complex software
Right now, the software industry has been in a nearly two-decade economic boom (with some fits and starts), but the one sure thing in economics is that booms eventually turn to busts. During the boom, software companies can keep hiring new headcount to manage their existing software (i.e. more engineers to understand more boxes and arrows), but if their labor force is forced to contract, then that same system may become unmaintainable. A rapid and permanent reduction in complexity may be the only long-term solution.
If CV-driven development comes to an end, little of value will be lost. And that's not a snarky "little of value"; there is no value generation, and we will not miss those people.
ChatGPT Explained: A Normie's Guide To How It Works
Okay, this isn't for normie Normies. This isn't for your parents. But as an engineers guide if you're not familiar with the space, it's fantastic.
Canada bans TikTok on government devices over security risks
This is any of a cluster of articles I could have picked on this topic. No-one cares. The fact that we are seeing this action this late suggests that the toothpaste is already a long way out of the tube.
Presumably the three-letter agencies have been monitoring traffic generated by the average TikTok user for years now. And presumably recently, China have made some rustle in this particular dark forest to cause this to bubble to the top of bureaucratic consciousness. Hopefully more at CCC.