Subject: [mpls] X Considered Harmful

From: Tony Li <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2022 13:24:57 -0700

Hi,

I was a bit surprised by the vehemence of some of the comments in the meeting today until I realized that there is a likely misunderstanding caused by a generation gap.

“X Considered Harmful” is a common, respectful, slightly humorous way of articulating disagreement. In computer science, it is most frequently associated with a seminal letter from 
Edsger Dijkstra, “Go To Considered Harmful”. It should be mandatory reading for everyone in computer science and networking. I commend it to you.

No offense was intended. Sabers were not rattled. Nuclear weaponry was not threatened. No countries were invaded. Godwin’s Law was not invoked.

Peace,
Tony

References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Considered_harmful <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Considered_harmful>
https://homepages.cwi.nl/~storm/teaching/reader/Dijkstra68.pdf <https://homepages.cwi.nl/~storm/teaching/reader/Dijkstra68.pdf>