Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel • Hacker News Board

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#101

Post by Eisenstein » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 5:19 PM UTC

atemerev wrote: post #69

vimax wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why should prisons be about punishment rather than rehabilitation?

“Rehabilitation” means that a person is suffering from some condition, and they are not personally at fault for their crimes. While there is some partial truth in this point of view, taking it at 100% face value is unfair, to say the least. People can be actually guilty of something.

'Rehabilitation" means a few different things, depending on context. In the context of penology it means "giving a prisoner a way to integrate back into society and reduce their chances of recidivism". This is not only useful for the prisoner, but useful for society, since most prisoners are eventually released.

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rehabilitation_(penology)

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#102

Post by Athas » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 5:20 PM UTC

revel wrote: post #94

The contents of the letter are interesting in their own right, but there are 2 aspects that strike me as particularly interesting. First off, he doesn't seem to regret killing his wife, more the consequences of his crime. He doesn't mention her by name or say that she didn't deserve it. Secondly, the person he's corresponding with, Fredrick Brennan is fascinating in his own right. He's one of the 3 central characters…

He mentions her by name in the first paragraph (after the cover letter):

> I don’t post directly because I am in prison for killing my wife Nina in 2006.

He doesn't get into whether/why he is sorry:

> I am very sorry for my crime–a proper apology would be off topic for this forum, but available to any who ask.

Hans Reiser has previously explained why he believed the murder was justified. It is not clear to me, from this letter, whether he still believes so.

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#103

Post by mtlmtlmtlmtl » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 5:20 PM UTC

sph wrote: post #19

I think about Hans Reiser pretty often, incidentally, because there is a quote from him I read as a teenager that stuck with me. "The utility of an operating system is proportional to the number of connections possible between its components, than it is to the number of those components." — Hans Reiser (from http://web.archive.org/web/20040126210110/http://unununium.o... ) It's hard to reconcile good things a person…

Fully agreed.

We also have to remember that a lot of the historical figures we glorify through their great achievements were terrible people in many respects. And that often goes undiscussed.

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#104

Post by lupusreal » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 5:22 PM UTC

shzhdbi09gv8ioi wrote: post #59

themerone wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Evil is not a religious concept.

Dude. Good & evil is such a central concept in Christianity it is practically ingrained in your society if you live in a christian country even if you are secular.

Christianity also features the premise of marriage, so does that mean no secular conception of marriage can exist? Most people think otherwise.

Christianity doesn't own "good and evil", even though it features it, and nor are these premises even owned by religion generally.

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#105

Post by beibeibei » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 5:22 PM UTC

sph wrote: post #19

I think about Hans Reiser pretty often, incidentally, because there is a quote from him I read as a teenager that stuck with me. "The utility of an operating system is proportional to the number of connections possible between its components, than it is to the number of those components." — Hans Reiser (from http://web.archive.org/web/20040126210110/http://unununium.o... ) It's hard to reconcile good things a person…

[flagged]

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#106

Post by renewiltord » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 5:22 PM UTC

ahoka wrote: post #24

Why can’t people in US prisons access the internet?

Probably because you can use the reason of a gang leader orchestrating things from the inside to justify staffing to screen every email and then you charge inflated rates for that staffing.

Despite what everyone says, few things are ideological in the USA. Most things are a savvy entrepreneur locking in income from an unconventional method to draw from taxpayer money.

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#107

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 5:22 PM UTC

vimax wrote: post #57

Joker_vD wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because not being able to freely communicate with the larger society is part of the punishment? I dunno, always seemed like an obvious thing.

Why should prisons be about punishment rather than rehabilitation?

[deleted]

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#108

Post by riversflow » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 5:23 PM UTC

silisili wrote: post #30

mariusor wrote: post #2

I don't know if ending another human's life leaves any possibility of redemption for a person, but reading this I still empathize with the sense of loss and powerlessness that emanate from this letter.

I'm always wary of how manipulating some people can be. To be clear, I'm not declaring this letter or Reiser is that way necessarily, just how people have that capability. That said, to me, some of the specific phrases used felt that they were for a parole board rather than the broader audience, or charitably, both. But perhaps I've become too jaded.

> too jaded

I don’t think you are. The number of times the person inferring I’m jaded is later found out to be a manipulator is very high. Calling people who are perceptive of lies, “jaded”, “negative”, “pessimistic”, etc is seemingly a common tactic employed by sociopaths to socially empower themselves while simultaneously weakening those that might call them out.

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#109

Post by Eisenstein » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 5:23 PM UTC

revel wrote: post #94

The contents of the letter are interesting in their own right, but there are 2 aspects that strike me as particularly interesting. First off, he doesn't seem to regret killing his wife, more the consequences of his crime. He doesn't mention her by name or say that she didn't deserve it. Secondly, the person he's corresponding with, Fredrick Brennan is fascinating in his own right. He's one of the 3 central characters…

> Secondly, the person he's corresponding with, Fredrick Brennan is fascinating in his own right.

I had no idea that was that person (I am terrible with names). Thanks for pointing that out.

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#110

Post by rekado » Thu, Jan 18, 2024, 5:23 PM UTC

revel wrote: post #94

The contents of the letter are interesting in their own right, but there are 2 aspects that strike me as particularly interesting. First off, he doesn't seem to regret killing his wife, more the consequences of his crime. He doesn't mention her by name or say that she didn't deserve it. Secondly, the person he's corresponding with, Fredrick Brennan is fascinating in his own right. He's one of the 3 central characters…

He does mention her by name once, but only in passing:

> I don’t post directly because I am in prison for killing my wife Nina in 2006. > I am very sorry for my crime–a proper apology would be off topic for this forum, but available to any who ask.