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John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

arstechnica.com

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Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#81
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Browsers evolve and break older pages. JS that requires requests as you interact with it will need an implementation of the server it uses (the subset and data of it's endpoints) How do you preserve that?

Browsers don't usually break older pages. The only time this happens when you rely on unstandardized features. At least, I have not noticed any page breaking in the past 15 years except for the ones I built using unstandardized API's.

-https sites embedding http images

-SameSite:none cookies (with bonus breakage that makes it impossible to use accross older and newer browsers simultaneously without user agent sniffing)

-the planned chrome alert/prompt changes already mentioned below

browsers have been getting a lot more comfortable with the idea of breaking backwards compatibility as of late.

Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#82

> allowing for a randomly discovered shrink wrapped headset twenty years from now to be able to update to the final software version, long after over-the-air update servers have been shut down. This resonates so much with me. Each time I setup a new device that requires an Internet connection, I think about how we can enjoy booting 30 years old retro computers and how the next generation will not be able to do the sa…

Carmark is a legend in so many ways.

Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#83
post #5

> allowing for a randomly discovered shrink wrapped headset twenty years from now to be able to update to the final software version, long after over-the-air update servers have been shut down. This resonates so much with me. Each time I setup a new device that requires an Internet connection, I think about how we can enjoy booting 30 years old retro computers and how the next generation will not be able to do the sa…

The same is true of some of the best work being done on the web, such as the NYTimes interactive infographics. Because they are so JS-heavy, and reliant on CI/CD pipelines for deployment, on custom CMSes, there is no way to archive them in the way that static pages containing just text and images can be archived on the Wayback Machine. Heck, even Flash projects from 15 years ago still run fine when compiled on Ruffle…

At least the artifacts can be saved and distributed, things like iOS apps have a short shelf-live, hell it only takes a year or two before they can't even be compiled again without modification

Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#84
post #5

> allowing for a randomly discovered shrink wrapped headset twenty years from now to be able to update to the final software version, long after over-the-air update servers have been shut down. This resonates so much with me. Each time I setup a new device that requires an Internet connection, I think about how we can enjoy booting 30 years old retro computers and how the next generation will not be able to do the sa…

The same is true of some of the best work being done on the web, such as the NYTimes interactive infographics. Because they are so JS-heavy, and reliant on CI/CD pipelines for deployment, on custom CMSes, there is no way to archive them in the way that static pages containing just text and images can be archived on the Wayback Machine. Heck, even Flash projects from 15 years ago still run fine when compiled on Ruffle…

Damn I miss being able to drop a URL into HTTRACK and then just having a whole website locally archived with everything working.

Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#85
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh? JS can be cached and preserved just like anything else. Even the (presumably JSON or CSV) data could be cached, though I don't know if the Wayback Machine follows API endpoints by default

If it's dynamically updating based on a database of information that's not shipped to the app in it's entirety, you either have to hope you've somehow seen and preserved all the date from exploring the app, or accept that some data may be lost. > presumably JSON or CSV That's presuming a lot. Even if it's accurate for most/all NYTimes infographics today, it doesn't mean it's accurate tomorrow, and it isn't accurate t…

Sure, that's fair if they don't have a single call that fetches the whole dataset. Though I'd think an article would often be covering a specific, bounded dataset to make its point, and wouldn't need to query a table of indeterminate length

Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#86
post #69

Does this mean you get a blob image where you can have root, or more like Carmack of old, GPLing / open sourcing the prev-gen tech? I'm asking basically: Is this free as in beer or as in freedom?

> Accessing or using the unlockable software (“Software”) is subject to the Oculus Terms of Service or, if you use your Facebook account to access Oculus Products, the Supplemental Oculus Terms of Service and Facebook Terms of Service (the “Applicable TOS”). For clarity, Oculus Products (as described in the Applicable TOS) include the Software. We provide the Software to you for your personal and noncommercial use on…

[deleted]

Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh? JS can be cached and preserved just like anything else. Even the (presumably JSON or CSV) data could be cached, though I don't know if the Wayback Machine follows API endpoints by default

Browsers evolve and break older pages. JS that requires requests as you interact with it will need an implementation of the server it uses (the subset and data of it's endpoints) How do you preserve that?

I've had some success in the past using a WARC proxy - it will basically record everything that traverses the browser and can "play it back" on demand. So while it won't automatically download everything on a site the idea is that whatever you visit with and interact with in a session can be "played back" in the future at some point.

Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#88

> allowing for a randomly discovered shrink wrapped headset twenty years from now to be able to update to the final software version, long after over-the-air update servers have been shut down. This resonates so much with me. Each time I setup a new device that requires an Internet connection, I think about how we can enjoy booting 30 years old retro computers and how the next generation will not be able to do the sa…

Remember setting IRQ with dip switches on your 300 baud modem....

Computers are becoming (already are) 'black-boxes' -- non serviceable by the mainstream.... Thank Tim Apple

Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#89
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consulting CTO just isn't an arrangement I hear about very often. I'm surprised part-time (if that's what it is) CTO-ing works out long-term for a tech company.

Maybe it means "full time, but I reserve the right to not be CTO at a time of my choosing."

I think he is working closer to full time on AI, and does the VR CTO thing separately.

Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#90

This is tangential, but I really wish that their would be legislation, valid retroactively, to enable old unsupported devices to still be utilized. I think this goes somewhat beyond right to repair? Take for example digital backs for medium format cameras - these things are built in low numbers, with high end FPGAs and camera sensors, with JTAG interfaces ready to go and everything - but then forgotten about a few ye…

> I think this goes somewhat beyond right to repair?

Something like right to use would be nice. If you need specs or docs or source code for the software/hardware to be usable, then it should be provided. And IMO that should include not gating essential functionality behind online services unless it is inherent to the function.

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