Mastodawn

Perl was weird, messy, brilliant, and absolutely foundational to the early web.

Before modern frameworks and JavaScript everywhere, Perl powered CGI scripts, forms, counters, search tools, admin panels, and the kind of text processing that made the first dynamic websites possible.

A lot of people remember Perl as a joke. History says otherwise.

https://linuxexpert.org/perl-the-strange-language-that-built-the-early-web/

#Perl #Linux #OpenSource #WebDevelopment #CGI #Programming #SoftwareHistory #SysAdmin #LinuxExpert

Perl: The Strange Language That Built the Early Web

A deep dive into Perl’s history, its role in building the early web, and how it influenced modern programming languages, package ecosystems, and developer culture.

LINUXexpert

The Daily Perspective 3d ago

DR-DOS reborn as legally pristine rewrite, but questions linger

#DOS #RetroComputing #SoftwareHistory #AusNews

https://thedailyperspective.org/article/2026-03-11-dr-dos-reborn-as-legally-pristine-rewrite-but-questions-linger-177172c6

DR-DOS reborn as legally pristine rewrite, but questions linger

Nearly four decades after its heyday, DR-DOS is coming back through a complete rewrite aimed at avoiding the legal tangles that have plagued every successor.

The Daily Perspective

N-gated Hacker News 5d ago

🚀🎩 Oh look, a thrilling 33-minute ode to a fossilized spreadsheet—Lotus 1-2-3—because apparently, we're desperate for #nostalgia over functional software. Next, let's pine for dial-up modems and floppy disks, because who needs progress when you’ve got vintage tech? 🙄📉
https://stonetools.ghost.io/lotus123-dos/ #vintageTech #Lotus123 #softwareHistory #techThrowback #HackerNews #ngated

Lotus 1-2-3 on the PC w/DOS

VisiCalc started it, but 1-2-3 finished it. "It" being the discussion of what a spreadsheet can be, and also VisiCalc itself.

Stone Tools

Hacker News 5d ago

Lotus 1-2-3 on the PC with DOS

https://stonetools.ghost.io/lotus123-dos/

#HackerNews #Lotus123 #DOS #PC #Technology #RetroComputing #SoftwareHistory

Lotus 1-2-3 on the PC w/DOS

VisiCalc started it, but 1-2-3 finished it. "It" being the discussion of what a spreadsheet can be, and also VisiCalc itself.

Stone Tools

sayzard Mar 5

Marc Andreessen (@pmarca)

포스트 펀치카드 시대의 중요 소프트웨어 열두 가지를 열거한 트윗으로, AT&T, BSD, Linux 커널, GNU/GCC, VisiCalc, WordPerfect, macOS/iOS, OpenGL/Doom/Quake, JavaScript, PageRank/Backrub/Google, GPT(1~5), GPT O1/Deepseek R1, OpenClaw/Pi 등 역사적·현대적 중요 프로젝트를 나열하고 누락된 항목을 묻고 있습니다.

https://x.com/pmarca/status/2029373432169939452

#softwarehistory #ai #gpt #unix

Marc Andreessen 🇺🇸 (@pmarca) on X

Dozen most important post-punch-card software? AT&T/BSD/Linux Unix kernel GNU suite/GCC VisiCalc WordPerfect MacOS/iOS GL/Doom/Quake JavaScript PageRank/Backrub/Google GPT 1/2/3/4/5 GPT O1/Deepseek R1 OpenClaw/Pi Anything missing?

X (formerly Twitter)

N-gated Hacker News Feb 28

😂 Ah, the age-old dream of a programmer-free utopia, where mythical code fairies do all the work! 🚀 Clearly, the history of software is just one long joke about eliminating programmers that we keep failing to get. 🤖 Keep trying, tech wizards, maybe the 100th attempt will finally stick! 🧙‍♂️
https://www.ivanturkovic.com/2026/01/22/history-software-simplification-cobol-ai-hype/ #programmerUtopia #codeFairies #techHumor #softwareHistory #codingJokes #techWizards #HackerNews #ngated

The Eternal Promise: A History of Attempts to Eliminate Programmers

From COBOL in the 1960s to AI in the 2020s, every generation promises to eliminate programmers. Explore the recurring cycles of software simplification hype.

Signal Through the Noise

N-gated Hacker News Feb 25

In a breathtaking exposé on ancient software that nobody asked for, we explore the riveting "History of a Security Hole" through 47* submenus of OS2 trivia! 🤯💾 Pro tip: skip this if you prefer adventures more exhilarating than watching paint dry. 🥱✨
https://www.os2museum.com/wp/the-history-of-a-security-hole/ #ancientsoftware #historyofsecurityholes #OS2trivia #techhumor #softwarehistory #HackerNews #ngated

The History of a Security Hole | OS/2 Museum

#Digital ⚓️ #Vagabond 🦈Feb 19

Was there ever a concept of emulation for embedded games? E.g. #Tamagotchi being one of the most well known? But there were old super mario handhelds and watches too...

#Emulation #RetroGaming #SoftwareHistory #SoftwareArchiving #digipres

Thomas Byern Feb 8

Every few years, the industry rediscovers a familiar truth: complexity does not disappear, it relocates.

We rename patterns, rebuild the same structures with better tooling, then act surprised when the old trade-offs return. Sometimes they do improve. Often the real progress is simply that we have better ways to observe and contain failure.

History does not make you cynical.
It makes you harder to sell to.

#SoftwareHistory #Tech #SystemsThinking #SoftwareEngineering #HypeCycle #ByernNotes