#softwarehistory — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #softwarehistory, aggregated by home.social.
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SICPers podcast episode 56 on Niklaus Wirth's "A Plea for Lean Software": what it is, what makes it a good idea, and why it'll never happen. https://www.sicpers.info/podcast/episode-56-a-plea-for-lean-software/ #computerhistory #softwarehistory #podcast
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SICPers podcast episode 56 on Niklaus Wirth's "A Plea for Lean Software": what it is, what makes it a good idea, and why it'll never happen. https://www.sicpers.info/podcast/episode-56-a-plea-for-lean-software/ #computerhistory #softwarehistory #podcast
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SICPers podcast episode 56 on Niklaus Wirth's "A Plea for Lean Software": what it is, what makes it a good idea, and why it'll never happen. https://www.sicpers.info/podcast/episode-56-a-plea-for-lean-software/ #computerhistory #softwarehistory #podcast
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SICPers podcast episode 56 on Niklaus Wirth's "A Plea for Lean Software": what it is, what makes it a good idea, and why it'll never happen. https://www.sicpers.info/podcast/episode-56-a-plea-for-lean-software/ #computerhistory #softwarehistory #podcast
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SICPers podcast episode 56 on Niklaus Wirth's "A Plea for Lean Software": what it is, what makes it a good idea, and why it'll never happen. https://www.sicpers.info/podcast/episode-56-a-plea-for-lean-software/ #computerhistory #softwarehistory #podcast
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Harry McCracken's article about the life and death of multimedia cd-roms provides a good retrospective of its glory days.
i wonder how many people today can remember a time when they did not have to be suspicious or skeptical about facts they were reading, because it was written by a team of editors with research and writing standards?
https://www.fastcompany.com/91128052/history-of-cd-roms-encarta-myst
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Harry McCracken's article about the life and death of multimedia cd-roms provides a good retrospective of its glory days.
i wonder how many people today can remember a time when they did not have to be suspicious or skeptical about facts they were reading, because it was written by a team of editors with research and writing standards?
https://www.fastcompany.com/91128052/history-of-cd-roms-encarta-myst
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Harry McCracken's article about the life and death of multimedia cd-roms provides a good retrospective of its glory days.
i wonder how many people today can remember a time when they did not have to be suspicious or skeptical about facts they were reading, because it was written by a team of editors with research and writing standards?
https://www.fastcompany.com/91128052/history-of-cd-roms-encarta-myst
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Harry McCracken's article about the life and death of multimedia cd-roms provides a good retrospective of its glory days.
i wonder how many people today can remember a time when they did not have to be suspicious or skeptical about facts they were reading, because it was written by a team of editors with research and writing standards?
https://www.fastcompany.com/91128052/history-of-cd-roms-encarta-myst
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Harry McCracken's article about the life and death of multimedia cd-roms provides a good retrospective of its glory days.
i wonder how many people today can remember a time when they did not have to be suspicious or skeptical about facts they were reading, because it was written by a team of editors with research and writing standards?
https://www.fastcompany.com/91128052/history-of-cd-roms-encarta-myst
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MS Dinosaurs and Encarta are often fondly remembered, but i personally think that Oceans had some of the best multimedia design. it's very book-like in presentation, with zero scrolling. every page is carefully written to exploit the limited space, and the sheer amount of hyperlinking between pages makes exploration *fun*.
here's a 2 minute quick tour of Oceans. i'm not sure how many people ever saw it back in the day. top-tier edutainment imo.
one of the most painful aspects of wikipedia is that due to its layout and allergy to brevity/density, it's about as fun to explore as a phone book. i'd love to some day see a redesign focused on the joy of exploration.
