Software Delay Timeouts

Discussions center on the durations of timeouts and artificial delays in software, debating long waits like 5 minutes versus shorter alternatives like seconds for better performance and user experience.

➡️ Stable 0.6x Web Development
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Keywords

IMO SLO SELECT reddit.com github.com RandomizedDelaySec MQTT delay seconds timeout sleep minutes wait function second timer minute

Sample Comments

jermaustin1 Oct 6, 2019 View on HN

It's a 5 minute delay. But it can be changed easily.

ddoeth Feb 19, 2020 View on HN

They should just have set the timeout to half a second and no one would have noticed

saagarjha Jan 16, 2021 View on HN

Waiting 5 minutes for a bunch of things adds up.

abraham May 8, 2012 View on HN

Replacing the currently indefinite delay with a 3-4 second one sounds like an improvement.

VikingCoder Jan 6, 2017 View on HN

Because users don't wait 90 seconds for something stupid like this?

samstave Aug 15, 2015 View on HN

Timeouts are better than grounding.

6510 Feb 5, 2024 View on HN

I imagine a 3 minute delay on everything would work.

Hikikomori Jun 30, 2025 View on HN

Doesn't work because of the delay.

greglindahl Nov 22, 2015 View on HN

Wait - for "fail fast" reasons, we're going to do something important every few thousand years, instead of about once a year?!

rkwasny Jul 8, 2023 View on HN

Now they have a 5 second delay? :-)