The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source - Kyle explains "Legacy Software" to the aliens (News)

Episode Date: May 20, 2024

Taylor Troesh writes Kyle explaining "Legacy Software" to the aliens, Vitaly Friedman addresses why so many designers feel misunderstood and under appreciated in business contexts, Oracle dumps Terraform for OpenTofu & hackers discover how to reprogram NES Tetris from within the game.

What up, nerds? I'm Jared, and this is Changelog News for the week of Monday, May 20th, 2024. We have a short episode for you this week because I have to catch a flight this afternoon to Seattle for Microsoft Build. If you're going to be there, let me know. Adam and I would love to connect with as many folks as possible while we're in town be there, let me know. Adam and I would love to connect with as many folks as possible while we're in town. Okay, let's get into the news. Kyle explains legacy software to the aliens. Every so often, my friend Taylor Troche publishes

something so stinking good, I'm actually mad about it. This piece by Taylor about a hypothetical developer named Kyle trying to explain legacy software to the aliens is one of those times. I don't even know why I'm mad, but at least one of the reasons is that I struggle to pick a pull quote. Here's my best shot. Quote, why not use the old languages? Ha, dude, nobody uses those languages anymore. They don't have any of the new libraries.

No, we don't any of the new libraries. No, we don't port over the new libraries because it would feel too clunky. Of course, we try to make the languages less clunky. It's called ergonomics. But whenever we add ergonomics to a language, it becomes clunkier. No, we can't rewrite the legacy software in a new language because the problem is usually too dangerous or complicated. I guess they got lucky. Nobody today would dare tackle those same problems in the same languages.

End quote. Okay, sorry, I can't limit myself to just one shot. Here's a chaser. Quote, Sorry, no more questions. I'm two minutes late for stand-up. Humanity is deprecating TypeScript next year, so we're migrating our proxy server to Hypescript.

But we just found out it's incompatible with our orchestrator, so we're migrating our proxy server to Hypescript. But we just found out it's incompatible with our orchestrator, so we have to switch cloud providers. Please, don't call this number again. End quote. If I had more time today, I would read this entire post for our Changelog++ people. It's that good slash funny slash poignant, but I gotta catch a flight, so let's plow forward. Why designers aren't understood. Smashing Magazine's Vitaly Friedman addresses why so many designers feel misunderstood and underappreciated in business contexts. Quote, They conquer the market. They capture mindshare. They target customers. They destroy the competition. They want to attract more eyeballs, get users hooked, and increase lifetime value.

Designers, on the other hand, don't speak in such metaphors. We speak of how to reduce friction, improve consistency, empower users, enable and help users, meet their expectations, bridge the gap, develop empathy, understand user needs, design an inclusive experience, end quote. This is two very different ways to communicate. In response, Vitaly shares how he approaches language in business meetings, not by adopting the language of the business world, but by telling a story in eight parts. Quote, next time you walk in a meeting, pay attention to your words. Translate UX terms in a language that other departments understand. It might not take long until you'll see support coming from everywhere, just because everyone can now clearly see how your work helps them do their work better. It's now time for sponsored news. This week in net on Cloudflare TV. Did you know that Cloudflare puts out a ton of great video content?

For example, This Week in Net, which is weekly updates on the latest news at Cloudflare and across the internet. On their latest episode, they head to San Francisco for the Cybersecurity RSA Conference, catch up with Emily Hancock, Cloudflare's Chief Privacy Officer, and interview Danny Grant, a former Cloudflare employee and co-founder of Jam.dev, a company dedicated to fixing software bugs that's built on Cloudflare's platform. Check out what they're up to at Cloudflare.tv, and thanks to our friends at Cloudflare for sponsoring ChangeLog News. Oracle dumps Terraform for OpenTofu. Quote,

The reason for the switch is unsurprising, but notable nonetheless. The announcement says it's due to forthcoming Terraform licensing changes. This is a big vote of confidence for the fork. Will Oracle's move be a one-off or the first big domino to fall in an open Tofu rally? Hackers discover how to reprogram NES Tetris from within the game. It is bonkers that people have the time and the wherewithal to discover this stuff. Quote, the player has to hold down up on the third controller and right, left, and down on the fourth controller. The latter combination requires some controller fiddling to allow for simultaneous left and right directional input. Doing so sends the jump code to an area of RAM that holds the names and scores for the game's high score listing,

giving an even larger surface of RAM that can be manipulated directly by the player. End quote. Check out Ars Technica for the full story. They're hacking the game from within the game? I've never felt more like Hansel in Zoolander. Did you find the files? I don't even know what they look- what do they look like? They're in the computer.

They're in the computer? That is the news for now, but this is episode number 95, so that means it's time once again for some changelog plus plus shoutouts. Shoutout to our newest members. Ross R. Doug L. Alex M. Marius J.

Scott L. Kevin S. Eric J.A. James M. Junus K. Olivier F. Alex S.B. And Anton K.

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