trainwreck design
                   2024-08-14

the year is 2024, and i want to know my disk space
usage.

i recall a simple command i've used probably
tens of thousands of times.

df -h

the year is 2024. instead of sensible output,
i get... this.






Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
dev             7.7G     0  7.7G   0% /dev
run             7.8G  1.5M  7.8G   1% /run
efivarfs        184K  150K   30K  84% /sys/firmware/efi/efivars
/dev/nvme0n1p2  234G  193G   30G  87% /
tmpfs           7.8G  860K  7.8G   1% /dev/shm
tmpfs           1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-udev-load-credentials.service
tmpfs           1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-journald.service
tmpfs           1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev-early.service
tmpfs           1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-sysctl.service
tmpfs           1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service
tmpfs           1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-vconsole-setup.service
tmpfs           7.8G   20M  7.7G   1% /tmp
/dev/nvme0n1p1  511M  296M  216M  58% /boot
tmpfs           1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service
tmpfs           1.6G   32K  1.6G   1% /run/user/1000
tmpfs           1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-resolved.service


my eyes glaze over. somehow, i can never seem to find
the disk i actually care about.

somehow, "mount" is even worse:


proc on /proc type proc (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
sys on /sys type sysfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
dev on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,nosuid,relatime,size=8063880k,nr_inodes=2015970,mode=755,inode64)
run on /run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,mode=755,inode64)
efivarfs on /sys/firmware/efi/efivars type efivarfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
/dev/nvme0n1p2 on / type ext4 (rw,relatime)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,inode64)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,gid=5,mode=620,ptmxmode=000)
cgroup2 on /sys/fs/cgroup type cgroup2 (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nsdelegate,memory_recursiveprot)
pstore on /sys/fs/pstore type pstore (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
bpf on /sys/fs/bpf type bpf (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,mode=700)
systemd-1 on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type autofs (rw,relatime,fd=39,pgrp=1,timeout=0,minproto=5,maxproto=5,direct,pipe_ino=1374)
mqueue on /dev/mqueue type mqueue (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
hugetlbfs on /dev/hugepages type hugetlbfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,pagesize=2M)
debugfs on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tracefs on /sys/kernel/tracing type tracefs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /run/credentials/systemd-udev-load-credentials.service type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nosymfollow,size=1024k,nr_inodes=1024,mode=700,inode64,noswap)
tmpfs on /run/credentials/systemd-journald.service type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nosymfollow,size=1024k,nr_inodes=1024,mode=700,inode64,noswap)
fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /run/credentials/systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev-early.service type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nosymfollow,size=1024k,nr_inodes=1024,mode=700,inode64,noswap)
configfs on /sys/kernel/config type configfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /run/credentials/systemd-sysctl.service type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nosymfollow,size=1024k,nr_inodes=1024,mode=700,inode64,noswap)
tmpfs on /run/credentials/systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nosymfollow,size=1024k,nr_inodes=1024,mode=700,inode64,noswap)
tmpfs on /run/credentials/systemd-vconsole-setup.service type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nosymfollow,size=1024k,nr_inodes=1024,mode=700,inode64,noswap)
tmpfs on /tmp type tmpfs (rw,noatime,inode64)
/dev/nvme0n1p1 on /boot type vfat (rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=ascii,shortname=mixed,utf8,errors=remount-ro)
tmpfs on /run/credentials/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nosymfollow,size=1024k,nr_inodes=1024,mode=700,inode64,noswap)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /run/user/1000 type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,size=1615816k,nr_inodes=403954,mode=700,uid=1000,gid=1000,inode64)
portal on /run/user/1000/doc type fuse.portal (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=1000,group_id=1000)
tmpfs on /run/credentials/systemd-resolved.service type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nosymfollow,size=1024k,nr_inodes=1024,mode=700,inode64,noswap)


jesus christ.

if you think that the above output is ugly, let
me assure you, it's even worse in a terminal.

each 150+ character line wraps around my buffer
like a boa constrictor, completely suffocating any
sense of meaning.

my journey to know how much disk space i had left
has left me confused. annoyed.

but even worse, i feel disrespected in my own ~home.


and i don't like being disrespected. especially
by WORDS and LETTERS and UTF-8???

after all, this is MY terminal.

a program just waltzes in and spews
shitty output all over MY tty?

