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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Are there any things in Linux that need to be started over from scratch? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 7 months ago by sepulcher@lemmy.ca to c/linux@lemmy.ml

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I'm curious how software can be created and evolve over time. I'm afraid that at some point, we'll realize there are issues with the software we're using that can only be remedied by massive changes or a complete rewrite.

Are there any instances of this happening? Where something is designed with a flaw that doesn't get realized until much later, necessitating scrapping the whole thing and starting from scratch?

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[–] MrAlternateTape@lemm.ee 30 points 7 months ago (9 children)

It's actually a classic programmer move to start over again. I've read the book "Clean Code" and it talks about a little bit.

Appereantly it would not be the first time that the new start turns into the same mess as the old codebase it's supposed to replace. While starting over can be tempting, refactoring is in my opinion better.

If you refactor a lot, you start thinking the same way about the new code you write. So any new code you write will probably be better and you'll be cleaning up the old code too. If you know you have to clean up the mess anyways, better do it right the first time ....

However it is not hard to imagine that some programming languages simply get too old and the application has to be rewritten in a new language to ensure continuity. So I think that happens sometimes.

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