Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by yathaid 1029 days ago
That is not a trick, it is a false analogy. Two humans in eyesight line can be assured that they have exchanged messages successfully. Two computers cannot due to recursing acknowledgements (byzantine generals).
2 comments

More realistically; Two humans in eyesight line can believe that they have exchanged messages successfully.

Both parties misunderstanding the other is a common trope in movies and novels for a reason.

No, it’s not a false analogy. Go look at an old office building and consider whether people really are “in eyesight line” - assuredly they are not.

The unreliable messaging links (internal mail) mean that resilience against missed messages and guards against not making progress must be built into the business process instead of an infrastructure layer.