MUST READ: Systems Design Explains the World
The one and only Avery Pennarun (of the world in which IPv6 was a good design fame) is back with another absolutely-must-read article explaining how various archetypes apply to real-world challenges, including:
- Hierarchies and decentralization (and why decentralization is a myth)
- Chicken-and-egg problem (and why some good things fail)
- Second-system effect (or why it’s better to refactor than to rewrite)
- Innovator’s dilemma (or why large corporations become obsolete)
If you think none of these applies to networking, you’re probably wrong… but of course please write a comment if you still feel that way after reading Avery’s article.
Missing the link? Here it is... https://apenwarr.ca/log/20201227
Thank you. Fixed. No idea how I lost it when writing the blog post :(
Fascinating read, thanks for linking this Ivan, reminds me of "Thinking in systems" by Donella Meadows. Also, this quote from Joel Spolsky's 2000 post made me laugh:
"We’re programmers. Programmers are, in their hearts, architects, and the first thing they want to do when they get to a site is to bulldoze the place flat and build something grand. We’re not excited by incremental renovation: tinkering, improving, planting flower beds."
Substitute "networkers" for "programmer" and it's spot on ;-)