Software Generalist

Windows code, Unix code, MSDOS code, BeOS code, Cantor code, PDP code, x86 code, … Every such code has its distinct semantics and pragmatics, converging, evolving and coming to extinction, backed by economic, social and political forces, having its readers and writers. A few years ago I bought and started reading the book “Empires of the Word” by Nicholas Ostler and while thinking today whether I should buy its Folio edition I finally realised that there are also empires of the code intertwined with modern history. As usual, I reserve an ISBN number for this (978-1906717810) yet unwritten book and starting to think about collaborative writing.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ SoftwareGeneralist.com -

Here I provide sketches of parallels between Marx’s theory of alienation and software world. Obviously we have fine-grained classes of:

• engineers
• technical support
• IT stuff
• architects
• managers
• …

The notion of software factory also brings its share too. I guess the current software work place standards would be seen as nightmarish conditions to future generations of software engineers in 22nd century. 

To finish this topic with a joke: I remember one manager in one of my previous companies told me not to say “delete Manager [object]” during presentation of system architecture.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ SoftwareGeneralist.com -

When will OS vendors introduce slotting fees for ISV to sell favorable distribution of quantum slots for thread scheduling of ISV forthcoming products? May be something is already hidden under the hood? When software becomes more complex in the future but hardware becomes less (this is a different topic to discuss because we have 3 possible scenarios, less, more and equal) we expect software slotting fees to appear.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ SoftwareGeneralist.com -