Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Little Typer

mitpress.mit.edu

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 138 posts

Re: The Little Typer

#81

Post by xevb3k »

billsix wrote: post #79
xevb3k wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course there is. But that’s neither what you said, nor the topic being discussed. What you said is more than a select few could afford a $40 book. The topic being discussed is, the morality of charging so much/piracy. Good work plugging your github though!

More than a select few can afford this book

Over 80% of the world population lives on less than $10/day. The percentage of the world population who can afford this book is very small.

Maybe 10%, 5%? Other than repeating this obviously wrong statement, would you like to provide some evidence that >20% of the world population can afford this book?

Re: The Little Typer

#82

Post by sriram_malhar »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #76
sriram_malhar wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My anger isn't misdirected. It is directed exactly at this sentiment of yours: "The words are still there". It is the same whether I came up with a new magic trick, or a song, or a film. Don't fucking steal it because you have this wonderful tool called "copy" that "destroys class barriers". There is plenty of stuff on the internet (mine included) that people have chosen to put up for free; go use those. Or wait 10 y…

People put a lot of energy into programming languages, but they don't expect to get paid anything for it. Why is it different when it comes to publishing a book? That may sound like a dismissive question, but it's at the crux of our disagreement. If we can resolve that, we might be able to see eye to eye.

I'd hazard that a very large fraction of people who work on open PLs and open operating systems get paid --and expect to get paid -- for the effort they put into that project; take Golang, Rust, Linux, Kotlin, Java/JVM, Scala, Haskell, OCaml, Swift and so on. These are not written by homeless people. Try telling Rob Pike that he's not going to get paid for the ten years he spent on Go, and that he would only get paid for his other contributions to Google.

Further, it is an author's prerogative (whether that author is a company or an individual) to set the terms of the pricing. As a consumer you can choose to accept it and pay the price, or come up with an alternative model (like iTunes or the App Store) that changes the market.

I resent it intensely that after putting my own money and time and effort into a project (took a full year off a job), somebody just pirates it so easily. And then attempts to claim moral high ground with weasel phrases like "knowledge wants to be free" and "class barriers".

Re: The Little Typer

#83

Post by xevb3k »

billsix wrote: post #80
xevb3k wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The arguments you make could equally well be applied to libraries. Libraries “steal” money from authors by making books more freely available, in largely the same way that piracy does. They also make books available to people who otherwise couldn’t afford them.

Reductio ad absurdum.

“If you wouldn't have bought it anyways, why is it worth your time stealing and reading it?”

This is literally the same thing as getting a book from a library. The exact same argument applies.

Throwing Latin around doesn’t progress a discussion.

Re: The Little Typer

#84

Post by billsix »

xevb3k wrote: post #81
billsix wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More than a select few can afford this book

Over 80% of the world population lives on less than $10/day. The percentage of the world population who can afford this book is very small. Maybe 10%, 5%? Other than repeating this obviously wrong statement, would you like to provide some evidence that >20% of the world population can afford this book?

I said that more than a select few can afford the book. I did not say that it is affordable globally.

Pirate away dude. The piracy of JSTOR repos didn’t help the global poor population, nor will piracy of this book.

Re: The Little Typer

#85

Post by billsix »

xevb3k wrote: post #83
billsix wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reductio ad absurdum.

“If you wouldn't have bought it anyways, why is it worth your time stealing and reading it?” This is literally the same thing as getting a book from a library. The exact same argument applies. Throwing Latin around doesn’t progress a discussion.

Pirate away bro, it’s just like a library, you’re correct. The word “library” is derived from the Latin word “liber”, meaning book.

Re: The Little Typer

#86

Post by xevb3k »

billsix wrote: post #84
xevb3k wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Over 80% of the world population lives on less than $10/day. The percentage of the world population who can afford this book is very small. Maybe 10%, 5%? Other than repeating this obviously wrong statement, would you like to provide some evidence that >20% of the world population can afford this book?

I said that more than a select few can afford the book. I did not say that it is affordable globally. Pirate away dude. The piracy of JSTOR repos didn’t help the global poor population, nor will piracy of this book.

Your definition of “many” is <5% of people, got it.

Re: The Little Typer

#87

Post by Naomarik »

IlGrigiore wrote: post #23
sandGorgon wrote: post #9

I know that typescript doesn't have advanced types, but can a book like this be adapted to use typescript ?

This book does not talk about static typing, but about dependent types. Dependent types are more powerful and expressive than simple types because they convey more information. For example you could have [Int] to represent a list of numbers, but you could also have [x: Int, x > 20 && x < 50]. Or you could have an ordered array and know this fact by the type associated to the array. Moreover, you need to use a theorem…

That sounds like clojure spec.

Re: The Little Typer

#88

Post by deanmen »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #11

Sad to say the book isn't on Library Genesis, so you'll have to drop $40 if you want the knowledge. http://libgen.io/search.php?req=little+typer Also Library Genesis is amazing: http://libgen.io/search.php?req=knuth It's everything I dreamed of when I was a kid. I used to spend hours at the local library scouring through crummy "Learn C++ in 24 hours" type books. http://custodians.online/ is worth a read too.

According to WorldCat Library search it's not even in libraries other than Library of Congress and "College of Western Idaho". So it is probably not popular enough to be uploaded to a pirate site either. In fact it just came out on 18 September, so in order for a copy to be uploaded anywhere someone would have had to buy it and then immediately scan it, or the authors would have to put a draft copy on their website.

Re: The Little Typer

#89

Post by sillysaurus3 »

sriram_malhar wrote: post #82
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People put a lot of energy into programming languages, but they don't expect to get paid anything for it. Why is it different when it comes to publishing a book? That may sound like a dismissive question, but it's at the crux of our disagreement. If we can resolve that, we might be able to see eye to eye.

I'd hazard that a very large fraction of people who work on open PLs and open operating systems get paid --and expect to get paid -- for the effort they put into that project; take Golang, Rust, Linux, Kotlin, Java/JVM, Scala, Haskell, OCaml, Swift and so on. These are not written by homeless people. Try telling Rob Pike that he's not going to get paid for the ten years he spent on Go, and that he would only get paid…

If I understand your position correctly, you feel that even if someone does not have $40 or would not have paid $40 for something that can be freely copied, it is both immoral and unethical to ignore the author's wishes and copy it anyway. Even though you as the author are unaffected by this action. You also feel that it's justifiable to seek out people who do this and tell them that they should not do this, i.e. how to live their life.

Is that an accurate summary? I am trying to respond to the strongest possible interpretation of what you're saying.

What is the difference between someone doing this, which is an illegal victimless crime, and recreational drug use, which is also an illegal victimless crime? Why is one immoral and unethical, but not the other? Furthermore, why is it justifiable to believe that it's an important right to be able to ingest whatever you want into your body as long as you're not harming anyone else? And are you sure the same argument doesn't apply to this case?

Re: The Little Typer

#90

Post by xevb3k »

billsix wrote: post #85
xevb3k wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“If you wouldn't have bought it anyways, why is it worth your time stealing and reading it?” This is literally the same thing as getting a book from a library. The exact same argument applies. Throwing Latin around doesn’t progress a discussion.

Pirate away bro, it’s just like a library, you’re correct. The word “library” is derived from the Latin word “liber”, meaning book.

You repeatedly call me “dude” and “bro”. You assume many people can afford a $40 book.

To me you pretty much typify what’s wrong with modern tech culture, a total lack of empathy or understanding that there is a world outside of that which you live.

Post reply on HN