№42

... it's better to have good questions

Go away or I replace you with a Makefile

April 8, 2025 5 min read CI/CD Development Ronny Trommer

I remember the first time I tried to get an open-source project compiled and deployed. The distribution of Linux at this point was Slackware. Build or installation instructions didn’t exist, and without handholding on IRC, it would not have been possible for me. That was 30 years ago, people in IRC were very self-selected, patient, and helpful. When you have skilled patient people in IRC and you can communicate what you did, what exactly failed, and what you would have expected - your learning experience is pretty impressive. Nevertheless, it does not scale well. People nowadays expect things to work with a click of a button. They are even not keen on reading clear instructions.

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