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Things I Learnt from a Senior Software Engineer

neilkakkar.com

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Re: Things I Learnt from a Senior Software Engineer

#291

Post by rootusrootus »

lonelappde wrote: post #68
rootusrootus wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the last place I worked at (a smaller ISP) we were a little spastic with our naming schemes. Sometimes boring -- web-1, web-2, web-3, web-4, ... and sometimes more entertaining -- we named a cluster of content filtering servers after porn stars (sindee, etc). Now everything is a VM so I'm back to naming "servers" by their function because I don't really need to worry about them being multifunction or evolving.

It's sad to see in the current century that a group of erstwhile professionals jump to "porn stars".

Some folks are more relaxed than others. I have even seen servers named after gods in the distant past, can you imagine? Try naming a server Odin now, or Loki, etc. Used to be a popular naming scheme but today it would have someone complaining to HR about inappropriate religion in the workplace.

I gotta say that whoever flagged that post has the thinnest skin I've yet encountered. Even for HN, I am slightly surprised.

Re: Things I Learnt from a Senior Software Engineer

#292

Post by rootusrootus »

enneff wrote: post #171
flukus wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it's like having subtle adult jokes in Disney movies, the adults get it and the children are oblivious and unharmed by them. Anyone offended by the use of porn star names wouldn't (or at least shouldn't) know what it's referencing.

I know that porn is pretty normalised by western culture, and I’m not reply anti porn myself, but if you can’t see how another adult might find porn references in their work inappropriate then I don’t know what to tell you.

Heh, 9 out of 10 people couldn't even tell you where those names came from. They never even had a chance to be offended. And frankly, not too many people wandering through the datacenter spent much time reading all the labels.

Re: Things I Learnt from a Senior Software Engineer

#293

Post by rootusrootus »

arpa wrote: post #218
dragonwriter wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Anyone offended by the use of porn star names wouldn't (or at least shouldn't) know what it's referencing. “Offended by the use of X to name servers at their workplace” doesn't imply “have never heard and wouldn't recognize the names of X”. Whether X is “porn stars” or “Nazi leaders”.

I'm naming my server Godwin.

It is somewhat amazing how reliable that rule is. A part of me wonders how many people actually do it on purpose.

Re: Things I Learnt from a Senior Software Engineer

#294

Post by rootusrootus »

zo1 wrote: post #162
pbourke wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is this being downvoted? It is highly inappropriate to do this in a work context.

It's downvoted I guess because it's inflammatory and causing conflict/political discussion where there was absolutely none. I.e. We're talking about something innocent like naming servers.

It got as many upvotes as downvotes, actually.

People also name servers after Norse gods, which might be offensive to religious folks. Many naming schemes are not innocent unless you just aren't offended about the particular topic. Here's the thing, though -- once we decided that the metric was whether or not someone could be offended by something, then we made everything offensive. Whoops!

Re: Things I Learnt from a Senior Software Engineer

#295

Post by philwelch »

ses1984 wrote: post #285
philwelch wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that it narrows it down that much.

You could probably throw out 90% or more of dictionary words for your permutations, I'd say that is significant enough to paint a target on your back.

If your password is derived from a four word phrase (per the XKCD formula, which isn’t the only one), potentially all of the individual words could be inoffensive in isolation. There’s no obvious way to operationalize the human intuition of offense in a way that restricts the search space if you’re smart about it.

Re: Things I Learnt from a Senior Software Engineer

#296

Post by ses1984 »

philwelch wrote: post #295
ses1984 wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could probably throw out 90% or more of dictionary words for your permutations, I'd say that is significant enough to paint a target on your back.

If your password is derived from a four word phrase (per the XKCD formula, which isn’t the only one), potentially all of the individual words could be inoffensive in isolation. There’s no obvious way to operationalize the human intuition of offense in a way that restricts the search space if you’re smart about it.

It all depends on if you have anything worth cracking. Sure, if your average hn reader encrypts a password db with a dirty four word phrase, that reader will be fine because no one is willing to rub two pennies together to crack that.

On the other hand if you're protecting secrets actually worth something...

Re: Things I Learnt from a Senior Software Engineer

#297

Post by LeonB »

asgeir wrote: post #205
neilkakkar wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey Leon, thanks! I've updated the website :)

Cunningham's law in action. "The best way to get the right answer on the Internet is not to ask a question, it's to post the wrong answer." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Cunningham#Cunningham%27s...

You know it wasn’t Cunningham who said that? (Just kidding)

Re: Things I Learnt from a Senior Software Engineer

#298

Post by Bekwnn »

nitrogen wrote: post #140
rbavocadotree wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also strange in that I don't think I'd get very much out of simply watching anyone work, unless they were also giving live commentary or something.

There was an article posted on HN a while back that claimed that the best way for beginners to learn a new skill is to watch an expert just work, without any commentary or explanation. I tried finding a link, but couldn't come up with working search terms on DDG, Goog, or HN.

Casey Muratori's and Jonathan Blow's streams are pretty great in this regard. Both do low-level gamedev.

Re: Things I Learnt from a Senior Software Engineer

#299

Post by philwelch »

ses1984 wrote: post #296
philwelch wrote: post #295

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your password is derived from a four word phrase (per the XKCD formula, which isn’t the only one), potentially all of the individual words could be inoffensive in isolation. There’s no obvious way to operationalize the human intuition of offense in a way that restricts the search space if you’re smart about it.

It all depends on if you have anything worth cracking. Sure, if your average hn reader encrypts a password db with a dirty four word phrase, that reader will be fine because no one is willing to rub two pennies together to crack that. On the other hand if you're protecting secrets actually worth something...

Hey, for all you know I might find certain seemingly random 128-character alphanumeric strings very offensive ;)

Re: Things I Learnt from a Senior Software Engineer

#300

Post by ses1984 »

philwelch wrote: post #299
ses1984 wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It all depends on if you have anything worth cracking. Sure, if your average hn reader encrypts a password db with a dirty four word phrase, that reader will be fine because no one is willing to rub two pennies together to crack that. On the other hand if you're protecting secrets actually worth something...

Hey, for all you know I might find certain seemingly random 128-character alphanumeric strings very offensive ;)

Seemingly random isn't random.
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