Link: the bug in the computer bug story and other tech links

[sonia]

The Bug in the Computer Bug Story by Matthew Wills.

In 1947, engineers working on Harvard University’s Mark II computer found a bug gumming up the works—a moth had squeezed into one of the machine’s components. After extracting it, somebody taped it to the log book with the caption “first actual case of a bug being found.” That log book, with moth intact, is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History today. Scholar Fred R. Shapiro describes what supposedly happened next:

“The moth is said to have inspired the scientists to speak from then on of debugging the computer, with bug originating as the later back-formation from debug.”

So “debug” and “bug” were bits of computer slang that were eventually adopted by the larger culture. It’s a great story—but not very etymologically correct.

Learn something new every day! I've believed the "bug" origin story for many years.

I've also held onto this small art print by R.C. Matteson since my undergrad days. I don't need to have it out, but I like knowing it's there to express my programming experience some days.



I finished writing up my response to "The Manager's Path" by Camille Fournier. Here are a few links from there.
The Tyranny of Structurelessness by Jo Freeman aka Joreen, a classic essay on why managers are necessary.

On Being A Senior Engineer which includes the suggestion to use senior influence to sponsor (rather than mentor) underrepresented people in engineering. Recommend them for positions. Highlight their accomplishments. Praise them publicly. Also refers to What Does Sponsorship Look Like by Lara Hogan.

The Absolute Minimum Every Software Developer Absolutely, Positively Must Know About Unicode and Character Sets (No Excuses!) by Joel Spolsky. From 2003, and still being passed around because it's needed.

The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick. "How to talk to customers and learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you." I read this for generic interviewing advice, and the gist is don't go in asking for approval or thinking you know the answers. Ask open questions and listen a lot.

Comments

[conuly]

Learn something new every day! I've believed the "bug" origin story for many years.

You're not alone. I guess this is the reminder that pat origin stories are often exaggerated or plain false.

[sonia]

Glad to hear it’s not just me!

[silveradept]

The image, unfortunately, has failed to load for me. Trying to load it in its own tab produces the unhelpful error message "cannot be loaded, because it contains errors." If only we knew what they were.

[sonia]

Fixed! Thanks for letting me know.

[silveradept]

It works now, and yes, grumpy dragons at computers are a classic.

[sonia]

I looked up the artist, and he's still making some very nice dragons. http://dragonstuff.com/product-category/perchers-and-mirrors/

[jesse_the_k]

Oh, I love an etymological smack down!

In particular, the closing paragraph:

It may be, however, that folk etymology has nothing on folk entomology. To the general public, bug is synonymous with insect. To an entomologist, a bug is more specifically a member of the insect order Hemiptera (“half-winged”), which includes cicadas, aphids, hoppers, shield bugs, and bed bugs. The Mark II “bug,” on the other wing, was a moth, part of the insect order Lepidoptera (“scale-winged”).

My favorite iteration of this folklore is in Terry Gilliam's psychedelic and horrifying masterpiece, Brazil (1985). At the very start, a bug falls into a printer, leaving enough behind to change the "terrorist" arrest warrant for Mr Tuttle to Mr Buttle (thereby destroying the Buttle family).

[sonia]

I saw that movie a long time ago, and what I remember is confusion - I did not follow the plot at all. If I ever see it again, at least I'll know to look for that!

[jesse_the_k]

I've seen it at least five times, and yes it was highly confusing. Most recently around 5 years ago: Gilliam presciently captured how terrible life would be when nationalist identity orbited around the fight against terrorism.