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Things that used to be hard and are now easy

jvns.ca

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Re: Things that used to be hard and are now easy

#131

Post by cabraca »

sofixa wrote: post #85
codeflo wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with all of those. More things that are harder now: * Finding honest product impressions/reviews. * When looking for a configuration setting or tip to use any piece of software, find a one minute article with clear bullet points instead of an 11 minute YouTube video with a personal backstory and a VPN sponsorship. * Finding a cooking recipe that isn’t padded with SEO nonsense. * When finding an online discuss…

> * (Europeans only.) Publish a simple website without worrying that the hosting provider you choose doesn’t perfectly conform to privacy laws that even lawyers won’t explain to you and you’re personally liable for ridiculous damages. I'm sorry but that's just FUD. GDPR fines are only for serious infractions with intent, most violators get off with a warning. Furthermore, access logs are OK because they're a legitima…

Oh boy you have no idea how horrible it is. Check out the latest rulings in that regard. Google Fonts is a big no now. Everything that "transmits PII (including your IP address)" is problematic. Its just a matter of time until all those free static site hosters (github/gitlab pages, netlify, etc) are targeted, cloudflare probably too. Our legal council already told us to "at least add some notification that people are leaving the site" if they click on the social login buttons ... because it could be considered transmission of the IP because of the redirect.

Re: Things that used to be hard and are now easy

#132

Post by antirez »

vvanders wrote: post #119
antirez wrote: post #70

It's very hard to accept the statement that writing fast programs is now simpler with Go/Rust. I think that what happened is more like this: * With Go is now possible to write reasonably fast (not as fast as C) programs in a simpler way. That's great indeed, but is not exactly the above statement. * With Rust it is possible to write programs that have a speed that is comparable to the one of C programs, that are memo…

Reading the article and I didn't see writing fast Rust programs as easier listed(only Go). The callout was for sharing data between threads which I think is an area where Rust has the edge over other languages.

Because the article was modified.

[Note] Another HN user mentioned that the statement was dubious, cited the original statement, got downvoted to hell: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30406644

Re: Things that used to be hard and are now easy

#133

Post by jwolfe »

antirez wrote: post #70

It's very hard to accept the statement that writing fast programs is now simpler with Go/Rust. I think that what happened is more like this: * With Go is now possible to write reasonably fast (not as fast as C) programs in a simpler way. That's great indeed, but is not exactly the above statement. * With Rust it is possible to write programs that have a speed that is comparable to the one of C programs, that are memo…

I suspect it's pretty hard to make the case that the average Rust program is harder to write than the equivalent C program. I suspect it is quite the opposite. The language provides so many tools that didn't exist in the age of C -- high level concepts like Iterators, destructuring match statements, deriving debug printing for free, etc.

But both of our opinions are just opinions.

Re: Things that used to be hard and are now easy

#134

Post by sdoering »

umvi wrote: post #54
theden wrote: post #19

Would be interested in also seeing a "things that used to be easy but are now hard list". Feels like basic stuff is harder now: * Privacy online * Google search for niche or exact matches * Browsing without captchas and blockers, especially if you don't adhere to big tech's rules for the internet * Sending emails without worrying about spam filters being way too aggressive * SEO before it got hacked to hell * Barrier…

Logging into an online account on a computer you don't normally use when you don't have your phone. This can range from "had to jump through a bunch of extra hoops" to impossible if you haven't saved backup codes ahead of time (Google). My wife lost her phone when we were on vacation and it was literally impossible for us to login into her Google account in order to use find my Android. We were trying to login on a r…

I agree. My SO is nowadays so frustrated by all the security hoops and pseudo-security hoops like Gmail regularly stopping to work with her Thunderbird (she regularly needs to setup a new app specific PW). Other spps/sites sending SMS, others forcing you to use their app for verification and not one standard to get used to.

I am used to this from work but even there MS pesters me to install MS authenticator while I clearly always just use my regular 2fa solution.

And because I think the state of 2fa is not user friendly my own solution is not very secure by using Authy with a client on every device. So there is no second factor. I just copy paste from the app on my computer and don't need to grab my phone.

Re: Things that used to be hard and are now easy

#136

Post by cabraca »

codeflo wrote: post #100
sofixa wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> * (Europeans only.) Publish a simple website without worrying that the hosting provider you choose doesn’t perfectly conform to privacy laws that even lawyers won’t explain to you and you’re personally liable for ridiculous damages. I'm sorry but that's just FUD. GDPR fines are only for serious infractions with intent, most violators get off with a warning. Furthermore, access logs are OK because they're a legitima…

Yes, I’m specifically in fear, uncertainty and doubt. To be clear, I’m fully onboard with the intent of the GDPR, but I have no idea how to follow it. And “you’ll be okay, the fines are probably small” is exactly the kind if statement that causes anxiety. I’ve recently tried to figure out if it’s okay to use something like Cloudflare Pages to host a blog. That’s not an esoteric question, but I was unable to get an an…

Yeah, Cloudflare Pages is out, same as Github/Gitlab Pages, Netlify and all the other free offerings Hosted by a US Company.

Social Login Buttons are probably a problem too, if they automatically redirect. Could be considered a transmission of IP.

Game Servers that connect to Steam on client connect are probably a problem too.

I like the idea behind GDPR but the implementation is a fucking shitshow.

Re: Things that used to be hard and are now easy

#137

Post by oefrha »

> Cross-compilation (Go and Rust ship with cross-compilation support out of the box)

That's not right? Go has builtin cross-compilation. Rust does not, you need to bring your own cross toolchain even after adding rust-std for the target with rustup, unless there are recent changes I'm not aware of.

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