How 1600s Spanish Traders and Horse Arses Shaped GnuCash's Database Design
By
vitalikpie
Pulled from the oven just right. Trustworthy, fact-dense, deeply satisfying.
Summary
This article explores how historical quirks — Spanish traders in the 1600s avoiding counting their thumbs (influencing currency systems) and the width of a horse's arse setting railway standards — parallel the seemingly odd but genius database design choices in GnuCash (1997). The author reflects on implementing commodities support in their own app, HandsOnMoney, and argues that what looks like outdated or odd design often turns out to be practical, human-centered solutions that work brilliantly over time.
Key quotes
· 3 pulledMuch like a horse's arse set the standard for railways. How seemingly odd design turns out to be a genius solution that serves people pretty well.
It's one of those nights. A cup of hot coffee is on the table. I'm implementing a commodities support in HandsOnMoney which looks absolutely trivial on the surface, but is quite deep in reality.
Spanish traders in the 1600s did not want to count their thumbs, which influenced GnuCash's database design choices in 1997.
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