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A browser extension that replaces occurrences of 'serverless' with 'CGI-bin'

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Re: A browser extension that replaces occurrences of 'serverless' with 'CGI-bin'

#11

Post by keanebean86 »

exabrial wrote: post #9
viraptor wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The interface for Serverless is that you create a process per web request. That is not how it works in the most popular solutions. Both aws lambda and Google cloud functions will keep the server instance running after your first request and only dispatch function calls - you can cache data between requests in globals. That's also why the first cold request is so much slower (it actually loads the code for the first…

so it's not serverless then...

"Someone else handles the server instances and hardware while you just write the functions" doesn't have the same ring to it.

Re: A browser extension that replaces occurrences of 'serverless' with 'CGI-bin'

#12

Post by spc476 »

viraptor wrote: post #6
GauntletWizard wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're the one mistaken, here. The interface for cgi-bin was that you created a process per web request. The interface for Serverless is that you create a process per web request. The tooling is a lot better for Serverless, but I'd hesitate to call it 20 years better - I'd hesitate to call it 10 years better.

> The interface for Serverless is that you create a process per web request. That is not how it works in the most popular solutions. Both aws lambda and Google cloud functions will keep the server instance running after your first request and only dispatch function calls - you can cache data between requests in globals. That's also why the first cold request is so much slower (it actually loads the code for the first…

Oh, so it's FastCGI then.

Re: A browser extension that replaces occurrences of 'serverless' with 'CGI-bin'

#13

Post by viraptor »

spc476 wrote: post #12
viraptor wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The interface for Serverless is that you create a process per web request. That is not how it works in the most popular solutions. Both aws lambda and Google cloud functions will keep the server instance running after your first request and only dispatch function calls - you can cache data between requests in globals. That's also why the first cold request is so much slower (it actually loads the code for the first…

Oh, so it's FastCGI then.

Managed FastCGI with guaranteed execution environment, integrated deployment process, aggressive autoscaling and billed for usage rather than provisioned resources.

Re: A browser extension that replaces occurrences of 'serverless' with 'CGI-bin'

#14

Post by kbenson »

viraptor wrote: post #13
spc476 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, so it's FastCGI then.

Managed FastCGI with guaranteed execution environment, integrated deployment process, aggressive autoscaling and billed for usage rather than provisioned resources.

So, FastCGI with good process accounting and limits.

I get it, it's nice, but I agree with others it's mostly a nice extension and better api for CGIs. Oh, with better marketing of course.

Re: A browser extension that replaces occurrences of 'serverless' with 'CGI-bin'

#16

Post by quickthrower2 »

jasonjei wrote: post #8
InvaderFizz wrote: post #3

Funny, reminds me of the whole cloud-to-butt thing. On a different note, the whole serverless thing seemed weird to me until I looked into it an realized that it kind of is cgi-bin all over again. I love it, someone else can manage and patch the server and worry about scaling. I just deploy my workload as a self-contained app or set of apps. Scale is only limited by the bank account.

It’s a really apt comparison. Before PHP and embedded scripting with HTML, and entire contained applications with MVC frameworks, we had our static HTML and our CGI. Now we have serverless and HTML that talks to our cgi-bin using JavaScript. Life is full circle. Client/server back to the cloud, which reminds me of the dumb-terminal/mainframe days.

But the key difference is in the "why". Serving that HTML from a nearby web server is a lot faster, and it's easier to distribute static content to a bunch of servers around the world that are near the people requesting them.

Re: A browser extension that replaces occurrences of 'serverless' with 'CGI-bin'

#18

Post by tannhaeuser »

matchagaucho wrote: post #15

Well, maybe I'm just missing something in this meme, but... Back in the day, deploying code to cgi-bin first required buying and hosting your own server; which I have neither the time or patience to do today.

No, it requires renting a server, just like "serverless". Bringing your own hardware was called colo(cating).

Re: A browser extension that replaces occurrences of 'serverless' with 'CGI-bin'

#19

Post by flukus »

matchagaucho wrote: post #15

Well, maybe I'm just missing something in this meme, but... Back in the day, deploying code to cgi-bin first required buying and hosting your own server; which I have neither the time or patience to do today.

Back in the day having fixed up front costs was considered a benefit and the "as a service" model was called rent seeking.

But even then you could buy shared hosting just as simply as you can sign up for "serverless" services. Some ISP's would even give you shared hosting as part of your internet connection. In many universities you could drop a script in your home directory and it was instantly available to the world.

Even further back owning and hosting your own server was a dream almost no one could afford. People had to upload their serverless code to time sharing systems.

Re: A browser extension that replaces occurrences of 'serverless' with 'CGI-bin'

#20

Post by tannhaeuser »

viraptor wrote: post #2

I appreciate the meme and get it as a response to everything being "serverless" recently. But I noticed some people started repeating it unironically, like cgi-bin was actually equivalent. I wish this project at least acknowledged it's a meme reaction. Maybe people these days don't remember anymore what cgi-bin really worked like? (or never worked with it?)

I'd rather say it's worrying how millenials+ raised in post-standard cloud times are in denial of just how much they dropped the ball and are being brainwashed to believe the cloud progress narrative where there is only centralization and monopolization. Self-delusion to stay relevant in the job market.
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