Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
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Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
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Re: Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
#2Loved this article and couldn't agree more with Geoffrey's point.
Re: Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
#3I agree with the idea that many projects are just fun and stand on that basis, but the analogy doesn't work IMHO.
When you bake a pie, it gets eaten, so who cares if it's just like another pie, in fact it's probably great if it is. And the more people baking peach pies, the better!
The analogy should be with pie recipes. In that case, your pie recipe really should bring something different to existing ones. It doesn't need to be 'better' necessarily, but if it's essentially identical, there's no real point to the recipe, except for you to practice writing out recipes.
Re: Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
#4Pie cannot be duplicated. Even if you're offering me a worse pie than I ate yesterday, either I enjoy yours or I have no pie.
Software, on the other side, is duplicated on a whim. If you are not offering me new solutions that I need, I'm not even going to bother looking at it.
Re: Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
#5I agree with the idea that many projects are just fun and stand on that basis, but the analogy doesn't work IMHO. When you bake a pie, it gets eaten, so who cares if it's just like another pie, in fact it's probably great if it is. And the more people baking peach pies, the better! The analogy should be with pie recipes. In that case, your pie recipe really should bring something different to existing ones. It doesn'…
I read your comment just after posting mine. You have expressed the concept better than I did.
Re: Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
#6Pie cannot be duplicated. Even if you're offering me a worse pie than I ate yesterday, either I enjoy yours or I have no pie. Software, on the other side, is duplicated on a whim. If you are not offering me new solutions that I need, I'm not even going to bother looking at it.
I’m genuinely confused by your comment. Pies can be duplicated. You just grab the same ingredients and follow the same recipe.
Same thing happens with software. You grab the same libraries and languages and build the same thing.
I think I get what you’re trying to say when it comes to software but sometimes one might switch even if the new software doesn’t offer new solutions.
Re: Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
#7I agree with the idea that many projects are just fun and stand on that basis, but the analogy doesn't work IMHO. When you bake a pie, it gets eaten, so who cares if it's just like another pie, in fact it's probably great if it is. And the more people baking peach pies, the better! The analogy should be with pie recipes. In that case, your pie recipe really should bring something different to existing ones. It doesn'…
My thoughts exactly. The author compared two concepts that exist at two entirely different levels of abstraction and utility.
Re: Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
#8Pie cannot be duplicated. Even if you're offering me a worse pie than I ate yesterday, either I enjoy yours or I have no pie. Software, on the other side, is duplicated on a whim. If you are not offering me new solutions that I need, I'm not even going to bother looking at it.
Not only is it duplicated on a whim, the internet makes discovering it, and getting it, very easy.
So I can not only easily keep getting that one great pie infinitely, I can discover and sample every great pie in the world to find the very best one for me. With actual pie, I'd probably had to travel to Vienna (sachtertore!), or Seattle (apple pie?) to be able to "sample" it.
Re: Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
#9I agree with the idea that many projects are just fun and stand on that basis, but the analogy doesn't work IMHO. When you bake a pie, it gets eaten, so who cares if it's just like another pie, in fact it's probably great if it is. And the more people baking peach pies, the better! The analogy should be with pie recipes. In that case, your pie recipe really should bring something different to existing ones. It doesn'…
I guess that final “except” is the entire point? You do something even if it’s not original or different because it’s fun and good practice for you.
Because maybe it is the same recipe with the same ingredients but the end result can still be different. Maybe yours is handwritten and I like your calligraphy, maybe you’re more meticulous and you documented all the steps more in details.
It can still be the same recipe. It can still provide the same service and yet there might still be useful differences.
Re: Pie doesn't need to be original unless you claim it so
#10I agree with the idea that many projects are just fun and stand on that basis, but the analogy doesn't work IMHO. When you bake a pie, it gets eaten, so who cares if it's just like another pie, in fact it's probably great if it is. And the more people baking peach pies, the better! The analogy should be with pie recipes. In that case, your pie recipe really should bring something different to existing ones. It doesn'…
I guess that final “except” is the entire point? You do something even if it’s not original or different because it’s fun and good practice for you. Because maybe it is the same recipe with the same ingredients but the end result can still be different. Maybe yours is handwritten and I like your calligraphy, maybe you’re more meticulous and you documented all the steps more in details. It can still be the same recipe…
So these things are the 'what's different'.
As a software example, 'ls' but written in rust.
There's of course nothing wrong with re-implementing 'ls' in C with all the same patterns, and sure, that could be fun, and maybe even earn a slither of respect, but no-one is going to care about your project as something useful or interesting, quite rightly.