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lproven
8,776karma·4,928submissions·December 30, 2013
about
Tall dark black-clad atheist skeptic biker SF fan; writes, mainly about computers, for a living.
# Work
Currently the FOSS & cloud correspondent for the Register.
https://www.theregister.com/Author/Liam-Proven
Work email: lproven+hn@sitpub.com
# Personal
Comments here (or anywhere else, unless otherwise stated) are personal opinion and not on behalf of any employer.
Based in Douglas, Isle of Man.
Quick info:
https://about.me/liamproven/
Personal blog:
http://lproven.dreamwidth.org/profile
Tech blog:
http://liam-on-linux.dreamwidth.org/profile/
Socials:
https://social.vivaldi.net/@lproven
https://bsky.app/profile/lproven.bsky.social
https://x.com/lproven
https://meet.hn/city/im-Douglas
recent activity (4,928 total)
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First OS with built-in scalable font rendering as standard. First OS with full-window dragging as standard (instead of an outline). First OS with a taskbar/dock as standard.
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I think the assumption is that if you're interested in the source or contributing, you already know what it looks like. There are loads of galleries and walkthroughs out there. Here's v3.11 …
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What about Minix 3? Probably the most widely deployed microkernel ever: it's inside every Intel CPU for the last ~20 years. Already has a mostly-working port of the NetBSD userland. It was shapin…
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> the corpses are kept upright as open source projects I think you are looking at this not merely wrongly, but in reverse. Gradually the PC compatible has paved over the entirety of desktop/la…
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Not bad. I don't like its tone of approval, TBH. I much preferred the «
raucous bazaar, teeming with variety.
» I hate the way the PC «
the IBM PC and its successors paved over all of that
» I re…
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Bring back Symbian, and bundle it with a Beeper client and subscription. I want basic phone functionality, including as a key core function, text messaging over IP with all my contacts on all messagin…
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> Another interesting read that addresses these themes is “Manna – Two Views of Humanity’s Future” by Marshal Brain As it happens, I recently read Manna , and it is excellent and a good recommenda…
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No: you get downvoted for not using an ad-blocker, and then complaining about not using one.
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I wrote a little about this: https://www.theregister.com/personal-tech/2026/07/10/lisafpg... …
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I must confess, I previously hadn't read much about it as it was not from or by Wirth himself, but on consideration, perhaps that was unfair and premature.
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No, it is categorically not a Gish gallop when I post single-line responses at an interval of days. You are attempting to deflect the argument based on irrelevant side-claims. I'm sure there'…
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Quibbling. If someone is in the process of intentionally turning their project into slop, replacing human written code with bot-extruded code, then they can pay to host their own... ... And they shoul…
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No, you're not, and I suspect you are a bot. I really wish HN had a block function.
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So when someone points out that you are inconsistent with your own points, you ask after their health and wellbeing? In other words, you are questioning my sanity because I point out you contrad…
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No. "Most" is clear and unambiguous. It means more X than Y. The value of X is larger than the value of Y. X = bot slop ; Y = human written code In your question, 90% human written, 10% bot …
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More discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49003386
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> our civilization will collapse Well, we are heading for 2º C global warming by 2040, possibly by 2030. And the IPCC and others already pointed out that 2º means the end of civilisation. So, it&#x…
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No, you don't. Because just upthread you said: > Within a very short period of time all code will be AI code. No it won't. But you outed yourself as a botlicker. So, off you go to somewhe…
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Previously: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48822172 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49003465 …
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Good for you. Now, shall we discuss the ecological and commercial cost of that?
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With great affection. Mind you, when it launched, I was in my mid-teens and I believed the hype: I thought it really was CGI. Ah, innocence of youth...
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Because we've spent something like 2 trillion dollars on it, as we hurtle into global climate collapse and WW3.
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> The real question is how useful they are No, it is not. > and the answer "not at all" increasingly requires flat-earth levels of denial. No, it does not. For me, after ~25 years in t…
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> nicely-done dedicated viewer The problem is the edge cases. PDF has lots. In $DAYJOB-1 we used PDFs as part of the official feedback process for technical documentation: subject-matter experts se…
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> they don't typically include editing functionality. Not true. The original Mozilla Internet Suite was a combined browser, email/newsgroups client, and web-page editor. It was an open-so…
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The original NextBSD project was founded by Jordan Hubbard... Who also cofounded FreeBSD itself, and then years later, worked at Apple on OS X modernising its BSD base. So he should know.
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A remote descendant seems to be here: https://www.cerberus-x.com/
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> once I fully gave in to using AI 58 here. I won't even touch it. It seems to be heroin combined with cocaine for programmers. Not even once. AI: Just Say No.