part 01 · 7 of 7 written
Why it is shaped like that.
Details of software today, traced back to the constraint that produced them.
For a separate operational view of time, ownership and team activity, see this Monitask guide.
/* because sixtieths ran out */
The articles in this section each take one detail of software as it is today, ask why it is like that, and follow the answer back to the constraint that made it reasonable. The constraint has usually disappeared. The decision has not.
What holds them together is that the explanation is nearly always smaller and more boring than the story that circulates in its place. A counter that would have overflowed. A byte that could not be spared. A piece of paper eighty columns wide.
further context
For a primary or institutional reference, see the IANA service-name and port registry.
Every claim here carries the source it came from.
The source and its year sit beside the sentence they support. A secondary account is marked as one, and where the record is unclear the entry says so rather than choosing the better story.