TL;DR
A developer draws an analogy between cold-blooded animals and software projects, arguing some codebases are built to survive long periods of inactivity. He contrasts fragile, dependency-heavy systems with simple, self-contained projects that can be frozen and resumed later.
What happened
In a December 2023 essay, the author recounts a 2004 university lecture in which a frozen baby painted turtle was revived on camera, and uses the episode to frame an argument about software design. He distinguishes "warm-blooded" projects—those that rely on constant activity and external services—from "cold-blooded" projects that tolerate long dormancy. Cold-blooded projects favor predictable, unchanging tooling: local builds, vendored third-party code, and deployment methods that do not depend on external platforms. The author cites his own blog engine as an example: the first commit dates to January 8, 2012, the codebase runs on Python 2, includes four external modules checked into the repository, and is deployed with rsync over SSH. Because of these choices, the author reports the site has required only small tweaks over the years and he expects it to continue working with minimal intervention.
Why it matters
- Design choices affect a project's ability to survive long inactive periods without breaking.
- Reducing reliance on third-party services lowers the risk of sudden failures caused by external changes.
- Vendoring dependencies and keeping builds local improves reproducibility and long-term maintainability.
- Simple deployment strategies can reduce operational friction for lightly maintained projects.
Key facts
- The piece opens with a 2004 lecture in which a baby painted turtle that had been frozen revived on camera.
- The author contrasts "warm-blooded" software, which needs constant activity, with "cold-blooded" software that endures stasis.
- Warm-blooded projects can fail when external services change, go away, or when dependency upgrades are forced.
- Cold-blooded projects use conservative tooling: vendored dependencies, local builds, and no reliance on brittle external services.
- The author's blog generator began with a commit dated Jan 8, 2012 (commit 68949229ad426c1e8795ee640808db9987ab30ab).
- That blog software is written in Python 2 and depends on four third-party modules that are committed to the repository.
- Deployment for the blog is done with rsync over SSH, and the author reports only minor changes over the years.
- The essay mentions a Hacker News discussion and thanks Thorsten Ball for suggestions.
What to watch next
- Breakage caused by external services being acquired, discontinued, or changing terms of service
- Dependency deprecations and required compiler or toolchain upgrades that can force breaking changes
- not confirmed in the source
Quick glossary
- Cold-blooded software: A codebase designed to remain usable after long periods of inactivity by avoiding brittle external dependencies and using stable, self-contained tooling.
- Vendored dependency: A third-party library whose source is included directly in a project's repository rather than pulled from an external package registry at build time.
- Continuous integration (CI): An automated process that builds and tests software changes frequently; CI pipelines can be vulnerable if they depend on external, changeable services.
- rsync over SSH: A simple file synchronization method that copies built artifacts from one machine to another using SSH, often used for lightweight deployments.
Reader FAQ
What does the author mean by "cold-blooded" software?
Software that is deliberately simple and self-contained so it can be left untouched for long periods and still be resumed later.
How does the author keep his blog running over many years?
By using a static site generator written in Python 2, committing four third-party modules into the repository, building locally, and deploying with rsync over SSH.
Are warm-blooded projects always bad?
not confirmed in the source
Will the blog definitely keep working for another twelve years?
The author says he fully expects it will still work in another twelve years, but that is his expectation rather than a guarantee.
Cold-blooded software December 28, 2023 It’s 2004 and I’m sitting in one of the largest lecture halls at my university. I’m a computer science major but I’m taking a course…
Sources
Related posts
- YouTube Playlist Downloader: Bash Script to Batch Download & Organize
- Moiré Explorer: ASCII-play demo by ertdfgcvb using coord.x and coord.y
- Nike’s Crisis and the Economics of Brand Decay: How Advantage Erodes