What “Worse is Better vs The Right Thing” is really about
The essay claims it’s about the degree of importance that different designers assign to simplicity. I claim that it’s ultimately not about simplicity at all.
.. Worse code is Better than not shipping on time – Worse is Better in its plainest form. And nothing about simplicity.
.. If you read the Unix-Haters, you’ll notice a lot of moral outrage – perfectionists have that, moral outrage at something imperfect. Especially at someone who knowingly chooses to aim at less than perfection. Especially if it’s due to the ulterior motive of wanting to succeed.
.. When one makes the epiphany towards evolutionary construction it will guide much of what you do. The first version is a mad dash to complete that feedback loop, without the feedback loop nothing you do is viable. Then you iterate and increase the fitness, all while maintaining the feedback loop. If you spend too much time increasing the fitness w/o getting it into the market to compete, you are optimizing the wrong thing. The market will tell you what you need to fix.