Any idiot can tie a rock to the end of a stick and call it a hammer. It might drive in a nail or two before the rock falls off. That doesn't make it a good hammer.
The test of a good hammer is in the -ilities. Durability, reliability, availability, scalability, and above all, usability. If it works in principle, but fails when you need it, it's not a good hammer.
The software industry is full of people tying rocks to sticks and calling them hammers, and expecting us to pay money for them.
Andrew Gallagher
npub1nd…tt277
2026-05-29 15:41:53 UTC
Author Public Key
npub1nd6y7fxzzff3k77e37tjq78yudrz8680r5lvc53z8tc5r4yldsgswtt277Seen on
wss://relay.momostr.pinkPublished at
2026-05-29 15:41:53 UTCEvent JSON
{
"id": "60af4e3f75be26cac45613c924dcf3bfb02c7ffcb74148f55df3e57573977d37",
"pubkey": "9b744f24c212531b7bd98f972078e4e34623e8ef1d3ecc52223af141d49f6c11",
"created_at": 1780069313,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [
[
"proxy",
"https://mastodon.ie/@andrewg/116658622522299699",
"web"
],
[
"proxy",
"https://mastodon.ie/users/andrewg/statuses/116658622522299699",
"activitypub"
],
[
"L",
"pink.momostr"
],
[
"l",
"pink.momostr.activitypub:https://mastodon.ie/users/andrewg/statuses/116658622522299699",
"pink.momostr"
],
[
"-"
]
],
"content": "Any idiot can tie a rock to the end of a stick and call it a hammer. It might drive in a nail or two before the rock falls off. That doesn't make it a good hammer.\n\nThe test of a good hammer is in the -ilities. Durability, reliability, availability, scalability, and above all, usability. If it works in principle, but fails when you need it, it's not a good hammer.\n\nThe software industry is full of people tying rocks to sticks and calling them hammers, and expecting us to pay money for them.",
"sig": "1086b212405b0ef9684adfe679afd74de8ad166749252c3e6e289c08614eb13409dad4c01a2a7da040146ca2a09a38061bf899f886f9c76f6dbf83ac56ffa64f"
}