Postel's Law and the Three Ring Circus
Read OriginalThis article critiques Postel's Law ("be conservative in what you send, liberal in what you accept") in software design. It explains how this principle creates a one-way ratchet where consumers must accept more deviations, producers aren't incentivized to improve, and ecosystems become difficult to document, implement, and evolve. The focus is on its pernicious impact on open-source software and specification development.
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