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Re:Building a Cathedral by sevensor on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @09:45AM (#19787844)
So the key points of the essay -- cathedrals are accretions of effort over time, no cathedral is ever finished -- do they apply to software? And do they apply more to cathedral-structured projects than to bazaar-structured projects? I'm perhaps more drawn to this metaphor than I should be; I think I'm still trying to make up my mind about whether it's really useful, and to what extent.
Re:Building a Cathedral by wallflower on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @10:01AM (#19787970)
> cathedrals are accretions of effort over time, no cathedral is ever finished

The basic premise of "How Buildings Learn" by Stewart Brand, co-founder of The WELL, is that the better buildings are those that can and may adapt to different purposes over their life span. Like they say, 'this home has good bones' if the house has good infrastructure and structure. This can also be obviously applied to software construction.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Buildings_Learn

Re:Building a Cathedral by Gravityloss on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @04:57PM (#19791859)
A friend of mine is a very meticulous person once they set their mind on something. So when they were buying a house, they read a lot of books, talked to a lot of people and looked a lot of houses. They had a fun aphorism (don't know how it translates):

There are two kinds of houses: "if" houses and "despite" houses.

An "if" house stay in shape if the roof doesn't leak. A "despite" house stays in shape despite the roof leaking every now and then.

This is because of different design philosophies. More modern chipboard or glass wool usually get destroyed if they get wet. Old fashioned wood can simply be dried (if it doesn't get moldy / rot). Plastic insulation (or plastic based paints) creates moisture traps. Structures don't dry and usually they just rot.

Everything works fine with chipboard, plastic and glass wool IF it never gets wet. This is usually about as far as people think. (Dealing with pointers or lots of global variables is safe if you never make any mistakes.) But the longer the life span of the house, the less likely that is to be true.

Re:Building a Cathedral by sevensor on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @10:26AM (#19788186)
Interesting notion! It puts me in mind of Levittown. All houses followed an original standard design (or three), but if you go there today, no two are alike. Originally derided as the paragon of uniformity, each house in Levittown has grown and changed to suit its owners.
Re:Building a Cathedral by jackbravo on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @10:43AM (#19788347)
any link with more information about Levittown?
Re:Building a Cathedral by sevensor on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @11:06AM (#19788586)
This is the Levittown I'm talking about:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levittown,_Pennsylvania

This song distills the low regard in which it was held.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boxes

My comment is based on visits to Levittown -- a friend of mine grew up there.

Re:Building a Cathedral by schoen on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @01:14PM (#19789860)
Though note that "Little Boxes" originally refers to Daly City, California (you can see them when riding BART to or from SFO).
Re:Building a Cathedral by sevensor on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @03:04PM (#19790868)
I did not know that. Thank you!
Re:Building a Cathedral by alexhutcheson on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @11:02AM (#19788546)
Re:Building a Cathedral by pencerw on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @01:51PM (#19790236)
[Disclaimer: I edited and published the piece and own theprepared.org] I think the answer is "yes," at least to an extent. I think the big limitation is the degree to which software projects are mission-focused, and also the degree two which they span generations. The former does exist in certain places, but the latter (intergenerational development) is pretty hard to find.