[jl6]

The bloat is real, but it’s not all bloat. We ask for a lot more from our software today. Simple example: rendering text isn’t that simple when we expect full Unicode support.

It’s not altogether different from how everything seems to be much more expensive than it was in the 1950s. There are many real and concerning reasons for that, but one less concerning reason is that we have higher standards and expectations now, and that translates to higher cost.

[kopirgan]

I really would like to know what's good bloat and bad bloat like they say with Taliban.

To give a random example, Apache http server for windows is less than 12mb download. I used to download Oracle's http which I'm told is based on that, but that's like 1GB++ haven't checked in recent years.

[icemelt8]

That is such a well-informed inside joke about Taliban, I am amazed.

[Physkal]

Would you mind an explanation.

[selimthegrim]

The trope is so-called “good” Taliban and “bad” Taliban.