I don't think the programming language dependencies are comparable to tech like GPS.
Reddit was originally written in lisp. It was later rewritten in Python with a trivial amount of effort. And it could have be trivially rewritten in any other language as well. The languages are not that important. Having access to high level languages in general is important, but they are a dime a dozen.
could you imagine the expense of a FAANG having to pay Microsoft Windows licensing for every machine they use? how would that affect a startup's runway?
so instead of the languages, maybe open it up to Linux/FOSS in general
Startups I've worked at have struggled with various expenses but OS licenses weren't one of them. OTOH finding devs 100% comfortable working on pure linux machines would be a genuine blocker.
Maybe my perspective is different because I'm relatively young, but everywhere I worked every dev was using GNU/Linux at work and only a tiny minority expressed that they'd prefer macOS. Windows was always something that was used exclusively by non-dev departments (aside of testing machines for checking compatibility). I seem to remember only a single exception, and that was a WordPress developer who worked with and as part of the marketing team, so not sure if it really counts.
I don't doubt such shops exist but based on job ads I've seen and interviews I've done they're very much the minority at least in my part of the world. Why a non-iOS developer would choose macOS I don't quite get but each to their own. I'm willing to bet a significant percentage of developers do typically use Windows, even if there is growing tendency to use WSL+Docker for core development activities.
Non-iOS developer that chooses to use macOS right here. Why? First, because it's not Windows. Second, it runs other software that I need that isn't available on nix. I can run nix style stuff with BSD flair. I can run things native, no VM or docker container. There's lots of reasons. Mainly, I abhor Windows.
I'm actually fine with basically any OS, I've used them all over the years to various degrees. But MacOS was always the one where I felt I was working with one hand tied behind my back, with various things I use all the time (extended keyboard with separate Del/Backspace, right mouse button/ scroll wheel, many software tools, ability to poke around "under the cover" etc.) either outright missing or compromised on MacOS/Apple hardware. Though it's Apple's whole approach to forced software upgrades that annoys me the most. The battery life is good though.
Unless you're only using built-in laptop keyboard/trackpad, why is that limiting. It's USB compatible with pretty much any 3rd party. I have a full size Mac keyboard with 10-key and home/end/del/pageUp/pageDown. I hate not having it. So I'm not sure why you're unable to use the same. I do agree on their mice being a bit lacking, but again, any mouse can be used. It's not like you have to have Dell mouse with your Dell comp. Gamers all use different mice, so why the hate on a peripherial?
If I really had no choice but to use a Mac for the majority of my work then, sure, I'd invest in better peripherals but the times I've worked with them that generally wasn't a readily available option or worth my while. And there's no hate - if I'd used mostly Macs for the last 35+ years I'd probably find various things missing on Wintel machines to be a drag on productivity too.
> Unless you're only using built-in laptop keyboard/trackpad
Well, I am. I find it too cumbersome otherwise. If I wanted to have a desktop workstation, I would have a desktop PC - with a laptop, I'm working on its keyboard and touchpad, so I can move with it anywhere I want and still be as comfortable using it as usual.
and what non-Apple laptop is available with a full sized keyboard that you'd be okay using? it just seems such a petty thing when no other laptop meets your "needs"
I'm using Dell XPS 13 9380 right now and it serves me well, although I'd prefer the keyboard layout of Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro that I used previously and which I find perfect. These days it's getting increasingly hard to find a 13" laptop with acceptable keyboard layout :(
I don't know how does the situation look like with larger laptops as I wasn't interested in them when I was looking around for a new computer the last time.
First, anything Adobe. I haven't run Wine in a really long time. Maybe it has progressed with Adobe software runs acceptably now? Don't know, but there have been other non-dev centric and mainly video centric type apps that never worked on Linux. After that, Windows v Apple. For me and what I need to do, Windows loses every. single. time.
Now, I'm an old dog not interested in learning new tricks unless it will absolutely postively without a doubt be money making for me. Doing for the sake of doing is no longer something I'm passionate about. I have other things to spend my time that is much more deserving of my passion. That's what the young kids are for, and then brag about their accomplisments on a Show HN. Then I can decide if it is worthy for me.
