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  • Esteban Küber :rust:ekuber@hachyderm.io
    Jun 23, 2026, 3:02 PM

    I'm very interested in systemic solutions to problems. Blaming an individual when they make a mistake *feels* reasonable. When a significant percentage of people make the same mistake (70%, 2%, it doesn't matter as long as it is measurable, predictable and has a negative impact), then it's *not* a persons fault.
    We know how to tackle those kind of problems: we change the environment to minimize the likelihood of mistakes. Traffic and pedestrian safety is an example of a well explored space where we know what works. Bollards, narrower streets, slower speeds, raised pedestrian crossings, providing good alternatives to driving to reduce traffic...
    Similar in industrial spaces: clear signaling, segregate heavy machinery from human limbs, clear and practiced process to get out of dodge when things go poorly...
    It's always about looking for solutions to eliminate mistakes, and when they can't be eliminated, minimize the blast radius.
    This is why I like #Rust: it's a language and tooling that applies the industrial approach of "if two people make this mistake, figure out how to mitigate it".
    We can't "individual responsibility" our way out of systemic problems.
    I want more software with bollards.

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Replies

  • Esteban Küber :rust:ekuber@hachyderm.io
    Jun 23, 2026, 3:08 PM

    This (regurgitated, I've said similar things in the past) comment brought to you from seeing people notice some of the work that goes into tiny checks to help you make your software (and documentation!) as good as it can be. It's not technically impressive work. (Not in isolation, maybe on aggregate, through sheer volume.) This case won't save any lives. But a little bit of effort on the tooling side makes the user's code slightly better, which in turn makes their users' day a little smoother. It is worth it.
    namtao.com/@noboilerplate/1167

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  • Esteban Küber :rust:ekuber@hachyderm.io
    Jun 23, 2026, 3:14 PM

    I compare it to making the joinery visible at the bottom of a chair, beautiful (regardless of what rubric you use for that): it's unnecessary, as most people will never see it and no one will expect it. But it is there as much for the rare person that notices it, which can work as a proxy for the amount of effort spent in the rest of the chair, as it is there for the creator who knows they spent a tiny bit more time making something good all around. It's not always possible to do that, when the objective is maximising profit. But FLOSS can be something closer to artisanal work. Anyone who's passionate about tiny details can work on them. Have enough of them in the same place and you can end up with software that could never be accomplished under economic constraints.

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  • Esteban Küber :rust:ekuber@hachyderm.io
    Jun 23, 2026, 3:22 PM

    Also, relatedly, you don't ever have to be a mythical 10x coder. It's hard, unlikely, and maybe even not worth it as it is a recipe for quick burn out. But you *can* be a coder that makes thousands of other coders 1.1x more effective.

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  • gaytabasedysfun@treehouse.systems
    Jun 23, 2026, 3:10 PM

    @ekuber have you discovered aviation crash explanation videos on youtube yet?

    aviation is an amazing example of what giving a shit about getting things right can do. crash reports authors will not just carelessly say "pilot error" and if they do, they often won't leave it at that - they'll want to know why it wasn't caught and compensated for by something else? and was there some way in which the airline contributed, e.g. a culture of corner cutting?

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  • Esteban Küber :rust:ekuber@hachyderm.io
    Jun 23, 2026, 3:19 PM

    @dysfun Not videos, but yes. Same with the introduction of checklists and processes in operating rooms.
    In *every* industry some people notice some mistakes happen over and over again, pushes to introduce checklists with the expectation of improvement, cowboys complain loudly about being baby sitted*, and if the checklists still end up being used despite the loud complainers the clearly measured result is "these work, who would have thought".

    * hell, reading about the whole collective "You want *me*, a *surgeon* to wash my hands!? You're calling me filthy!?" and fallout has made me drastically change how I approach proposed changes.

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  • Esteban Küber :rust:ekuber@hachyderm.io
    Jun 23, 2026, 3:28 PM

    @dysfun I certainly think of this when I see people state "just get good and don't make mistakes while coding". It always makes me wonder "do they wash their hands or wear their seatbelt...?"
    I had some rando aggressively reply "I cut the seatbelt of my car if I want to! I'm a free man!" That was a very easy block.

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