HACKER Q&A
📣 roeles

Can Software Feel Intimate?


Recently I've been reading the book "Wabi Sabi" by Andrew Juniper. It occurred to me that while it's not uncommon for someone to have things that have a special value for them - things or rituals that hold a special intangible value - I cannot think of software that brings up the same feelings.

I wonder if I'm alone in this. If not, I wonder what aspect of software prevents us from having those feelings?

  👤 mbrock Accepted Answer ✓
Read Christopher Alexander’s foreword to Richard P. Gabriel’s “Patterns of Software.” https://www.dreamsongs.com/Files/PatternsOfSoftware.pdf
👤 svennek
I do feel it to some (small) degree..

I.e. my two main linux instances (laptop + desktop) feels like "home", other instances does not.

Some tools (postgres, python, linux) feels like an old well-used glove and safe, others not..

So without reading the book, it seems like the same thing?