this post was submitted on 11 Feb 2025
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The government doesn't use SQL (programming.dev)
submitted 17 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
268 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

See the post on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/provisionalidea.bsky.social/post/3lhujtm2qkc2i

According to many comments, the US government DOES use SQL, and Musk is not understanding much what's going on.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 44 minutes ago (1 children)

It's hard to figure out what he's talking about , when he says the "whole social security database". Like in which tables are they duplicated? Does it mean the entire row is duplicated or just the SSN, it might make sense to be duplicated depending on the schema. Is it an append only db, so there might be updated columns on the same ssn and you need to filter by the latest update timestamp? Who knows.

But also, saying that there's a "social security database" and then following that up by the govt "doesn't use SQL" so.. the db is actually just a spreadsheet? A .txt file? The SSNs are just written down in someone's notebook? Lol

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 minutes ago

Or mongoDB πŸ™„

Probably something bespoke/legacy.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 53 minutes ago

He got community-noted for being wrong. Per usual, it's only a matter of time before he deletes his post.

[–] Randelung 4 points 48 minutes ago

Of course. Everyone who's ever used a DB knows it's BS. As long as the data is structured - which it a) is because he was able to make assertions about it and b) fucking Excel files are enough - it CAN be imported and SQL'd on. Even Excel has built in support for fuck's sake, not to mention Python and PowerQuery.

The dude is a self-certified moron - he probably struggles with the concept of PKI, too.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 30 minutes ago (3 children)

Ok genuine question, what is the difference between a SQL database and a simple Excel spreadsheet?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 minutes ago

People yell at you if you use an excel spreadsheet as a database

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 minutes ago

The amount of data, sql is designed to manage large datasets, millions of rows. Excel has its limits.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 13 minutes ago

The worst kind of stupid doesn't need to learn about databases because it's just common sense.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

He used to be regarded as tony stark. Nah he is Justin Hammer. Steals ideas implements them shit and has no idea about anything

[–] TBi 1 points 10 minutes ago

I get your point but I disagree. I think both Tony Stark and Justin Hammer are more competent than Elon.

Hammer was no where near as good as Tony but he did make some good stuff.

I would say he’s more like Obadiah Stane, an opportunist taking credit for others work.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 46 minutes ago (1 children)

He is like tony stark in a timeline where Tony stark decided to join the terrorists instead of building the suit to escape. Oh and in this timeline Tony Starks brain has been rotted away by ketamine

[–] [email protected] 3 points 34 minutes ago

Yeah. That is Hammer

[–] x00z 18 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

"Our databases only store in RAM because I AM THE ELECTRICITY BATTERY MASTER"

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

You save quite a lot of time when working on a database if it's stored in RAM compared to tape, so it does make sense to use that technology

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Yeah in memory databases can be super fast.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago (2 children)

till the power goes out

[–] [email protected] 1 points 17 minutes ago

My use case is primarily real time data capture - raw log is written to disk and can be recovered from, although at that point we'd have fallen back on the secondary as primary would now be suspect.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

At which point you have to slurp down a few hundred terabytes from the other datacenters when the power turns back on.

This is why Google datacenter managers hesitate to turn off the power even when an employee is in the process of getting electrocuted.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 43 minutes ago

You have to link a source for something that offhandedly horrific

[–] umbraroze 40 points 3 hours ago

Whenever Elon speaks of programming, he just spouts the most delusional Point-Haired Boss bullshit imaginable. Truly, he has been promoted to the level of his incompetence.

(It is also highly ironic considering the Dilbert creator's politics.)

[–] [email protected] 31 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

Musk seems to think Musk is a tech genius, but really he was just born into money and used it to buy a bunch of companies. In fairness he was able to recognise which companies to buy, doesn't mean he knows anything about databases though.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) (1 children)

In fairness he was able to recognise which companies to buy

I think this is just survivorship bias. There are millions of wealthy individuals investing in companies every single day. Occasionally these gambles pay off and make people extremely wealthy.

Most of the time the people who succeed just spend their incredibe wealth and live a quiet happy life.

But there are others who crave attention. These individuals bully their way into prestigious positions and pretend that they're leading the company.

Elon is that kind of person. He started wealthy, bet his money on companies that succeeded. Then took the CEO role so he would get credit for the companys' successes.

If ever people dare stop paying attention to him he'll do something drastic to recapture the spotlight on.

He's the kind of person who will stand on stage and do a nazi salute just because he wants you to look at him.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 hour ago

It's easy to gamble if money isn't yours. If your day to day survival depends on every dollar, then you don't have the freedom to dick around with investments.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

He also apparently watched a lot of SeaQuest DSV, and is trying to make it a reality. Hyperloop: SeaQuest. Electric cars: SeaQuest. Big car dashboard screens: SeaQuest. Magic Space Science: SeaQuest. CyberTruck....Apple Mouse ADB gen 1-ish wrapped in aluminum foil. I guess what I find most fascinating is that I have similar mental maladies to him, but I learned instead of just being perpetually dumb. It is actually disappointing that he chose to not learn and just ride the walrus instead. No idea why anyone worships him.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 hour ago

OT: You reminded me that i never watched seaquest more than a few episodes and i will have to do that now. does it still hold up for someone who loved TNG and Voyager?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 hours ago

As someone who does systems administration which includes numerous government owned database servers, this is news to me.

[–] iAvicenna 7 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

dis what you get for working with 19 year old kids with inflated egos whom you only hired to worship you. Also when someone who is not an expert in a field has the confidence to make grand claims about practices in that field, it is a very nice litmus paper telling you that person is generally bullshitting.

[–] [email protected] 36 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

REAL GOVERNMENTS USE EXCEL SHEETS /j

Wasn't it the uk or something that messed up a vote due to excel's row limit?

[–] [email protected] 18 points 5 hours ago

I think it was something to do with COVID stats during the initial outbreak, but yes, yes it was the UK government and their bizarre love affair with stupid tech choices.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 hours ago

The only 'transparency' he's shown is screenshots of basic spreadsheets that don't actually clarify anything. His minions are just sending him spreadsheets extracted from systems they don't understand, and he's just making decisions based on whether the title of the program sounds woke or not.

It's going to be fun when he fucks with some Wall Street Equity fund's money.

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