> The more it advances, the bigger and out of control it gets.
This is largely due to path dependency - there’s a required amount of “bigness” and complexity to do the things we want to do, but it’s substantially lower than the amount we have, because we’re not starting from zero, we’re building on what we already have. You can see this everywhere - telecom lines follow old train lines, keyboard layouts mirror old typewriter layouts, desktop file system layouts mirror old mainframe layouts.
It mirrors evolution in that way - the path taken is the cheapest path from the current location, not the ideal path, which is why a giraffe has the same number of bones in its neck as you do.
I’ve actually been interested recently in what it would look like to have a truly modern software & hardware stack built from the ground up for modern computing - I feel like there were attempts at this in the 90s (BeOS comes to mind), but even something like ChromeOS was basically Linux under the hood. It feels like the industry’s decided what we have is Good Enough, and that’s a bit of a shame, because you’re right, it’s really quite a ball of spaghetti.
A minimal Debian/AlmaLinux install is closer to 1G.
What did we gain with 100X the space, larger attack surface, and configuration complexity?
Even hardware is this way…
Look at the weight and power requirements of a SFF PC.
Then look at a blade server… Still requires heavy steel case, heavier than SFF PC because it’s larger, only job is to fit into heavy steel enclosure. Enclosure requires beefy steel rack to handle weight.
Every layer makes logical sense but the end result does not!!
Older NAS servers held multiple 3.5” drives (heavy), requiring big power supply. Now a plastic clip holds NVMe drives onto a motherboard — no steel!
This is largely due to path dependency - there’s a required amount of “bigness” and complexity to do the things we want to do, but it’s substantially lower than the amount we have, because we’re not starting from zero, we’re building on what we already have. You can see this everywhere - telecom lines follow old train lines, keyboard layouts mirror old typewriter layouts, desktop file system layouts mirror old mainframe layouts.
It mirrors evolution in that way - the path taken is the cheapest path from the current location, not the ideal path, which is why a giraffe has the same number of bones in its neck as you do.
I’ve actually been interested recently in what it would look like to have a truly modern software & hardware stack built from the ground up for modern computing - I feel like there were attempts at this in the 90s (BeOS comes to mind), but even something like ChromeOS was basically Linux under the hood. It feels like the industry’s decided what we have is Good Enough, and that’s a bit of a shame, because you’re right, it’s really quite a ball of spaghetti.