New ask Hacker News story: Tell HN: Modern Is Not Better
Tell HN: Modern Is Not Better
3 by fouc | 3 comments on Hacker News.
Lately, I've been thinking about the term "modern" in the tech industry. It's a word that often appears in software projects as a badge of honor, but what does it really mean, and is it always a good thing? When a project proudly declares itself as "modern," it implies that it's up-to-date and built with the latest technologies. But does that automatically make it better? Let's consider the example of TeX, a typesetting system created by Donald Knuth in 1979. Despite its age, TeX is still considered a robust and dependable tool for document formatting. Would anyone suggest replacing TeX with a "modern" alternative simply because it's newer? My point is that "modern" can sometimes be a vague and overused term. Instead of relying on this label, it's more informative to understand what specific technologies, practices, or improvements a project brings to the table. Saying "we've adopted Rust for better memory safety" or "we've transitioned from telnet to web sockets for enhanced performance" provides a clearer picture of what makes a project stand out. So, the next time you encounter the term "modern" in tech, take a moment to dig deeper and understand what it really means in that context. Newer doesn't always mean better, and the true value of a project lies in its specific innovations and improvements.
3 by fouc | 3 comments on Hacker News.
Lately, I've been thinking about the term "modern" in the tech industry. It's a word that often appears in software projects as a badge of honor, but what does it really mean, and is it always a good thing? When a project proudly declares itself as "modern," it implies that it's up-to-date and built with the latest technologies. But does that automatically make it better? Let's consider the example of TeX, a typesetting system created by Donald Knuth in 1979. Despite its age, TeX is still considered a robust and dependable tool for document formatting. Would anyone suggest replacing TeX with a "modern" alternative simply because it's newer? My point is that "modern" can sometimes be a vague and overused term. Instead of relying on this label, it's more informative to understand what specific technologies, practices, or improvements a project brings to the table. Saying "we've adopted Rust for better memory safety" or "we've transitioned from telnet to web sockets for enhanced performance" provides a clearer picture of what makes a project stand out. So, the next time you encounter the term "modern" in tech, take a moment to dig deeper and understand what it really means in that context. Newer doesn't always mean better, and the true value of a project lies in its specific innovations and improvements.
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