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rbanffy
194,611karma·63,760submissions·March 12, 2008
about
Seasoned software developer, proficient in Python, Java. Less proficient in Ruby and Lisp. A bit rusty in C and C++. Learning Erlang very slowly. Also a computer collector and restorer, lover of 8-bit computers, mainframes and interesting Unix workstations.
email: username at that google mail thing
http://about.me/rbanffy
https://linkedin.com/in/ricardobanffy
[ my public key: https://keybase.io/rbanffy; my proof: https://keybase.io/rbanffy/sigs/HtF1uAf_RNpwIkNP1-YGWP_-3doWV6S5Cc1KywXeLYo ]
recent activity (63,760 total)
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Mono is something weird. I confess I fail to understand what drives clever people to hand over the design goals of their open-source project to Microsoft. They are clever people doing an extraordinari…
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VS is required to develop software that will run on Windows (and that will forever be handcuffed to Windows). I do not wish to develop such an abomination, but many people won't have the same moral ob…
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"we've been through this on the desktop and it seems that unixes are winning" As much as I would love thet to be true, I cannot agree. The Windows crap still seems to have a long future. And unless yo…
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I wonder if I am the only one bothered by the Jovian theme. How am I supposed to know Amalthea is more recent than Callisto? What's supposed to be Kore's feature-set?
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It's a bet on an underwhelming Apple product launch. They must absolutely do it before Steve Jobs comes back from his vacation. If, however, in those two days, the Pre is perceived as a real threat to…
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I would gladly accept a major library breakage for proper multi-processor support in Python. A better implementation is a significant enhancement.
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"Many libraries are still not compatible with 1.9" It's not likely they will remain so for very long
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Call me ancient, but I really miss the 3278, with its distinctive 6's and 9's. I never could find its original bitmaps, much less a vector font like it.
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It's like the "www." discussion. URLs exist for a reason someone vocal may or may not understand. He only uses http URLs and .com domains, but I regularly use git://, svn:// and even faked a couple UR…
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Can we bury this?
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"This article is wrong. Microsoft doesn't want you to use PAE, because it's crap." Then why do they still sell Windows? /me ducks BTW, PAE has been working for me under Linux for what seems to be ages…
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It does, but the version that does costs more
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Sure Larry won't mind giving the world one more reason to abandon the Solaris OS he just bought. This is so Larry...
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While high-level languages and nice operating systems are a good thing, they often mask what's beyond them. If someone grows up in a world they can't look beyond the curtain, bad things happen. Many t…
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At least the look and feel they developed for Copland were re-used in MacOS 8 and 9... It looked cool, in the late 90s.
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Everybody _he_ knew used WinAmp (in a time WMP was completely either useless or non-existent). About 40% of the people I know and work with would not touch Windows with a pole. Those do not make a sig…
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A 5-figure for full source is, in fact, quite ridiculous for a CMS in the same league as Vignette (nobody likes it, BTW) or FatWire. With the added benefit of being 100% Java-free... Wow. It's a winne…
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It doesn't go down easily the modern OSs we use are either a GUI-based desktop OS that wouldn't be serious and compete with OS/2 with a billion patches applied or some rehash of 70's Unix. Really... W…
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And, BTW, "this is the kind of thing you solve in five minutes with a macro in Emacs" looks almost like Joel Spolsky knew the HN crowd would eventually come...
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Funny he implies the bundling of IE in every copy of Windows and the threats against OEMs who thought about bundling any other browser had nothing to do with the failure of Netscape. It's true Netscap…
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In FB's case, doing the right thing will only drive holocaust deniers further underground. Banishment is not the way people should debate ideas, however stupid they are. Specially when they are stupid…
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That's silly. If I were in law enforcement I would _use_ erotic services ads as a way to prosecute those involved. Something like Craigslist would be an asset for me.
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No. It's because Microsoft wants you to run Windows. Office for Mac is just a way for Microsoft to prevent Mac users from using formats incompatible with Office for Windows and creating pressure on Mi…
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I love the smell of irony in the morning
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"The best thing you can say about string theory is that it's internally consistent"
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Do we really need to pay attention/concern ourselves with Joel? Is he still relevant? Was he ever?
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Don't worry. We will find ways to violate any unified theory we can come up with ;-) We have to agree experiments that could falsify String Theory are long overdue. If ST physicists can't come up with…
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While the exact way it could happen is unclear (and whether or not it is at all possible is subject of debate) it would be analog to the way Special Relativity violates Newton's mechanics: it covers s…
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I really thought it was an accurate and concise depiction on the history, limitations and overall characteristics of PHP.
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Isn't it lovely when people can simply mod you down when they disagree with you instead of trying to debate?