> But those previous generations of software also lacked things that we're no longer willing to give up -- security, accessibility, internationalization, etc. That doesn't mean we have to settle for the excesses of Electron, React, etc. But it does mean that, at least for software that needs qualities like the ones I listed above, we can't just go back to the ways software used to be developed for older computers. So, I think you're right about the danger of nostalgia.
I think that's precisely the danger. It's the danger of using nostalgia to feed into a purity spiral. We can simultaneously acknowledge that there's problem where we create bad software that wastefully uses resources on a user's computer while understanding that part of modern development has made computing much safer and more accessible than it used to be. Instead of looking _backward_, we can look _forward_ to a future where we can continue to be safe and accessible while not being as wasteful with a user's resources.
We need to look both backward and forward, because the past still has so many useful lessons to teach (which is a far better way to learn them than making the mistake that prompted them in the first place!). The problem is blindly repeating the past, not looking into it.
I think that's precisely the danger. It's the danger of using nostalgia to feed into a purity spiral. We can simultaneously acknowledge that there's problem where we create bad software that wastefully uses resources on a user's computer while understanding that part of modern development has made computing much safer and more accessible than it used to be. Instead of looking _backward_, we can look _forward_ to a future where we can continue to be safe and accessible while not being as wasteful with a user's resources.