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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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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Heinemeier_Hansson
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Heinemeier_Hansson
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Rather than potentially 1000 HN readers each spending 15 minutes on Google trying to work out what you are talking about, may I suggest that you expand that with a few plain English sentences that tel…
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I don't think "ostensibly" means what you think it means. But I can't guess what you meant.
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Nobody responsible or competent is scrapping DDR5 computers yet. You can't use other speed standards of RAM in a computer designed for a faster (or slower) standard. If it needs DDR5 it can'…
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OK, I have to admit, that one I didn't know. It's only a matter of time until someone posts "Torpenhow Hill" -- which does not exist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki&…
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> 60 year olds have been using computers most of their working life. Absolutely. I am in full-time work, and expect to be for another decade. I have worked my entire career in IT, doing tech suppor…
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Same here. It was at least marginally more stable on "System Six."
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> and mostly added networking Careful. You are confusing Windows 3.11 with Windows for Workgroups 3.11. They were different products, at different times. This is why version 3.11 of the Linux kerne…
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> For you to downvote my small comment I didn't. I checked. I have not. > go on to lecture me about things you have barely any grasp or memory of, No, this is not true or accurate. It is a …
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Reminds me of my early-1990s home network server: a late-1980s IBM PS/2 Model 80, a 386 tower built with a moulded iron case. Super tough, fancy 32-bit IBM expansion bus. 4MB of RAM on the mother…
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> I'd love to see that style of keyboard on new stuff. OMG yes please. :-) Yep, WP for DOS was quick. Rather clunky UI compared to MS Word for DOS, IMHO, but fast. A friend of mine used a simp…
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More discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48424545
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FWIW, still around and now FOSS. https://github.com/bluewaysw/pcgeos
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> it's quite a feat to fit this into 4 MB on a 386. I had 2 different Librex 386SX laptops, with 4MB of RAM, on long-term loan from work around 1992. One was quite chunky, the 2nd was a slimli…
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Later dupe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48410844
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> Nobody wants that except a couple of lonely nerds in the corner who hate JavaScript. Hey, anyone else want to join us in this corner?
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Exactly. I started out in my first job in an open-plan office where everyone had Model F and Model M keyboards because we were an IBM dealer and that's what IBM shipped. We made calls, talked to …
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Blu-Tak FTW.
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Oh no it isn't. I started before floppy disks were widespread. Floppies were sooooooo good after tape cassettes. :-)
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OK, fair enough. I first learned Vi on SCO Xenix in 1988 and I instantly hated it, and 38 years later, I still do. About 2-3Y into my career, IBM CUA came along and transformed DOS software: everythin…
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> When I saw this post I immediately thought of WordPerfect. The final DOS WordPerfect works wonderfully on even early 21st century kit. But it's not free. WordPerfect still exists and it'…
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> You'd have to find a suitable editor. You didn't follow the link. You should have. I built that USB-DOS tool and it contains a wide choice of word processors, from plain text editors wi…
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It's quite remarkable, isn't it? It is how Linux used to be in the 1990s: tiny, simple, blindingly fast compared to the big lumbering commercial OSes... ... Which now are also Linux. Which i…
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> (several hundred years old) Several thousand more like.
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> my hand gets sore 5 seconds after I start writing. Use a fountain pen. You can't press too hard: it bends and breaks the nib. Disposable ones are good enough now, e.g. the Pilot V-Pen. http…
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More less why I built this, TBH. https://github.com/lproven/usb-dos
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HP had several innovative GUIs of its own, before Microsoft destroyed the market with a good enough one of its own. NewWave was its first and long predated even Windows 3. https://en.wikipe…
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There were multiple ones, including some by BIOS vendors offered to many hardware OEMs. Hyperspace was one of the most widely-seen. https://gekk.info/articles/hyperspace.htm …