One thing I should probably add is that I was mostly talking about webdev circles (these days I work far from webdev on GNU/Linux-centered projects so you obviously don't see Windows there, but this wasn't always the case in my career). However, I'm also pretty close to gamedev circles and, indeed, Windows is still dominant there.
It could also be a way to better resist to jamming or (government mandated) data pollution by matching the data from the two receivers for significant differences.
I'm 100% pro-Ukraine but that looks a smart move to me.
Even then they might look different but someone would have had the idea for social media. Those exact companies might not exist or they might look different but it's not like the business model would go away.
Take away GPS and Uber is a fundamentally different product.
Honestly I'm half expecting the US government to offer an identity service at some point. I know it would probably be challenged on constitutional grounds but it would finally be a somewhat authoritative way to cut down on fake accounts.
Maybe this is apocryphal, but I think I remember hearing that Reddit was originally written in some kind of lisp. Not to say it doesn't owe its success to python.
Very early versions, but they were already using python before you could create your own subreddits, for example (which is around the time when it started becoming more mainstream)
> It was utterly shocking that Google did not copy Nvidia's streaming games
They wanted the lock in. They did it for profit margin. Because people like the Director of Product the GP mentions hops from one role to the next its all short term nonsense.
Until someone looks in that employee's wake and sees one dumpster fire after another and the employee being the common denominator. These people aren't just jumping from hype space to hype space, they are torching each of those projects to extract short term gains to the detriment of the teams under them.
Appreciate the sentiment, but if any employee does indeed have a track record like that, its on the company for hiring someone like that in the first place.
The real question is, why is the market so inefficient at sifting through bad employees, especially near the top of the ladder? The fact that this exec has been able to jump from one dumpster fire to another, often with a promotion, tells me that there’s something broken about the way senior execs are hired.
I think it could be fast enough if portability to different platforms wasn't such a high priority for game studios these days. Nobody wants to write typescript and then pay $50M for someone to port it for Switch or whatever.
Assuming eternal altruism from a third party is absurd. This data is being soaked up, processed, transformed, stored, and at some level shared via a peering agreement.
It would be different if they just wanted VR to be a success. But to replace Facebook's once-in-a-economy golden goose money ultra-printer with it? Thats so much to ask as to be comical.
Instead of trying to game your entire psyche like other comments suggest, I recommend to founders to find a person you can actually speak truthfully to.
Drop the marketing talk. Stop talking about the peak potential of every little thing. Stop pretending that everything can or should be optimized. Stop pretending that every event is an emergency. Get your mind and body out of crisis mode. Admit to yourself that the failure of your venture is the most likely outcome, that it always has been the most likely outcome, and that thats ok and you can still learn and grow and make a difference even in failure. That you can do everything right and still lose.
The cognitive dissonance of tech has torn down so many people. Don't let it tear you down. There are conscious choices that you have made and continue to make that make you feel the way that you do. Your body is suggesting you change them.
At Google? Cross org coordination, identifying and prioritizing opportunities, work trading with other teams (you do this and I'll do that), communicating why the team's work matters to mid management that has no idea, helping engineers avoid pitfalls, helping engineers craft project portfolios and a narrative for promotion. Helping engineers develop the right skills to succeed at Google.
So much of this fits under "marketing our value to rest of the org" - which to me (who is convinced democracy matters) says the organisation is lacking ... journalism and open fair competition of ideas.
Having the best idea reliant on top / upper top managers spotting the best idea is ... not great. And I am not convinced that having a "good communicator" as the solution - because what if the well connected manager is on the poorest product solution?
As for the rest - yes google has 8 whatnots for managers that read as a coaching manual - its important yes, but I would be astounded if there are not better things to focus on.
If a good manager is like an army sargeant, who are the colonels and generals? Where is the operational plans? Maybe I just get kept in the dark and fed shit but an open and coherent communication will get people aligned without being micromanaged
Mostly glueing people around. Sounds like a mediocre job, it's as important as writing glue code. Not interesting, but most of the code written nowaway are glue code...
Uber would not exist without GPS. I wonder how many other of the unicorns:
* Twitter without Rails
* Facebook without PHP (I think this is fair but maybe not)
* Reddit without Python
* Tesla and Solar City without huge government subsidies
Crazy to think how many Lake Tahoe vacation homes were transferred thanks to these projects.