R Tyler Croy 🦀Hey developers!
YEAH?
Do you like solving problems?
YEAH!
Do you like reverse engineering?
...YEah..
Do you like having zero documentation?
..uhm..
Buy a house! Enjoy a lifetime of fixing other people's undocumented hacks while introducing your own!
Les Orchard@rtyler Absorbing Vernor Vinge's concept of "programmer–archaeologist" prepared me well to become a homeowner
sunshine@lmorchard @rtyler Okay listen where am I supposed to start with Vernor Vinge? What I've heard at this point is irresistibly intriguing.
the Stripey Goodness@lmorchard @sunshine @rtyler yeah you don't really have to know the Fire Upon the Deep happenings to understand Deepness in the Sky
AlexanderMars@stripey @lmorchard @sunshine @rtyler not disagreeing, but a fire upon the deep is a great book and as good a place to start as any.
Roadskater, Ph.D.@AlexanderMars @stripey @lmorchard @sunshine @rtyler There's sufficient gap between Fire and Deepness, you could read those in either order. Children of the Sky, on the other hand, makes much less sense if you have't read Fire.
I confess to greatly enjoying Across Realtime, seeing as The Peace War was the first Vinge I ever read. Tech nerds of that era and the next decade or more will swear by "True Names".
Nelson@stripey @lmorchard @sunshine @rtyler I agree. In fact I'd argue you should read "A Deepness in the Sky" first.
- I think it's the stronger book of the two, and therefore a better introduction to Vinge
- In-universe, it takes place first, even though it was published last as a sort of prequel. I think reading in chronological order improves the emotional impact.
- And of course it's the book with the relevant quote & concept, which may provide motivation to read it
@skyfaller @lmorchard @sunshine @rtyler I think I agree with you, especially because in the chronological order, the reader gets to discover the zones of thought along with the protagonists, rather than having them introduced and then removed