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Monktoberfest 2016: Bryan Cantrill - Oral Tradition in Software Engineering

RedMonk Tech Events · talk · Watch on YouTube

Software practice, open source & careersSoftware (other)

What it is

Bryan Cantrill's Monktoberfest 2016 talk on how software engineers pass knowledge down through oral tradition, from folk rhymes to programmer lore and stories like why C lacks a logical XOR. He argues for writing software with future generations in mind.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN recommends it as an entertaining, well-delivered talk full of stories that shows the value of historical context and long comments in code.

  • 6 people recommended it
  • 6 different months
  • 2 strong recommendations
  • first 2016, last 2026

What HN commenters said

  1. “really helped me appreciate that long comments in code can be a treasured part of a software space”

    Shows long code comments are valuable

    thundergolfer, 2022-06 · Strong recommendation · in “The Documentation Triangle, or, why code isn't self documenting”

  2. “Highly recommend checking it out”

    Amazing talk with many gems and stories

    OmarAssadi, 2022-08 · Strong recommendation · in “The Story of Mel (1983)”

  3. “Makes me want to re-watch Bryan's talk at Monktoberfest a few years ago on oral tradition in tech”

    Talk on oral tradition in tech

    secstate, 2019-04 · Recommendation · in “Back in the Day: Unix, Minix and Linux”

  4. “we should write more interesting and historical comments in our codebases”

    Argues for more historical comments, posts and talks

    thristian, 2020-04 · Recommendation · in “WhyTheName”

  5. “it's very funny and well delivered by Cantrill”

    Funny story of why C lacks logical XOR

    jjice, 2025-02 · Recommendation · in “XOR”

  6. “I also recommend Monktoberfest 2016: Bryan Cantrill - Oral Tradition in Software Engineering”

    Talk on oral tradition in software

    shagie, 2026-01 · Recommendation · in “The Jeff Dean Facts”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: oral tradition, bryan cantrill, programming history, code comments, software folklore

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