11–20 of 80 posts
We desperately need a decent desktop operating system. After that basic need is satisfied, fixing the problems in the upper layers will be easier in comparison. To develop any kind of software, you need to do so in a desktop operating system, so it's important for it to be reliable and usable. I think the only viable way to achieve this is to create a Linux-based OS. Not another Linux distribution, but something cons…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What problems are those?
1. We need a clear separation between system programs and application programs, so that a user can install the latest version of Python without it ever colliding with the outdated version of Python that the OS uses internally. The user shouldn't even need to be aware of the existence of the other Python. 2. The default way to install third-party application software shouldn't depend on repositories or servers. It sho…
Consider checking out nixos. Although this is already possible to do in normal distros.
> The OS should define a stable format for the OS to install, update and uninstall these files
Like .deb and .rpm?
> 3. We need a desktop environment that's visually appealing and has a good UX.
Such as KDE and the rest?
> We need centralized, thorough and official user documentation about the OS
Distros have their own documentation already.
> And this documentation should be distinct from the developer's documentation
Why?
> The user shouldn't need to learn 10 different config file formats
You will love nixos then.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What problems are those?
1. We need a clear separation between system programs and application programs, so that a user can install the latest version of Python without it ever colliding with the outdated version of Python that the OS uses internally. The user shouldn't even need to be aware of the existence of the other Python. 2. The default way to install third-party application software shouldn't depend on repositories or servers. It sho…
I find this article naively optimistic (which may be unsurprising given how much Andreessen Horowitz is invested in the crypto space). I don't see how anybody can delude themselves to think that blockchain is about giving control back to the users, or that it is somehow democratic. Just look at the distribution of the supply for any token. You'll have the top 1% of wallets controlling > 80% of the supply. Dev keeping…
I find it very hard to take seriously prognostication from persons who've never been responsible for even a small sized ASN.
Persons I do take seriously when they prognosticate on the future of the Internet:
The individuals responsible for some of the most important RFCs of the past 20 years.
The people who have the equivalent of 'enable' on core routers of gargantuan ISPs, and on much smaller ISPs doing very special things in the world like last-mile 1Gbps symmetric FTTH.
Persons recognized in the community of individuals associated with RIPE, ARIN, APNIC, AFRINIC, etc and the various special interest regional network operator groups, as having a high degree of network engineering acumen.
Originally posted here: https://www.wired.com/story/how-blockchain-can-wrest-the-int...
I find this article naively optimistic (which may be unsurprising given how much Andreessen Horowitz is invested in the crypto space). I don't see how anybody can delude themselves to think that blockchain is about giving control back to the users, or that it is somehow democratic. Just look at the distribution of the supply for any token. You'll have the top 1% of wallets controlling > 80% of the supply. Dev keeping…
Democracy (uniform distribution of some resource) only makes sense in narrow contexts. In any financial system, a uniform resource distribution is highly unstable and will stabilize to a power law distribution in the absence of massive deadweight loss inducing distortions. This is completely independent of whether or not some shitcoin uses a scammy premine or some other initial allocation strategy.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What problems are those?
1. We need a clear separation between system programs and application programs, so that a user can install the latest version of Python without it ever colliding with the outdated version of Python that the OS uses internally. The user shouldn't even need to be aware of the existence of the other Python. 2. The default way to install third-party application software shouldn't depend on repositories or servers. It sho…
Is this where the Gnome vs KDE battle starts? Gnome looks great and is silky with Wayland but KDE does let you twiddle configs...
You'll never get alignment on what this means to a big enough group to be meaningful but I'm happy to pay towards something that does have a focus.
It's unclear to me if the person who wrote "who controls the Internet" has ever interacted with core internet infrastructure at the router, BGP, major transit and transport service provider ISP level. I find it very hard to take seriously prognostication from persons who've never been responsible for even a small sized ASN. Persons I do take seriously when they prognosticate on the future of the Internet: The individ…
Like I could write "it's unclear to me if the person who wrote 'interacted with core internet infrastructure at the router, BGP, major transit and transport service provider ISP level' has ever interacted with electrical grid management, power plant operations, or coal or natural gas pipelines and logistics.
I find it very hard to take seriously prognostication from persons who've never been responsible for the electrical input of a nationstate."
But then someone else could just respond to that with a similar message about how those who control the powergrid are hard to take seriously when they've never grown their own food or managed the food and water needs of humans who run the powergrid.
It's unclear to me if the person who wrote "who controls the Internet" has ever interacted with core internet infrastructure at the router, BGP, major transit and transport service provider ISP level. I find it very hard to take seriously prognostication from persons who've never been responsible for even a small sized ASN. Persons I do take seriously when they prognosticate on the future of the Internet: The individ…
Isn't it possible to keep tracing things back to a more base layer beyond what you've described though? It's kind of arbitrary to draw the line any particular place. Like I could write "it's unclear to me if the person who wrote 'interacted with core internet infrastructure at the router, BGP, major transit and transport service provider ISP level' has ever interacted with electrical grid management, power plant oper…
If a person whose only experience with it is at the software application layer starts opining about what internet infrastructure should look like underneath what their knowledge base encompasses, I would try to determine what if any experience they might have with actually running an ISP.
To follow your analogy, I don't agree with the concept, because it would be more like criticizing an article titled "Who controls the power grid", in which the author opines on some cryptocurrency based solution for something related to the grid, but has no experience actually running the grid as an electrical engineer at the BPA or TVA might have.