Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

It's the story of every framework. It starts out clean and minimal, then gets features added on as users demand more for more and more specific uses.



See every web browser ever made. Also: Every GUI toolkit ever made. Also: IDEs. Eventually, someone is complaining about "bloat". Please: Give features, then I'll deal with the bloat.


This "feature hell" is often seen in open source projects, when users add dubious features that nobody except them needs, and as a result after many years the program has hundreds of CLI flags and settings and becomes too complex.

See openvpn as an example.


It is NOT feature hell. That is an absolutist/purist standpoint that only gets in the way in my experience. Products evolve to fit their market, which is literally why products are made.

Complexity needs to be managed, not labelled and shunned because it is "too hard" or "ugly". That is life. Learn that early and it will help.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: