That an app 'Fits on a Floppy' is still a useful measure in 2026
If you're old enough, you might remember using floppy disks, either of the 3.5-inch or 5.25-inch variety. They didn't hold much and often you had to have many disks to install one program. Don't be misled by Fits on a Floppy's retro-tech name: it is mostdefinitely not about 20th century data media. It's about compactness andcomprehensibility.
Fits on a Floppy describesitself as "a Manifesto for Small Software," and as we read it, we foundourselves nodding in agreement, right from the opening line:
Software has lost its way.
That is certainly the impression of this author, and it is not justus. We are irresistibly reminded of the Red Hat developer's six waves ofindustry BS that we recountedin February.
Like any eternal verity of the computing industry, there's even an XKCD comic about it, if you neededany more persuading. XKCD's own internal citations, both about voting machines and indeed about...
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