Model Shift

Doc has used the model of architecture and buildings to present a paradigm of software, esp Linux.

I recall this from conversations some years ago
I propose a different model - wheels, hot rodding, cars and motorcycles.

Inspiration here:

On valuing freedom more than cushy jail cells | Linux Journal

Wheels vs. Bricks
Motors vs. Mortar

Doc

Thinking on your piece on V-Dubs

This image or paradigm works better in my mind you’re your one of buildings/architecture … software as tools, vehicles that carry us and our goals/purposes rather than structures that “house” our activities.

Where it’s what we do, vs. where we sleep…

The side commentary is that I too, was involved with V-Dubs
From working on friends ‘dubs ( have you ever seen a connecting rod bent down and around at 90 degrees from intended posture? Ah … DUCTILE Iron!) to my own VDub Combi.

Combi tales :
1: little air cooled plant was in rear, driver, passengers in front, we duct taped visqueen behind the front bench seat. Still had frost on windows.
2: no power, learned how to (seriously) draft trucks … 3-4 ft off rear bumper worked
3) finally plugged in nice Corvair 6 – and solved the problems!
4) cool thing was 4 bolts (to tranny) and a few cables, gas line was the engine swap.
5) related on engine swaps… some folks were smart enough to maintain “spare” for quick swaps. I think we could do one in about 30 min (likely an hour, maybe more if a few beers) with floor jack and hand tools
6) handling- Dubs had swing-axle rear ends – not good, bad “tuck in” if you pushed them very much. This was same as the problem with the early Corvairs – same rear suspension. By the time Ralf Nadar (Nadir?) testified before congress, the rear suspension had been updated to full independent layout, but it was too late.


Of course, I got more extreme, on to a ’68 Firebird, and became a “street racer” ( lots of tales, including run-in with University Poly-Sci department when I wanted to develop survey data on street racers … I was “golden boy” asked to teach when still undergrad … we didn’t see eye to eye )

Got to point of doing motor mods on weekends, from cams, to heads (my own porting and polishing) to full motor swaps (from 350 Cube to 400 Cube, chassi mod’s… final version was quick and fast. Quarter mile was mere low 13’s but that was going through traps in 3rd … high end was 150+ … Therefore was learning aerodynamics and all about “spoilers”, developed my own tweaks.

Then … Insurance intervened
Next was Toyota, which got it’s own hop-ups, from fiberglass bodyparts to wide wheels/tires

Fun, but I was still learning …

Soon after, discovered motorcycles
At first (because, at the time I was living in an old farmhouse …side story about building darkroom, drywalled it myself, driving nails (no screws then) into 100 yr old oak beams!)

Dirt bikes teach you a lot about control
Then learned about street bikes (quasi racers, sometimes know as café racers) learning about cambering machines vs. skid (the late Mark Donahue on “friction circle” … key idea).
Most American “performance” vehicles (cars) rely on “slip angle” the skid of the tire, motorcycles, on the other hand, lean or camber through turns (to go really fast, you spin up the rear, and slide it, but not for the street)

Many many many miles on “scooters” … from local rides with buddies to cross country tours, both solo and with bride to be.

Many many impressions of why scooters beat cars for touring, from smelling manure, to being acutely aware of the weather – raingear when the lighting is flying… parking and huddling up under overpasses when really severe stuff is shaking the truck trailer with a load of steel!

Also developed skills, some engineering, some management, to run a race team (invaluable stuff: do just enough to win, but don’t to much more than enough to win… learned some of this from Porsche), to politics (much politics in racing…)

Did it-we won National Championship
Endurance racing no less, races from 3hrs up to 24hrs.
When you run long, “Systems” become important, how to make things readily “fix-able”

OK, to apply these ideas to software … and open systems

1) work on tools, not structures, things to do or tools to use, not be housed

2) deliver what works, not what “could be best” (racing lessons)

Having watched where the shift has been to more electron based than “whole atom” based – ie: we started playing with software ….

The Revolution for me was you could screw up, and “nothing bad happened” ( as might in the full atomic world )
Granted, sometimes, not fully tested/vetted systems have been used and there have been “results”, but nothing catastrophic.

Work mostly for myself, not large systems.
I first learned a bit back in high school, doing Fortran for some University Professor’s, some Time-share (TymShare?) but not much else until … Apple

Started with early Apple II, learned enough basic to do what I wanted – some graphics I use to do by hand (data representation), then … VisiCalc
Been spreadsheeting ever since.

Digital photography, blogging etc. is secondary.
Nice, but more hobby, communications etc.

Note, I haven't bought a new motorcycle since about 1985! and haven't really worked on any since some time late 80's early 90's