The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source Kaizen! Let it crash (Friends)
15 snips
Jan 17, 2026 Dive into some tech tangents with discussions on Erlang's 'let it crash' philosophy and its implications for resilient systems. The team tackles frustrating out-of-memory crashes while analyzing unusual download patterns. They explore Mac cleanup tools and DIY hacks, alongside significant network upgrades. The mystery of MP3 traffic asymmetry leads to intriguing findings about disk fragmentation and misconfigurations. Plus, get insights on using LLMs for Varnish stats analysis—it's a wild ride through the digital landscape!
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Let Failures Be Localized
- Let-it-crash means design systems so small parts can fail without bringing the whole system down.
- Delegate failure handling to supervisors or the platform so developers focus on unique app logic.
Kill Heavy Processes, Not VMs
- Monitor process memory and kill offending processes rather than rebooting the VM when possible.
- Use platform signals and process-level controls to recover faster and keep services available.
Fragmentation Blocks Big Objects
- Large, uncachable MP3s caused memory fragmentation and forced evictions in Varnish.
- Fragmentation prevents fitting big objects even if total free memory exists.
