Tell HN: The term serverless needs to disappear

3 pointsjqueryin8y ago2 comments

Small rant on something that truly annoys me.

The term "serverless" needs to go away.

You're utilizing servers that someone else is managing. By definition, it's not a server-less architecture. You still point a DNS record at it.

There's got to be a better name choice which intermingles the concepts of managed servers, auto scaling, etc.

2 comments

Freak_NL8y ago

There is a better term for this exact phenomenon; Function as a Service (FaaS). It fits neatly with Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS). It also makes sense, mostly.

However, as much as I agree with you (and I do; 'serverless' is just cruel semantic abuse), the buzzword took off; the marketeers and bandwagoneers got a hold of it, made it buzz, and now do not appear willing to let go.

Shame.

Finnucane8y ago

>cruel semantic abuse

Yeah, but that describes most business/tech jargon. I guess, for example, that verbifying words like 'architect' and 'concept' instead of using ordinary English words like 'design' and 'conceive' that already mean the same thing somehow makes what you do seem special and new and not an ordinary function that's been going on since the beginning of time.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse