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+title = "Gatekeeping in tech"
+author = ["Michał Sapka"]
+date = 2024-09-25T17:33:00+02:00
+categories = ["blog"]
+draft = false
+weight = 2001
+image_dir = "blog/images"
+image_max_width = 600
+abstract = "Hidden complexity is the real gatekeer"
+listening = "Tomasz Stanko Quintet - Dark Eyes"
+listening_url = "https://ecmrecords.com/product/dark-eyes-tomasz-stanko-quintet/"
+listening_img = "stanko-dark-eyes.webp"
++++
+
+A few months ago I've read that promoting usage of basic tools, like Vim, is gatekeeping.
+The reasoning behind this made sense - those tools are complex, require time and dedication, and therefore may lock people out.
+But I can't stop thinking about this idea because I deeply disagree with it.
+
+Vim is complex, sure.
+Terminal is complex, of course.
+I won't even go into Emacs, as it's complexity within complexity and should be considered a field of its own.
+But is gatekeeping?
+Are people like me just up our smug butts, thinking how almighty we are and how we hate the _pleb_?
+Some of us, sure, as using aforementioned Vim is a badge of honour.
+Yet, I don't think it's gatekeeping.
+
+Firstly, why do we promote those "difficult" tools?
+Because computers are complex machines.
+It was true at any point of computing history.
+Initially, all tools were complex, abstractions were unachievable due to technical limitations.
+So yes, _starting_ was much more difficult than it is now.
+
+But you learn.
+Some may say: you pay the high cost of entry, but is it cost?
+You've learned things.
+With each problem you've fixed, you gained knowledge.
+And this knowledge was transplantable!
+Learned how the system hierarchy works?
+Great, now you can use it everywhere!
+Next time you encounter this problem, it will be much easier.
+
+This allowed for _bedroom coders_, kids who were able to master the computer.
+Not everyone was as smart as Carmack, but we were still able to operate the beige boxes.
+The complexity was there, but it was for us to toy around with.
+
+This has not changed one bit.
+Computers became much more complex, but if you can use _basic_ tooling it means that the complexity is close, you can reach it.
+Does it require time?
+Sure.
+Is it doable?
+Sure!
+
+Now, back to 2020s.
+Vim is a thing of the past , you can write sentences of simple english and it may even work.
+You don't need to use a terminal - everything has a web UI.
+Perhaps you don't even need to learn anything, simply subscribe and have it ready for you within minutes.
+Why try to run a bare-metal server, when you can get a ready machine using docker within minutes?
+I think this is the idea behind "vim is gatekeeping".
+
+But the complexity is **there**, like it always was.
+The only difference is that it's hidden, unreachable.
+You may be able to understand how ec2 works, but most likely you won't have time to it.
+There are too many problems with the abstraction.
+
+And even if there are none, someone is paying for making it "easy" to use.
+It doesn't come from the goodness of the heart, there is expectation of "speed".
+You can spin up a server with one little commit in terraform, so you will not spend time there.
+You've learned how to use the abstraction (or an abstraction over abstraction), but it's not transplantable.
+Your Datadog skills are useless unless someone will pay for Datadog.
+You will never master anything, as it will be obsolete before that.
+Remember when you could buy a book about Pascal and teach yourself some programming?
+Just enough to have fun?
+Good luck with this approach now - before even writing some code, you need to set up dozens of dependencies... or pretend they don't exist and dockerize it.
+
+I often whine about money ruing computers, but computers were ruined by money.
+Unix was envisioned as a communal system, where people would gather and toy around.
+It was sold as a mean to make money, but it was not crated for that.
+
+The current trend towards hiding complexity has only one winner - big tech.
+It was never harder to _play_ with a computer than it now.
+Everything is aimed at non-technical folks, simple.
+It is near impossible for a teenager to get the bottom of the bag of complexity.
+Big tech made sure to gate keep that.
+Learning the basics is easy, _anyone can code_.
+Digging deeper is near impossible.
+
+Let's not forget that the same companies providing those "simple" tools are the ones which started because tinkering was so easy.
+Hiding the inner workings of computers makes it difficult for anyone to remove from their trillion dollar piles.
+You can work for them, not against them.
+
+Guess that's why I found FreeBSD so great.
+It's a complex system, but the complexity is known, documented and changing slowly.
+I feel that I am able to get to understand it well by just using it[^fn:1].
+
+[^fn:1]: People often say that FreeBSD is like Linux 20 years ago.
+    Nothing works without a fight.
+    I agree - FreeBSD is like Linux 20 years ago, when you were capable of understanding things.
+    It's a system ready for a multi-million company fuelled by interns.
+    What it is, is a perfect hobby home system, which just happens to beat Linux at being a server OS.