@lina that video linked in Wedson's retirement mail is... damning, to say the least. Wow. And the fact that this is apparently just acceptable behavior in that community...
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@lina that video linked in Wedson's retirement mail is... damning, to say the least. Wow. And the fact that this is apparently just acceptable behavior in that community... 19 comments
@delroth@mastodon.delroth.net It felt like the output of active-on-twitter US conservatives... @delroth @lina what is it with prominent C developers insisting that there is no reason to learn anything new and that C is the only good way to write software? It isn't just kernel people, this is a huge issue on the userland side of open source too. This gatekeeping is super toxic, and leads to dramatically worse software overall. @danielleigh @delroth @lina it's not just C programmers, I've seen a very similar sentiment in other places too. To me all their arguments come off as "I've spent a long time to learn this difficult thing and I want to feel superior because of it, I can't do that if you make the difficult thing easier, so stop". @p4 @danielleigh @lina which is especially funny coming from C programmers because... there's barely anything to learn, it's not a difficult language, and "experienced" C programmers aren't particularly good at avoiding the footguns that beginners also encounter. @delroth @p4 @lina C isn't a difficult language ... to memorize. In actual use the C++ that C programmers hate so much is massively simpler (as is Rust and every other higher level language.) Which isn't to say C++ is good, it inherits all of C's flaws and adds some, but many C programmers seem to take pride in using the least capable tool that is at all practical in what feels like a mix of elitism and toxic masculinity. @danielleigh @delroth @p4 @lina imho, Rust > C > C++. sincerely, @p4 @danielleigh @delroth @lina You can see this behaviour from companies, that feel threatened by innovation, too. @rafaelmartins @delroth @lina with all due respect, what is all this “I’m not a Rust fan” about? I’m not a coder so it sounds strange to me. I mean, programming languages are tools, you don’t need to be a fan of one or another, just use it when it fits. I’m not a fan of my dishwasher, but it does a fine job at its thing. @balseiro @delroth @lina heh. you are not wrong... as a professional software engineer I write code in whatever language I'm paid to, like, literally any language that is better suited for the job. The "not a rust fan" just means that if I'm starting a personal project it is unlikely that I'd pick Rust as a primary language for it, as I have more fun coding on some other languages, and personal projects need to be fun :D I don't try to prevent anyone to code in rust neither advocate against it. |
@delroth @lina God, that's textbook gatekeeping.
Whoever uttered those words should be deeply ashamed (but they're not, I'm sure).