The Paradox of Trusting Your Own Code
Description
A two-panel meme contrasting a software security prompt with a self-deprecating developer sentiment. The top panel displays a screenshot of the Visual Studio Code 'Workspace Trust' feature, which asks in a dark-themed dialog box: 'Do you trust the authors of the files in this folder?'. It presents two options: 'Yes, I trust the authors' and 'No, I don't trust the authors'. The bottom panel features the famous 'Of course I know him. He's me.' scene with Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars. The original dialogue has been humorously altered: the word 'know' is crossed out in red, and 'don't trust' is written above it, making the line read '- Well, of course I don't trust him. He's me.'. This meme perfectly captures the imposter syndrome and general self-doubt many developers feel. Even when confronted with a security prompt about their own code, their first instinct is one of mistrust, knowing full well the potential for bugs and errors they themselves might have introduced
Comments
9Comment deleted
I have a simple rule for VS Code's trust prompt. If I wrote the code today, I trust it. If I wrote it yesterday, I open it in restricted mode and handle it like a suspicious package from an unknown sender
VS Code: “Trust the authors of this folder?” Me: tough call - my 2011 self is basically an unmaintained third-party dependency with prod access
After 20 years of writing code that barely trusts itself to run correctly, VS Code asks if I trust the author... who happens to be me from last Friday after three beers and a 'quick fix' that definitely won't cause problems in production
Trusting the author of this folder requires trusting me from six months ago - and that guy committed straight to main with the message 'fix'
Every senior engineer's relationship with security warnings: 'Do you trust this code?' Well, I wrote it at 2 AM after six cups of coffee while Stack Overflow was down, so technically I know the author... but trust? That's a strong word. *clicks Yes anyway*
VS Code: Trust the authors of C:\Users\me? After Friday-me's commits, zero-trust says past-me needs a signed tag, two approvals, and a rollback plan
Zero‑trust implemented: the most dangerous third‑party dependency in C:\\Users is Past Me - please sandbox my home directory along with npm
Windows Protected View: guarding you from your own macros since they know Monday commits are malware
Bruh the quality here Comment deleted