samwyseFeb 6, 2023
Eugene Wallingford

I know this feeling:

"Geeks write scripts to take apart dull, repetitive tasks. They'll
spend 10h writing a script that will save 11h -- because writing
scripts is interesting and doing dull stuff isn't."

... from live blogging of a 2004 tech conference, by @pluralistic:

https://craphound.com/lifehacksetcon04.txt

Feb 5, 2023 at 7:02pmWeb
Show threadEugene WallingfordFeb 5, 2023

Also quotable from that @pluralistic post:

"Power-users don't trust complicated apps. ... You can't trust software unless you've written it -- and then you're just more forgiving."

A fun read, twenty years on.

Show threadAidanFeb 5, 2023
@wallingf @pluralistic I never regret spending that time. If you find you need to do it again it is virtually cost free. You can share what you've written and save hundreds of hours for other people. This is productivity increasing.
Show threadouroFeb 5, 2023
@wallingf @pluralistic I'll
spend 10h writing a script that will save 1h
Show thread`Da ElfFeb 5, 2023
@ouro @wallingf @pluralistic I was waiting for someone to get the metric correct. :D
Show threadkurtseifried (he/him)Feb 5, 2023
@wallingf @pluralistic True, but also you get better at this as time goes on, and in automating it, you are forced to actually understand the task, e.g. breaking it down into simple enough steps for a computer to understand with no ambiguity (e.g. "rename the file correctly" means what exactly?), and now you're less of a single point of failure as a human (assuming the task matters t others). Working source code is the ultimate documentation (it works or it doesn;t).
Show threadEugene WallingfordFeb 5, 2023
@kurtseifried There are many advantages! If the task is recurring, we reap compound interest. But I'm usually willing to 10-for-11 on a one-time task just because writing software is more interesting than the task.
Show threadkurtseifried (he/him)Feb 5, 2023
@wallingf Heck, what about reproducible? Also if the script is wrong you fix it once, vs. trying to retrain a human, humans that we can't reliably train to use their turn signals in traffic or wash their hands after going to the bathroom. I for one welcome our scripted computer overlords.
Show threadpacanukeha❌ (seasonally appropriate remix)Feb 5, 2023
@wallingf @pluralistic tbf we'll take 20h writing a script to automate a 5h task, because we firmly hope – based on flimsy evidence – that we're going to need to perform the task more than four times. We leave as an exercise for the reader to develop a survey that finds it how often we actually do them.
Show threadEugene WallingfordFeb 5, 2023
@pacanukeha @pluralistic And sometimes we just like to write the code. :-)
Show threadpacanukeha❌ (seasonally appropriate remix)Feb 5, 2023
@wallingf @pluralistic ✊
Show threadBlue TysonFeb 5, 2023
@wallingf @pluralistic Yeah, and then when you need it again 13 weeks later, saved another 11 hours, with luck.
Show thread@faktoiderFeb 5, 2023
@wallingf @pluralistic Well we all know we'd rather spend 10 h with interesting problems than 10 minutes with dull but @pluralistic s bowdlerized version looks better
Show threadantipode77Feb 5, 2023

@wallingf @pluralistic

I call it being lazy in a smart way.
It is at the basis of all progress.

There is nothing wrong with that, it makes sure you do stuff in a smart way.

Yes the very first time you invest 10 hours in something that takes you 5 hours to do manually.

But think of the time you saved on the other 51 weeks in the year.

Show thread`Da ElfFeb 5, 2023
@antipode77 @wallingf @pluralistic One of the few Bill Gates quotes I like:
"I will absolutely hire a lazy person, they'll figure out the easiest way to get something done."
Show threadEugene WallingfordFeb 5, 2023
@antipode77 Sometimes I'll do it even for a one-time task. Much more fun than the task itself.
Show threadantipode77Feb 5, 2023

@wallingf

Yes, give me a nice problem and i am going to solve it.

Show threadMrPaulFeb 5, 2023
@wallingf @pluralistic Obligatory.
https://xkcd.com/1205/
Is It Worth the Time?

xkcd
Show threaddafnisFeb 5, 2023
@wallingf @pluralistic #EsQueSoyYoLiteral
Show threaddragonfrogFeb 5, 2023

@wallingf @pluralistic 11 hours? They'll spend 10 hours writing a script that will save 5 or 6 hours of work.

Think of it like a walk to work - would you rather take the direct route, 1/2 hour next to noisy dreary roads, or the scenic route, a whole hour through peaceful treed woodland?

Show threadEugene WallingfordFeb 5, 2023
@dragonfrog I changed my drive home after 5 years to a slower, calmer route. Minutes well spent.
Show threadsemiquaverFeb 5, 2023
@dragonfrog @wallingf @pluralistic ...but sometimes you get lucky: after spending 10 hours writing a script that solves a problem that would have taken 4 hours to fix by brute force a similar problem arises and your script almost works a second time!
Show threadAaron K.Feb 5, 2023
@wallingf @pluralistic They’ll spend 10h writing a script that will save 1 hour.
Show threadEugene WallingfordFeb 5, 2023
@aaron Yep. It's about the fun and the challenge.
Show threadmy display nameFeb 6, 2023
@wallingf this is interesting, i also sometimes make things just for the sake of making them, just to see how i would pull it off even though it might not be very useful. I noticed it with other 'geeks' i know too
Show threadtilthouseFeb 6, 2023
@wallingf @pluralistic you misspelled ADHD (and yes of course we do)
Show threadRichard J. ActonFeb 6, 2023
@wallingf @pluralistic I've also heard this one expressed in the somewhat more cynical: "Never spend 6mins doing what you can spend 6hrs trying and failing to automate"
Show threadEugene WallingfordFeb 6, 2023
@RichardJActon Every proverb has an equal and opposite proverb. :-)