Bert Hubert

And back when we used, for example, in PowerDNS, we used simple strings to deal with domain names. It turns out domain names only look like strings. They actually have more complicated semantics than that. So within PowerDNS, the big thing we did, we said, look, we're going to rip out all the strings.

And back when we used, for example, in PowerDNS, we used simple strings to deal with domain names. It turns out domain names only look like strings. They actually have more complicated semantics than that. So within PowerDNS, the big thing we did, we said, look, we're going to rip out all the strings.

And we're going to move to a dedicated DNS name class that's going to deal with all these weird DNS things. And the only way this could happen is by allowing ourselves like a year to do a cleanup. I can very much recommend doing that.

And we're going to move to a dedicated DNS name class that's going to deal with all these weird DNS things. And the only way this could happen is by allowing ourselves like a year to do a cleanup. I can very much recommend doing that.

Yes, it turned into a good business. And it actually, PowerDNS is a rare example of a fully open source piece of software that actually turned into a commercial success while still remaining mostly open source.

Yes, it turned into a good business. And it actually, PowerDNS is a rare example of a fully open source piece of software that actually turned into a commercial success while still remaining mostly open source.

Yeah, there were. Yeah. But you have to have a little holistic view on that because it turns out that we could have focused on where we were making all the money. But it turns out that the reason we got paying customers was that the technical community liked what we were doing. They would recommend us everywhere.

Yeah, there were. Yeah. But you have to have a little holistic view on that because it turns out that we could have focused on where we were making all the money. But it turns out that the reason we got paying customers was that the technical community liked what we were doing. They would recommend us everywhere.

So if we had focused on purely the technical, purely the financial bits, we would probably have had great business for a few more years. But eventually, we would not have been able to do proper DNSSEC. No one in business cares about DNSSEC. They really do not care about that. However, the nerds, the technical people that work there, they really do care about that. And we also cared about that.

So if we had focused on purely the technical, purely the financial bits, we would probably have had great business for a few more years. But eventually, we would not have been able to do proper DNSSEC. No one in business cares about DNSSEC. They really do not care about that. However, the nerds, the technical people that work there, they really do care about that. And we also cared about that.

So it was, in the end, a solid business decision for us to say, we're going to give ourselves a year to clean this stuff up. And I dare say that if we had not done that, the company would have gone bust later on because it would have collapsed under its own complexity.

So it was, in the end, a solid business decision for us to say, we're going to give ourselves a year to clean this stuff up. And I dare say that if we had not done that, the company would have gone bust later on because it would have collapsed under its own complexity.

But I do not find a lot of other examples where people gave themselves like a year, put the old software in maintenance mode, and we're going to just do cleanup for a solid year. and then come back better. That is actually a very rare thing.

But I do not find a lot of other examples where people gave themselves like a year, put the old software in maintenance mode, and we're going to just do cleanup for a solid year. and then come back better. That is actually a very rare thing.

Yeah, well, I think as a concept, just doing a spring cleaning, yeah, we do it for other things. I mean, on equipment, you do this kind of maintenance where you replace the load-bearing parts. And take it out of service for a bit. So, yeah, but it's not very popular.

Yeah, well, I think as a concept, just doing a spring cleaning, yeah, we do it for other things. I mean, on equipment, you do this kind of maintenance where you replace the load-bearing parts. And take it out of service for a bit. So, yeah, but it's not very popular.

I mean, mostly you see people just having version two, second system syndrome, where they say, look, now the next version is going to be perfect. I'm going to redo everything from scratch. And then they forgot what made the old version great. That's also a thing. But just doing incremental cleanup, I very much recommend it.

I mean, mostly you see people just having version two, second system syndrome, where they say, look, now the next version is going to be perfect. I'm going to redo everything from scratch. And then they forgot what made the old version great. That's also a thing. But just doing incremental cleanup, I very much recommend it.

Yeah, exactly. That's actually also part of the blog post I wrote on the software.

Yeah, exactly. That's actually also part of the blog post I wrote on the software.