by hilbert42 | 2025-05-07 15:52:54+00:00
Right, you've given me a reply I'd expect from programmers and Linux uses. I say that as some who has done programming and that I use Linux as my preferred OS.

I don't know why I mentioned Linux here because every time I do in such comments it distracts from the main issue, we Linux users have very fixed and firm opinions about such matters.

Despite your comments, which I essentially agree with (at least in principle), I cannot see rhyme nor reason why there are so very many Linux distros. Yes, there'd be good reason if they were one-offs for a specific application, say in embedded systems etc., but to have so many widespread and in the public domain makes little sense to me. It not only causes confusion amongst users, especially novices, but also spreads human effort widely that would be otherwise better spent on developing fewer systems—it's the more hands make light work philosophy. For the same reason it's why Linux has been so slow to take hold on the desktop. Yes, the usual hardcore Linux user who knows Linux well says 'who cares, that's the least of our worries'. For some odd reason they don't care that the Linux ecosystem would be better off with a more cohesive and unified approach to development.

Even with that said, Linux is forever changing, new kernels come out so frequently that it's hard to find two Linux distributions with simultaneously the same kernel code. No matter how one views it, that load puts a constant strain on bug finding, security testing, etc. Frankly it's a mess, if for no other reason that so many versions are a nightmare for administrators. All these updates cause lots of extra work for all those who don't work in tightly controlled environments that have rigid/strict update procedures. …And that's many of them.

Leaving me out of the argument for a moment, I'd reckon many of the Linux fraternity would object to you lumping Arch with say Debian in the one sentence although they'd likely agree with you over Gentoo etc. That said, why then can't Linux have a single package manger? It's a damn nuisance that it's not so. As usual, not enough people can agree to reach a unified consensus (and they disagree for very questionable reasons). And it's why in many instances we've had to resort to messy kludged solutions such as flatpack. I've more but I'll stop there.

"Programming languages are a combination of tools and notation. Different domains have different needs and preferences."

Why? Yes, I've seen many reasons but I've never seen it justified with solid argument. Most of those reasons arise out of historical happenstance, and or favouritism, or that 'we've always done it that way' syndrome. As I said, programmers have an investment in learning and they don't want to see it made obsolete. Whilst that makes sense to them, it doesn't go any way towards solving the chronic software problems as outlined in the IEEE story.

Let's look at the number programming languages problem a little further. A quick search finds this quote on the CLRN—California Leaerning Resource website:

"According to The International Organization for Standardization (ISO), there are approximately 14,000 programming languages out there. However, this number is often disputed, and different sources may provide varying estimates. For instance, Wikipedia lists over 23,000 programming languages, while Rosetta Code, a website that aims to document programming languages, claims to have data on over 6,000 languages."

That makes me shudder.

OK, lets whittle that down to something more reasonable. Some references claim the number of well-known languages is upward of 700, with between 200 and 400 being those most commonly used. Others say the most frequently used languages number upward of 50. How correct that is and how much of those numbers can be put down to programmers' favorites I cannot say (I only know a few, Lisp, Fortran, C and a few others, so I'm not qualified to speak for those others). I would suggest however that a rational approach would reduce that number down to many fewer than we have now.

To test that hypothesis one could begin with a mathematical analysis of each language. Perhaps the formal mathematical logic à la Whitehead and Russell's Principia Mathematica would be a good place to start as not only the mathematical structures of a language could be tested for coherence and correctness but also so could its grammatical syntax. Possibly there are even better ways of going about such an analysis but I've not given them much thought. Little doubt, AI will rationalize all this in the near future irrespective programmers' wishes.

Suffice to say, until those analyses are done I remain unconvinced that all those (at least common) languages are needed. Preference and favoritism may drive the current status quo but it's not a logical way to proceed and to properly tackle the problems outlined in that story.