HELL NO

oh, but tmpfs's are so very useful? fuck you.
oh, efivars are important becau- FUCK you.


I AM A REGULAR LINUX USER

JUST SHOW ME MY DISKS PWEASE

THIS WAS SO MUCH BETTER 10 YEARS AGO

I AM SO SICK OF "TRAINWRECK DESIGN"

O DEAR LORD,

IS THERE ANY END TO THIS TORMENT?






   OO O o o o...      _______________ _________________
  O     ____          |             | |               |
 ][_n_i_| (   ooo___  | trainwreck  | | design        |
(__________|_[______]_|_____________|_|_______________|
  0--0--0      0  0      0      0        0        0

as open ecosystems grow, they tend to experience
what i like to call "trainwreck design"

basically: when many things are independently designed
and developed, then smashed together, the user 
experience suffers. things feel "wrong" because
users aren't stupid - they can sense that there was
no coherent vision.

take the GNU/Linux ecosystem for example.
"trainwreck design" happens here all of the time.
programs are designed independently, smashed together,
everyone spritzes holy water on their keyboards,
and things mostly sort of keep moving forward.

but this results in programs like df. they grow weird
appendages, have millions of esoteric flags, and worst
of all, they just feel obviously wrong.

"trainwreck design" is not intentional design.

in "open source" communities, these problems are
often worsened - if design disagreements get too
intense, forks arise and kill momentum.

people have tried using consensus - but consensus
doesn't really work in the design realm.

when an open, bazaar-like[0] community grows too large,
it becomes impossible to insist on a coherent design
philosophy, people fork around you. rifts develop.
alternatives appear. electing a "design leader" is
not possible because there are simply too many points
of control.

in other words...
                                                 ____
                                                |    |
.----------------------------------------------.|    |
|                                               |    |
| A camel is a horse designed by a committee    |    |
|                                             ._|____|_.
'---------------------------------------------\\|o_o |
                                                |:_/ |
                                               //   \ \
                                              (| [4] | )

i have my own theory: bazaar-style development does
not necessitate committee-style design.

a bazaar can in fact have a unified vision without
relying on outright authoritarianism.

in fact, this is already happening - many projects
that are very much bazaar-like in nature have a strong
visionary + designer (or several), who typically hold
leadership positions.

but it's rare.

typically, this position is affectionately called the

               ██████  ██████  ███████ ██      
               ██   ██ ██   ██ ██      ██      
               ██████  ██   ██ █████   ██      
               ██   ██ ██   ██ ██      ██      
               ██████  ██████  ██      ███████ 
               or "benevolent dictator for life"

for a good example, see the hare[1] project's BDFL page.

Drew Devault runs the hare project, and wrote that page.

my conclusions:
  - Drew is inclusive of the broader hare community
  - Drew has the final say over certain decisions
  - Drew will not "abuse" his position
  - Drew has "the vision"
  - ...
  - Drew is the designer.

if you disagree that hare is designed, try reading
the style[2] guide and this[3] post on hare's design
philosophy.

"Hare Is Boring" is an assertion made by someone with
a strong innate sense of design.

a contributor can immediately read, digest, and align
with Hare's vision. they can contribute code in
an expected style with very little oversight.

they can get excited about hare, because when design
is this up-front, it's exciting to be a part of.

design requires vision. direction. involvement.

but design does not require the designer to do
all of the work, or be a gate through which
all work flows.

the designer does _not_ have to be a dictator.

this is neither a bazaar nor a cathedral - it's
somewhere in between.
 



    the cathedral, the bazaar, and...

