Rule 34.

"If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions." Rule 34 (novel), by Charles Stross

Same thing applies to npm modules.

ya ya, php and wordpress suck, microsoft is evil, arch users are elitist, mac is for idiots, bla bla bla

I had to look it up, so forgive my tardiness. This comment would have been 30-45 seconds earlier otherwise. That book was released in 2011, but Randall Munroe authored the rule 34 xkcd comic in 2003. It's uncertain that Munroe invented the concept, but it's pretty certain that Stross did not.

https://www.xkcd.com/305/

Corollary: "... and it's someone's fetish."

If there's porn for everything and npm modules for everything then surely NPM porn is a thing

@-ANGRY-STUDENT-
Because Wikipedia is such a credible source. Especially in academic circles.

@kescherRant I will accept other sources, if you have some to present, too

@bahua That comic definitely predates the rules of the internet. I'd accept it as the first written record of rule 34.

@-ANGRY-STUDENT-

I'm sorry you weren't there for the internet in 2003. It was an exciting time to be alive. I turned 25 that year, and can swear under oath that the aforementioned comic did, in fact, exist. I can further testify, your honor, that 2003 occurred before 2011.

@bahua your comment reminds of ace attorney online which I just discovered this week via youtube recommendation algorithm.

@bahua lol ok.
Let's not make a big deal out of it. You're most probably right. I trust you.

My point however wasn't where that quote comes from. My point was the content inside of the quote.

@-ANGRY-STUDENT-

Fair enough.

Npm porn? God...

@alexbrooklyn https://npmjs.com/package/pornpics/

@bahua @Root

Urban Dictionary -> early 2006

4Chan -> late 2006

rule34.paheal -> May 2007

The XKCD comic is from August 2007, he just commented on the fact that "Rule 34" had kind of taken the internet by storm.

But it all originates from an earlier webcomic, zoomout, Yokai posted this on the 5th of October 2004 on his own website and his deviantart profile... which sadly is pretty much lost even to caches/archives.

@bittersweet If the comic predates the rules, why does it say Rule #34?

Also, wasn't it Encylopedia Dramatica, not UrbanDictionary?

@Root Apparently the number was randomly chosen, on 4chan it just got fitted into that position because it was already popular.

The idea that there were numbered rules on the internet is a much older "meme" though, I remember recurring jokes on newsgroups in the 90s, people making up random rules all the time like: "rule 82: someone will always pick up the phone when your download is almost done".

The "There are no girls on the internet"-rule was very commonly quoted as well in the 90s... and back then it was sadly kind of true.