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a roundtable with several developers who worked on the MS Encarta cd-rom encyclopedias. it's surprisingly in-depth about what it was like trying to cram a bookshelf onto a single disc in the 90s. you can tell they really loved working on it.
part 1:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/shows/retro-tech/microsoft-encarta-let-wizard-do-itpart 2:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/shows/retro-tech/remembering-microsoft-encarta -
10 years ago, someone wrote a test for servo that included an expiry in 2026
https://mastodon.social/@jdm_/116429380667467307
#HackerNews #servo #test #expiry2026 #softwarehistory #technews #programming
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Windows 95 defenses against installers that overwrite a file with an older one
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20260324-00/?p=112159
#HackerNews #Windows95 #Installers #FileOverwrite #SoftwareHistory #TechSecurity
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Windows 95 defenses against installers that overwrite a file with an older one
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20260324-00/?p=112159
#HackerNews #Windows95 #Installers #FileOverwrite #SoftwareHistory #TechSecurity
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Windows 95 defenses against installers that overwrite a file with an older one
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20260324-00/?p=112159
#HackerNews #Windows95 #Installers #FileOverwrite #SoftwareHistory #TechSecurity
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Windows 95 defenses against installers that overwrite a file with an older one
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20260324-00/?p=112159
#HackerNews #Windows95 #Installers #FileOverwrite #SoftwareHistory #TechSecurity
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Windows 95 defenses against installers that overwrite a file with an older one
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20260324-00/?p=112159
#HackerNews #Windows95 #Installers #FileOverwrite #SoftwareHistory #TechSecurity
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🚀 Wow, someone dug up a dusty old software relic from 1977 and decided it belongs on #GitHub, because why not clutter the internet with ancient code? 🤖 Meanwhile, modern developers are busy trying to remember what a "mathematician" even is, while GitHub's AI tools wonder if they can make this fossil run on Windows 11. 🦖
https://github.com/white-flame/am #softwarehistory #ancientcode #relics #AItools #Windows11 #HackerNews #ngated -
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
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🚀🎩 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 -
😂 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 -
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 -
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
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50 years ago today, Bill Gates fired off his iconic "Open Letter to Hobbyists," calling out software piracy as theft that stifled innovation. 📜💻 Marking a pivotal moment in tech history! Read more: https://www.heise.de/en/news/Bill-Gates-open-letter-to-hobbyists-50-years-of-software-piracy-11163833.html #BillGates #SoftwareHistory #TechThrowback
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Call for Applications: ACM History and Archiving Fellowship program, due 28th February 2026
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) History Committee plans to support up to 5 research projects with awards of up to $4,000 each. Call is at link below.
#historyofcomputing #softwarehistory #aihistory #historyhttps://history.acm.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/ACM-HC-fellowship-CFP-2026-final.pdf
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Call for Applications: ACM History and Archiving Fellowship program, due 28th February 2026
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) History Committee plans to support up to 5 research projects with awards of up to $4,000 each. Call is at link below.
#historyofcomputing #softwarehistory #aihistory #historyhttps://history.acm.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/ACM-HC-fellowship-CFP-2026-final.pdf
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Call for Applications: ACM History and Archiving Fellowship program, due 28th February 2026
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) History Committee plans to support up to 5 research projects with awards of up to $4,000 each. Call is at link below.
#historyofcomputing #softwarehistory #aihistory #historyhttps://history.acm.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/ACM-HC-fellowship-CFP-2026-final.pdf
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Call for Applications: ACM History and Archiving Fellowship program, due 28th February 2026
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) History Committee plans to support up to 5 research projects with awards of up to $4,000 each. Call is at link below.
#historyofcomputing #softwarehistory #aihistory #historyhttps://history.acm.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/ACM-HC-fellowship-CFP-2026-final.pdf
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Call for Applications: ACM History and Archiving Fellowship program, due 28th February 2026
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) History Committee plans to support up to 5 research projects with awards of up to $4,000 each. Call is at link below.
