Re:Boring technology and the five-year rule
by jbreckmckye on Tuesday September 26, 2023 @10:09AM
(#37659586)
I've read McKinley's "Choose Boring Technologies" essay a few times. It is okay. I have no big objections to it, though I think the "innovation token" metaphor is oversimplified.
Yet every time I encounter it in the wild, it's always used to justify the most backwards technical decisions. They have included
- using Ember.js in 2018
- waiting 18 months before installing security patches
- continuing with Java 7 back in 2021
- an engineer who wanted to build his web service in C with CGI in 2019
It's like flypaper for people who can't process change
Yet every time I encounter it in the wild, it's always used to justify the most backwards technical decisions. They have included
- using Ember.js in 2018
- waiting 18 months before installing security patches
- continuing with Java 7 back in 2021
- an engineer who wanted to build his web service in C with CGI in 2019
It's like flypaper for people who can't process change