add on short-lived software

diff --git a/content/posts/on-short-lived-software.md b/content/posts/on-short-lived-software.md
new file mode 100644 (file)
index 0000000..779c57b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/content/posts/on-short-lived-software.md
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+---
+title: On short-lived software
+date: 2024-01-05
+draft: false
+tags: [essay, programming, software]
+---
+
+Over time, being a software engineer might be frustrating a bit (or a lot, depends on the burnout rate). The written code changes quite often. Maybe next year, or in a month, or even tomorrow, because someone in your team finished working on their PR, introduced so many changes that there is no need in your code anymore.
+
+Sometimes it's okay, because engineers solve business problems, some solutions are temporary and matter only in a fixed time range. Still, it might frustrate. Emotionally it might be hard to accept that the amount of time that was spent on some detail will be replaced in a short time. It's important to acquire the business aspect of the solution. I guess that's where casual coders / programmers grow into engineers. They understand the price of their solutions and how important it's to be agile in sense of trade-offs, keeping in mind the business requirements, available resources, and the complexity of the problem.
+
+I have never been a proper Ruby programmer but I still remember [why_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_the_lucky_stiff)'s quote:
+
+> programming is rather thankless. u see your works become replaced by superior ones in a year. unable to run at all in a few more.
+
+and it affected me in a strong way for sure — not only as an engineer but as a person as well.
+
+Especially later, when I got into Haskell, where the sitatution with cabal was a huge problem known as cabal hell.
+Comparing to Standard ML where code written 20-30 years ago still compiles and works fine. There is some beauty in standardised languages with strict formal specification where different compilers are possible.
+
+This viewpoint is somewhat rational — it helps to solve problems in an efficient way without extra perfectionism — but at the same time looks like an indication of an ongoing existential crisis (could be neverending). We are all just a cosmic dust, look at James Webb's pics.
+
+It's all about the _process_. The result is important, but it's the process that brings joy. The process creates [a flow state](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)) — where we concentrate in a challenging activity and forget about our existential nature and problems. Maybe that's why sometimes people argue that the programming is art — it allows to express themselves and improve the mental health.
+
+This essay is written for myself, to remind me about why I started doing programming at all and keep doing it.

diff --git a/themes/theme/layouts/_default/list.html b/themes/theme/layouts/_default/list.html
index cbe0968cb3a794a3798929892aaf53eb03ad6d76..50c48e740a7088e56730ec52d393b9b5ef5ce797 100644 (file)
--- a/themes/theme/layouts/_default/list.html
+++ b/themes/theme/layouts/_default/list.html
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 {{ partial "subheader.html" . }}
 
-<p>Posts tagged "{{ .Title }}":</p>
+<h1>{{ .Title }}</h1>
 
 <section>
   <ul>

diff --git a/themes/theme/layouts/index.html b/themes/theme/layouts/index.html
index c1d0628da81bfab03d8d3e435ad8fd97760da0ad..37936b4a2d02c25b5d1da5db6eba1939226accfd 100644 (file)
--- a/themes/theme/layouts/index.html
+++ b/themes/theme/layouts/index.html
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
   <section id="info">
     <div id="whoami" class="center">
       <p>Hi 👋 I'm a software engineer curious about</p>
-      <p>freedom, liberty, empathy, kindness, sincerity, philanthropy, wisdom, rationality, literature, therapy, sharing knowledge, taking cat photos</p>
+      <p>freedom, liberty, empathy, kindness, sincerity, philanthropy, wisdom, rationality, literature, therapy, sharing knowledge, vinyl</p>
     </div>
 
     <ul class="center">

diff --git a/themes/theme/static/css/stylesheet.css b/themes/theme/static/css/stylesheet.css
index a676028ff10964974962d629161fbccb8db81f03..391edb3c0b3e23c3468c895c26e53a7515c0b955 100644 (file)
--- a/themes/theme/static/css/stylesheet.css
+++ b/themes/theme/static/css/stylesheet.css
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ ul li h4 {
 .blog-post-feedback {
     padding: .5em .5em;
     background-color: rgba(27,31,35,.05);
-    margin: 3em 0 3em 0;
+    margin: 1.5em 0 3em 0;
 }
 
 .headline-hash {