#historyofcomputing #softwarehistory #aihistory #historyhttps://history.acm.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/ACM-HC-fellowship-CFP-2026-final.pdf
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Ah yes, the tale of open source's "victory" 🏆—let's all gather 'round to hear how "nobody gets fired" for choosing open source. Meanwhile, Microsoft is chuckling in the corner, sipping its proprietary tea ☕️, reminiscing about the good old days when it was the "cancer." But hey, at least we can pay what we like to read about this prehistoric battle. 😂
https://overreacted.io/open-social/ #openSourceVictory #MicrosoftProprietary #techHumor #softwareHistory #openSourceCommunity #HackerNews #ngated -
👴 Ah, the good old days of #dBASE in 1984—a time when software was as clunky as the #VHS tapes this "video" probably came on. 📼 But hey, at least #YouTube is throwing in a legal disclaimer that's longer than the actual content itself. 🎥🤦♂️
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYU3CQomE5M #nostalgia #legaldisclaimer #softwarehistory #HackerNews #ngated -
👴 Ah, the good old days of #dBASE in 1984—a time when software was as clunky as the #VHS tapes this "video" probably came on. 📼 But hey, at least #YouTube is throwing in a legal disclaimer that's longer than the actual content itself. 🎥🤦♂️
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYU3CQomE5M #nostalgia #legaldisclaimer #softwarehistory #HackerNews #ngated -
New-to-me, from Get Info: Macintosh Magazine Media: 1 million files. “I am proud to announce that my Macintosh Magazine Media project has surpassed my self-imposed goal of 1 million files, an achievement that fills me with both immense satisfaction and slight bewilderment. If you’ve never heard of it before: it’s an archive of vintage media containing mostly Macintosh files sourced from […]
https://rbfirehose.com/2025/03/31/macintosh-magazine-media-1-million-files-get-info/
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🎮📻 Ah, the '80s, when downloading games was basically a mixtape from a radio DJ with a side gig in software distribution. Yes, kids, grandpa rocked the airwaves to load Pac-Man at a leisurely 10 bytes per century. ⏳👨💻
https://newslttrs.com/yes-in-the-1980s-we-downloaded-games-from-the-radio/ #80sGaming #RetroTech #SoftwareHistory #Nostalgia #RadioDJ #HackerNews #ngated -
Ah, the utopian dream of "buy once, use forever" software—a relic from a bygone era when developers weren't fueled by monthly subscriptions and avocado toast. 🥑💸 Enjoy this quaint list, because much like your last avocado, it's past its expiration date. 😂📅
https://buyoncesoftware.com/ #buyonceuseforever #softwarehistory #subscriptionmodel #nostalgia #techhumor #HackerNews #ngated -
🚀 The article reads like an ancient scroll of forgotten software relics nobody asked for. X11 tools? More like X-Why-Bother tools. 😴 Go ahead, impress your friends with your knowledge of XEarth and XMascot at the next party—oh wait, it'll still be empty. 🍂
https://cyber.dabamos.de/unix/x11/ #ancientsoftware #forgottenrelics #X11tools #techhumor #softwarehistory #HackerNews #ngated -
Reviving the Past: A Deep Dive into CP/M's Interactive File Managers
In the realm of early computing, CP/M's interactive file managers revolutionized user experience by simplifying file operations. From the humble beginnings of CLEANUP to the robust capabilities of NSW...
https://news.lavx.hu/article/reviving-the-past-a-deep-dive-into-cp-m-s-interactive-file-managers
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Oh, *that's* what "TUCOWS" meant!
#SoftwareHistory
https://muffin.industries/@wayback_exe/113659636412404823
[email protected] - The Ultimate Collection of Winsock Software
Oct 1996
https://web.archive.org/web/19961023235110/http://www.tucows.com/
http://oldweb.today/random/19961023235110/http://www.tucows.com/ -
Latest Interfaces article! (Sept '24) UPenn History & Sociology of Sci ABD Sam Franz's insightful article on the UMich Computer Center in the 80s & debate on students playing computer games--useful to their education or a drain on computing resources? #computergameshistory #videogameshistory #softwarehistory #gameculture
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P.S. If you want to know more about how it _actually_ all works, then there's a website just for that, no need to waste two years re-inventing it yourself in your head 😃
#Elite #Acorn #BBCMicro #British #gaming #anniversary #SoftwareHistory #retrogaming
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Web Design Museum https://www.webdesignmuseum.org exhibits thousands of screens and videos of old websites, mobile apps and software from 1990s to mid-00s.
#WebDesignMuseum #OldWebsites #DigitalHistory #WebDesign #RetroApps #SoftwareHistory #InternetHeritage #VintageWeb #WebDesignExhibition #TechNostalgia -
🚀 NEW on We ❤️ Open Source 🚀
Before open source, the software world was a dystopian nightmare of vendor lock-in and limited options. Read Dave Stokes' take on the importance of keeping software free and open.
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In April Microsoft open sourced the source code for MS-DOS 4.0, making it available on GitHub under the MIT license. https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/opensource/2024/04/25/open-sourcing-ms-dos-4-0/ #MicrosoftOpenSource #MSDOS4.0 #SoftwareHistory #softcorpremium
