[HN Gopher] Buf raises $93M to deprecate REST/JSON
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       Buf raises $93M to deprecate REST/JSON
        
       Author : jbrandhorst
       Score  : 22 points
       Date   : 2021-12-08 20:20 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (buf.build)
 (TXT) w3m dump (buf.build)
        
       | jokethrowaway wrote:
       | We already have schema based validation in tons of different
       | shapes.
       | 
       | A binary format may save some bandwidth and be slightly harder to
       | reverse engineer - at the cost of being easily introspectable out
       | of the box during development.
       | 
       | I don't think there is enough value to sell something.
       | 
       | I hope it gains traction and cargo cuting companies with bored
       | engineers start using them, so hopefully the next company I work
       | with won't have some terribly complicated and unusable graphql
       | but just protobufs.
        
       | eps wrote:
       | Yay, an XML v2.
        
         | selfhoster11 wrote:
         | More like WSDL.
        
       | PhoenixReborn wrote:
       | The $93M number in the headline is somewhat misleading, as it's
       | cumulative across all the rounds of funding. Can the title be
       | changed to state that the specific round raised now is a $68M
       | Series B?
       | 
       | Article quote:
       | 
       | > We just closed a $68M Series B co-led By Lux and Tiger Global,
       | with participation from Greenoaks Capital Partners, Lightspeed,
       | Addition, and Haystack.
        
       | catsarebetter wrote:
       | Hmm why do they need to raise so much cash every 9 months?
       | 
       | Also does anyone here use them and have any thoughts about their
       | product?
        
         | selfhoster11 wrote:
         | I don't even know why they need so much money for what they do.
         | 
         | Based on their website, they solve the following problems:
         | 
         | - a central schema registery. Even if that's something you
         | actually want, it's not a problem that requires $93M to solve,
         | or a commercial company to operate
         | 
         | - communicating schema changes primarily via human-oriented
         | sources like handwritten documentation on emails. I mean sure,
         | if you are a masochist (or a sufficiently inefficient org), you
         | might do just that. The rest of us here in the 21st century can
         | check the schema into a Git repo instead.
         | 
         | - schema drift on the client end. Tough, this is what happens
         | when you write software. Adding a third party won't help here.
         | 
         | - dependency management. For APIs? I cannot imagine a single
         | case where that would help and your API isn't already a
         | monstrosity.
        
           | catsarebetter wrote:
           | Hmm well I get that we're in an asset bubble with startups,
           | but if this company is creating jobs, then I think it's
           | somewhat reasonable to assume that they are fixing a problem
           | ppl are willing to pay for.
           | 
           | I do agree with what you're saying from my perspective as an
           | average swe that doesn't do anything highly specialized...
           | 
           | I wonder though, what would the workflows look like for a
           | swe, product, ops person even, where schema changes get
           | passed around and edited so much, (kind of making some
           | assumptions here, comparing central schema registry to crm
           | use cases), that this would be necessary...
           | 
           | Wonder what the shape of the problem looks like...
        
         | elzbardico wrote:
         | JSON is a powerful enemy, it takes lots of money to wage war
         | against such a cunning opponent
        
       | anm89 wrote:
       | Nice. so SOAP?
        
       | selfhoster11 wrote:
       | Lol. Imagine trying to capture a market that is already mostly
       | happy with what it's got, and for free.
        
         | Guest42 wrote:
         | And to then provide roi on 93m
        
           | selfhoster11 wrote:
           | I have a feeling that to extract this much cash from a data
           | format ecosystem, you'd have to suck it dry of anything
           | valuable.
        
         | anm89 wrote:
         | I've got a feeling this has to be some kind of enterprise play.
         | Random devs are not going to pay for a data format.
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | duxup wrote:
       | The idea of "I'm raising money to get people to stop using
       | REST/JSON" seems kinda weird to me. I get that they have a
       | product and all but the general lead in here seems weird to me.
        
       | opendomain wrote:
       | I am on the exact opposite end of the spectrum. I have been
       | promoting json ever since Douglas Crockford discovered it. Even
       | my twitter handle is @json.
       | 
       | If someone wants to use json.com to create a company to promote
       | json - DM me.
        
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       (page generated 2021-12-08 23:02 UTC)