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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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Are there any things in Linux that need to be started over from scratch? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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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] 2 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Ugh, I do not miss C...

Errors and return values are, and should be, different things. Almost every other language figured this out and handles it better than C.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

It's more of an ABI thing though, C just doesn't have error handling.

And if you do exception handling wrong in most other languages, you hamstring your performance.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

The unofficial C motto "Make it fast, who gives a shit about correctness"

[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago

Errors and return values are, and should be, different things.

That's why errno and return value are different things.