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Study into how JavaScript-first front end culture broke US public services (infrequently.org)
4 points by speckx 3 months ago | hide | past | favorite | 1 comment



This post and its sequel are infuriating. I'm not even mad at React. At work our whole product is a big Vue SPA. What's infuriating is the idea that those in charge of providing public services are so little beholden to the outcomes for their users.

From a footnote to part 2:

"There's a lot to say about BenefitsCal's CloudFront configuration debacle.

First, and most obviously: WTF, Amazon?

It's great that these options are single-configuration and easy to find when customers go looking for them, but they should not have to go looking for them. The default for egress-oriented projects should be to enable this and then alert on easily detected double-compression attempts.

Second: WTF, Deloitte?

What sort of C-team are you stringing CalSAWS along with? Y'all should be ashamed. And the taxpayers of California should be looking to claw back funds for obscenely poor service.

Lastly: this is on you, CalSAWS.

As the procurer and approver of delivered work items, the failure to maintain a minimum level of in-house technical skill necessary to call BS on vendors is inexcusable.

New and more appropriate metrics for user success should be integrated into public reporting. That conversation could consume an entire blog post; the current reports are little more than vanity metrics. The state should also redirect money it is spending with vendors to enhance in-house skills in building and maintaining these systems directly.

It's an embarrassment that this site is as broken as it was when I began tracing it three years ago. It's a scandal that good money is being tossed after bad. Do better."




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