VSHN.timer

VSHN.timer #24: The Times They Are a-Changin'

6. Jan 2020

Happy 2020 and welcome to the first VSHN.timer of the year! Every Monday, 5 links related to Kubernetes, OpenShift, CI / CD, and DevOps; all stuff coming out of our own chat system, making us think, laugh, or simply work better.
This week we are going to start this new year by reflecting on how quickly (and weirdly) technology evolves.
1. Did you know that the RIPE NCC ran out of IPv4 addresses on November 25th, 2019? There used to be a time when companies like Apple (17.0.0.0/8), Ford (19.0.0.0/8), and even Merck (Ford? Merck?) got a full Class A block with 16 million IPv4 addresses each. That’s without counting with the USA Department of Defense, who owns 200 million IPv4 addresses alone. To the point that Ars Technica asked in 2011 whether there should be a free market for those. Would the price of a single IPv4 address have exploded if the IPv6 standard did not exist?
https://www.ripe.net/publications/news/about-ripe-ncc-and-ripe/the-ripe-ncc-has-run-out-of-ipv4-addresses
2. Did you know that the Linux kernel dropped support for floppy drives in July 18th, 2019? For the youngest among you reading these lines, floppy drives were the equivalent of USB drives back in the day, but with way, waaaaaaay less capacity. Like, a lot less. They did not even have enough space for a single MP3 file. But you could play music with them anyway. I bet you can’t use USB drives like that. Nostalgic much? No worries. Just install Windows 95 in your Android phone or in your laptop. It’ll bring back nice memories for sure.
https://www.zdnet.com/google-amp/article/linus-torvalds-prepares-to-wave-goodbye-to-linux-floppy-drives/
3. Did you know that the only true constant in the Internet are heated discussions? Take for example this recent Python Enhancement Proposal (PEP) asking “to impose a limit of one million on various aspects of Python programs, such as the lines of code per module.” Other items that would be limited to one million would be the number of bytecode instructions in a code object, and the number of live coroutines in a running interpreter. All in all, 7 restrictions. Hang tight before clicking on this one.
https://lwn.net/Articles/807218/
4. Did you know that you are not Google? Neither are we, neither is anyone–well, except Google. Yet most software developers and architects and entrepreneurs and consultants seem to forget it. So we thought we’d better remind you. Because the US Air Force did not know it, and then deployed a Kubernetes cluster in an F-16. Maybe they misunderstood what “cyberwarfare” means, and plan to shoot down enemy aircraft with Docker containers? Well, that’s literally what they plan to do. Nobody saw this one coming.
https://thenewstack.io/how-the-u-s-air-force-deployed-kubernetes-and-istio-on-an-f-16-in-45-days/
5. Did you know that the Agile Manifesto is almost 20 years old? One may argue that DevOps is the logical continuation, the “cloud-first” evolution of the Agile world. Still, the body of knowledge and practices built during the first two decades of this century have shaken our industry in unfathomable ways. Maybe it would be time to revisit some of the core ideas? Take, for example, “story points.” Ron Jeffries, the inventor of the concept, says that it might be time to sit down and rethink the concept of story points. What do you think?
https://ronjeffries.com/articles/019-01ff/story-points/Index.html
How have you started the new year? Do you have any funny links for us to read? Get in touch with us through the form at the bottom of this page, and see you next week for another edition of VSHN.timer.

Adrian Kosmaczewski

Adrian Kosmaczewski is in charge of Developer Relations at VSHN. He is a software developer since 1996, a trainer, and a published author. Adrian holds a Master in Information Technology from the University of Liverpool.

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