this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2024
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Linux

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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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I'm curious how software can be created and evolve over time. I'm afraid that at some point, we'll realize there are issues with the software we're using that can only be remedied by massive changes or a complete rewrite.

Are there any instances of this happening? Where something is designed with a flaw that doesn't get realized until much later, necessitating scrapping the whole thing and starting from scratch?

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Cough, wayland, cough (X is just old and wayland is better)

[–] [email protected] 44 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Alt text: Thomas Jefferson thought that every law and every constitution should be torn down and rewritten from scratch every nineteen years--which means X is overdue.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Your alt text doesn't describe what is mentioned in the image though?

[–] [email protected] 18 points 7 months ago (2 children)

In this case "alt text" refers to Randall Munroe's bonus punchlines he hides in the alt text on xkcd.org.
I'm not sure what people do there who need actual alt text.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

xkcd.com uses title text, not alt text.