Post #2431172
2026-02-18 21:36 UTC
@elb@social.sdf.org I typically use this to teach the zeroth law of distributed systems: avoid building one if at all possible. DNS is a great example, where if people are willing to compromise on global agreement on names (just like there isn't one globally agreed-upon "jeff"), then you no longer need a distributed system and can instead use something like petnames, emulating how folks refer to non-computer things (and how folks named computers on internetworks before DNS)
Replies (1)
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@elb@social.sdf.org 2026-02-18 21:39
@migratory@jorts.horse I actually gave that speech on Monday, I think; distributed systems are like C, you PROBABLY don't want to use it. Most systems will run just fine on a core 2 duo you found in a closet UNTIL you try to distribute them. ;-)