████████╗██╗  ██╗███████╗    ██╗  ██╗██╗██╗   ██╗███████╗
╚══██╔══╝██║  ██║██╔════╝    ██║  ██║██║██║   ██║██╔════╝
   ██║   ███████║█████╗      ███████║██║██║   ██║█████╗  
   ██║   ██╔══██║██╔══╝      ██╔══██║██║╚██╗ ██╔╝██╔══╝  
   ██║   ██║  ██║███████╗    ██║  ██║██║ ╚████╔╝ ███████╗
   ╚═╝   ╚═╝  ╚═╝╚══════╝    ╚═╝  ╚═╝╚═╝  ╚═══╝  ╚══════╝

                .' '.            __
       .        .   .           (__\_
        .         .         . -{{_(|8)
          ' .  . ' ' .  . '     (__/

there is third style of software design that is often
conflated with the other two.

i'm calling it "the hive", and it's a bazaar/cathedral
hybrid.

hives one or more leaders who influence direction
and vision, but who do _not_ act as dictators.

hive leaders:
  - talk about vision, meaning, direction
  - let people own their own decisions
  - provide context and warnings
  - try their hardest to not act like dictators

people in hives make decisions autonomously, but
with shared understanding and context. the role
of the hive leader is to keep track of what's
happening, try to keep everyone aligned, get
people excited about a vision, but let people
make their own technical decisions along that
path.

this dramatically reduces the likelihood of trainwreck
design, and also keeps the communal "vibe of the bazaar"
alive.


in other words,

  if somebody watches all of the trains

    maybe we can stop some of them

       from crashing.



love,

  jes


























P.S. the year is 2035.

 you run "df -h" on your holo-deck.


Filesystem           Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
dev                  7.7T     0  7.7T   0% /dev
run                  7.8T  1.5G  7.8T   1% /run
efivarfs             184K  150K   30K  84% /sys/firmware/efi/efivars
/dev/qua0n1p2s4g8z7@ 234T  193T   30T  87% /
tmpfs                7.8G  860K  7.8G   1% /dev/shm
tmpfs                1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-udev-load-credentials.service
tmpfs                1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-journald.service
tmpfs                1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-systema-systemb.service
tmpfs                1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev-early.service
tmpfs                1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-sysctl.service
tmpfs                1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-kitchen-sink.service
tmpfs                1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service
tmpfs                1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-vconsole-setup.service
tmpfs                1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-dishwasher.service
tmpfs                1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-mothership.service
tmpfs                1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-taxes.service
tmpfs                7.8G   20M  7.7G   1% /tmp
qtmpfs               7.8G   20M  7.7G   1% /tmp-quantum-rebind
/dev/qua0n1p38fuqff@ 234T  193T   30T  87% /
/dev/qua0n1p1984dja@ 511M  296M  216M  58% /boot
tmpfs                1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-tmpfiles-setup.service
tmpfs                1.6G   32K  1.6G   1% /run/user/1000
tmpfs                1.0M     0  1.0M   0% /run/credentials/systemd-resolved.service
/dev/quantum0        dead     0  1.0T   0% /quantum/superposition/cat/0
/dev/quantum1       alive     0  1.0T   0% /quantum/superposition/cat/1
cybermem               1P  750T  250T  75% /run/cybermemory/cybermem-setup
cybermem               1P  750T  250T  75% /run/cybermemory/cybermem-init
cybermem               1P  750T  250T  75% /run/cybermemory/cybermem-run
cybermem               1P  750T  250T  75% /run/cybermemory/cybermem-RUN
virtualsocks          64G    2G   62G   3% /run/vsockies








(\(\
(-.-)
(")(")*

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cathedral_and_the_Bazaar
[1]: https://archive.is/H6qQA
[2]: https://archive.is/ypKFZ
[3]: https://archive.is/9762X
[4]: ty to dylan araps for this ascii thingy

thanks to Joan Stark for much of the bee ascii art