Add links

static/archive/macwright-com-fc93ce.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+[1]Tom MacWright
+
+tom@macwright.com
+
+[2]Tom MacWright
+
+  • [3]Writing
+  • [4]Reading
+  • [5]Photos
+  • [6]Projects
+  • [7]Drawings
+  • [8]Micro⇠
+  • [9]About
+
+Is there really a way to push back on the complexity of the web?
+
+2024-11-16
+
+I found myself browsing through [10]flamework, a Flickr-style framework
+developed by some of the developers who developed Flickr, including the
+legendary [11]Aaron Straup Cope and [12]Cal Henderson, who went on to co-found
+Slack and presumably make a billion dollars. And I was reading [13]Mu-An’s
+thing about JavaScript. She is legendary as one of the brains behind GitHub and
+tasteful and clever uses of HTML, JavaScript, and Web Components. And following
+along with [14]Alex Russell critiquing Bluesky’s frontend.
+
+I’ve been overall [15]bad, because I, like you am living through a bad era and
+throwing yet another take onto the pile is cringe for both of us - [16]who am I
+to speak, who are you to listen? Anyway:
+
+  • React, on a daily basis, is livable but annoying. The level of complexity
+    is sky-high, even when I spend a lot of energy trying to limit that
+    complexity.
+  • On the other hand, the level of complexity of web applications is pretty
+    high. User expectations are different, I keep saying. Flickr was fantastic,
+    but it was not a realtime-updating website that optimized for the browsing
+    habits of the youth, who spend a half-second on most content. I love
+    GitHub, but there is a reason why people are using Linear more and more:
+    Linear feels like a realtime desktop application while GitHub feels like a
+    website.
+  • I just can’t summon the clarity or oomph required to critique this stuff
+    anymore. Everything is, like, a trickle-down consequence of requirements
+    and culture and history, man! Pointing fingers at some software developer
+    or whatever, is neither all that accurate nor that effective. What’s the
+    point? To make people feel bad? Most people are trapped in their technical
+    decisions by several layers of management anyway. And people already feel
+    bad!
+  • Man, the web platform is not that great. I keep wanting it to be great, but
+    half the time when I think that knowing about some HTML element will save
+    me from having to use a React thingamabob that adds 50kb to my bundle… that
+    HTML element just isn’t it, man! I need to style those select elements, or
+    lazy-load that details element, or implement some implementation-wise
+    horrible but essential-for-the-product scroll or focus or style experience
+    which is just a little too much to implement with just CSS hacks.
+  • Honestly, the parts of GitHub that have moved from Ruby on Rails to React
+    are mostly, in my experience, worse now. GitHub issues might be slightly
+    fancier with a few extra features, but there are noticeable loading
+    flickers and plenty of new bugs, like hovercards that don’t go away.
+  • That said, and I have to keep repeating this, user expectations are
+    changing. People are used to apps, not websites. They are surprised if
+    every view that they see is not realtime-updating. Linear and [17]Pierre
+    see this and [18]are making modern-style alternatives with realtime
+    subscriptions and local-first stuff and heavy client apps.
+  • I don’t think everything should be a React app! I want more things to be
+    like Flickr used to be, and GitHub used to be. But at the same time, I
+    don’t see an obvious way out of the current dynamics. Yelling is popular
+    but the track record isn’t very good. Being quietly annoyed about the web’s
+    descent into complexity, my preferred approach, doesn’t work very well
+    either. A few organizations are bucking the trend - [19]Kagi, for example,
+    has good JavaScript-lite frontends. [20]Reddit has [21]gone web components
+    and it seems like an improvement.
+
+
+References:
+
+[1] https://macwright.com/
+[2] https://macwright.com/
+[3] https://macwright.com/writing/
+[4] https://macwright.com/reading/
+[5] https://macwright.com/photos/
+[6] https://macwright.com/projects/
+[7] https://macwright.com/drawings/
+[8] https://macwright.com/micro/
+[9] https://macwright.com/about/
+[10] https://github.com/exflickr/flamework
+[11] https://www.aaronstraupcope.com/
+[12] https://www.iamcal.com/
+[13] https://muan.co/posts/javascript
+[14] https://bsky.app/profile/infrequently.org/post/3lay2jro2i22a
+[15] https://www.are.na/block/23792815
+[16] https://youtu.be/zpVC2hmejko?si=iZGN0UphiOSU2NUU&t=63
+[17] https://pierre.co/
+[18] https://docs.pierre.co/changelog/local-first
+[19] https://kagi.com/
+[20] https://www.reddit.com/
+[21] https://macwright.com/2024/10/19/reddit-is-my-wc-reference-point