this post was submitted on 11 May 2026
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45
When Escalator Breaks, It Turns Stairs (aartaka.me)
submitted 1 month ago by mesamunefire@piefed.social to c/technology@lemmy.world
25 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

We need resilient systems that fall back to sanity when broken / discriminating. And not whatever.

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[–] CombatWombat@feddit.online 34 points 1 month ago (5 children)

"An escalator can never break: it can only become stairs. You should never see an Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order sign, just Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience." -- Mitch Hedberg

In software, it's important to think about whether you should fail open or fail shut.

[–] nialv7@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Mostly true, until the brakes fail and it turns into a slide XD

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

They could just connect the two in reverse and with a ratchet. More people go down => the other goes up. More people go up => it's locked as a stair.

[–] CombatWombat@feddit.online 2 points 1 month ago

A funicular, you say?

[–] sundray@lemmus.org 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I miss Mitch 😢

[–] jayands@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago

I used to miss Mitch. I mean, I do now, but I used to, as well.

[–] mesamunefire@piefed.social 7 points 1 month ago

Same fantastic one liners.

[–] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 5 points 1 month ago

Even more important for hardware, e.g. door locks