Ask HN: Is it just me, or does nothing work first time?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13210341

by forgottenacc57 • 10 years ago

3 3 10 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Every time I use any bit of software it doesn't work. I always need to start in on a problem solving process. Will this ever change?

pedalpete• 10 years ago

Can you give an example of "a bit of software"? Are you talking about desktop? mobile? node.js packages? Ruby gems? databases?

If it's all of the above, then yes, I'd suggest it's you :)

mindcrime• 10 years ago

No, it's not just you. I'm firmly convinced that the average value of "software quality" (for some hand-wavy definition of "quality") for all software world-wide is approximately = "shit".

IDE's, operating systems, websites, smartphones, it almost doesn't matter what it is, time and time and time and and time again, this shit doesn't work without a ridiculous amount of effort, and/or the performance sucks, or it crashes with no helpful output, or just generally fails to deliver a useful experience.

My favorite example of this right now is websites with so much javascript shit running that they bog your entire browser down to the point of being unusable. Every time I run into one of these sites I find myself thinking dark thoughts of death, destruction, havoc, pillaging, maiming, etc... :-(

douche• 10 years ago

Every day, I become more and more amazed that anything ever works. It's just hacks on top of baling wire and ducktape on top of bubblegum, just barely holding things together; turtles all the way down. That old adage about seeing how the sausage is made applies to software too.

Ask HN: Is it just me, or does nothing work first time?

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