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Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

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Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#211

Post by hosh »

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…

That principle has been stated and developed in other context. For example, there was an earlier HN post about composition of features (https://lea.verou.me/blog/2023/eigensolutions/?latest)

Another example is in ecology. Resilient ecology has many possible interactions among members of the ecology (including humans). An "invasive species" isn't necessarily one that is not native to the ecology, but one that is able to exploit a resource while having a minimum interaction with the rest of the ecology.

Dr. John Todd's ecovats are essentially self-contained ecologies that self-organized around a pollutant. They are created by taking samples from a number of ecological systems and putting them together into vats, and then running contaminated water through there. It's because the possible interactions are so high, that somewhere in there, was a path to breaking down the contaminant. In such a way, Dr. Todd was able to break DDT down in a matter of days through a system like that, and has worked on cleaning up superfund sites with this method.

To go one step further than number of interactions, Christopher Alexander's ideas on pattern languages was more than just about interaction of components, but actually about the _grammar_ of design patterns. Such a grammar can be constructed in a way that all possible combination coming out of the grammar results in a cohesive design. This allows inhabitants of an architecture or an end-user to reconfigure anything (as long as it follows that grammar) to suit their current needs, and it would still come off as a cohesive design.

To circle back to addressing the idea of evil and people who do bad things. I think you can find truth anywhere, and Han Reiser certainly touched on an insight (though it was not exclusive to him). I would further suggest this though: wouldn't this also mean that there is value in _relationships_ among people? In, not just the exchange of thoughts and knowledge, but the exchange of shared experience and feeling?

I don't know what went through Reiser's head when he killed his wife, and I can believe that there are a kind of madness that can consume someone. I think perhaps, Reiser saw an insight in systems engineering ... but did not see how that same principle was also present in the day to day life as well. (Or maybe he did see it, and was consumed by a madness anyways)

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#212

Post by jacquesm »

0x457 wrote: post #177
dlandau wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That he still wrote "in prison for killing my wife Nina" when she wasn't his wife anymore at the time indicates IMO that he still doesn't get it.

Legally speaking, she was, since the divorce wasn't finalized.

I don't think that matters much. To all practical intents and purposes she was no longer 'his wife' and given that he killed her the fact that the divorce was never finalized shouldn't give him extra rights.

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#213

Post by cachvico »

jacquesm wrote: post #178
stickfigure wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was there something I missed? I just reread his wikipedia page, and it seems to confirm the crime-of-passion narrative that I remember from 15 years ago. That said, I would not disagree with your character evaluation.

A crime of passion does not normally include studying up on body removal, ways to hide further evidence and not owning up to the crime for years because you - wrongly - believe that you can't be convicted if the body can't be found. This was premeditated murder, not a crime of passion.

Premeditation means planning it beforehand.

The books were purchased after the deed was done.

A crime of passion can be covered up without making it premeditated.

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#214

Post by oh_sigh »

jacquesm wrote: post #178
stickfigure wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was there something I missed? I just reread his wikipedia page, and it seems to confirm the crime-of-passion narrative that I remember from 15 years ago. That said, I would not disagree with your character evaluation.

A crime of passion does not normally include studying up on body removal, ways to hide further evidence and not owning up to the crime for years because you - wrongly - believe that you can't be convicted if the body can't be found. This was premeditated murder, not a crime of passion.

Those things happened after the murder, and don't necessarily preclude a crime of passion. When someone does commit a crime of passion, they don't always just come out and confess as soon as they're clear headed again.

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#215

Post by agumonkey »

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…

also slightly reminiscent of perlis https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6016271/why-is-it-better...

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#217

Post by Pet_Ant »

sph wrote: post #81
robertlagrant wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That sentence is a guiding principle of software design that I cannot often quote, without entering into a huge discussion on the pain Reiser has caused That's a shame. He did something awful, but that's nothing at all to do with the idea in the quotation. Ideas shouldn't be cursed because the wrong person said them; they should stand or fall on their own merits.

Certainly, I don't have a problem with the quote. I just don't want to face the inevitable "Hans Reiser? Isn't that the one that..." quagmire that pretty much everybody is going to step into.

I have a Bill Cosby quote that I attribute to Dr Huxtable. It is sufficient citation, old heads will know but don't react, and new heads will just nod and not get triggered.

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#218

Post by agumonkey »

bejk22 wrote: post #85
bachmeier wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Ending another human's life" covers a wide range of cases. My recollection of this event, which is now long in the past, is that he was cold, calculating, did not value human life, and was quite comfortable with his kids moving on without their mother. He didn't just do something to her. He permanently damaged his kids, her family, and all of her friends. He made his decision knowing all of this. Redemption? Possibl…

> because he's not like the rest of us. He's human and killing other humans is something a humans can do, given the right circumstances.

you can't define human that broadly i guess

what peop le want out of this word is a decent enough amount of compassion and altruism, something that would prevent that kind of harm to others (but i forgot if there was some heated arguments before he decided to step onto the murder path).

unless passionate crime is what you had in mind

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#219

Post by nilslindemann »

jacquesm wrote: post #111
ddtaylor wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He was denied two years ago.

He planned the murder of the mother of his kids, I'm pretty sure he can plan well in advance for a parole hearing. I wouldn't put anything past the likes of Hans Reiser or Peter Madsen.

"According to a later confession by Hans Reiser to authorities, on September 3, 2006, Nina Reiser dropped their two children off with Hans Reiser at his mother's house, where he was living at the time. The pair got into a heated argument over Nina Reiser taking the children to the doctor, with Nina referencing that she had custody over the children, and so was free to do as she wished. Defense lawyer William DuBois later said that Hans Reiser alleged that Nina Reiser was fabricating illnesses in the children. Hans Reiser hit her in the face and strangled her to death."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Reiser

I do not read this as planned, but as "Handlung im Affekt", dunno the English term.

Re: Hans Reiser on ReiserFS deprecation in the Linux kernel

#220

Post by hnbad »

shzhdbi09gv8ioi wrote: post #28
themerone wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Drunk driving is a stupid thing people do. Murder is an act of evil.

Only if you believe in evil. I'm not christian so I don't see the world like that. He killed his s/o, like what 15 years ago now? People change and deserves a second chance.

If you don't believe in evil (I don't) that not only means he isn't evil but that he also didn't murder his ex because he was evil. So there must still be something to him 15 years ago that made him plan to and murder his ex, hide the body, use elaborate lies to deny his actions and then only admit to it when offered a deal to disclose the location of the body to allow the victim's grieving family to bury her.

That's a lot. The prison system is neither equipped nor designed to resocialize or rehabilitate people. He hasn't demonstrated any considerable change in his character or outlook on the value of human life that makes me believe he changed for the better.

He didn't make a mistake. He intentionally planned out the murder of his ex and how to hide the body and explain her disappearance and he did this to keep his children he neglected, which was the reason for her breaking up with him to begin with. And then he acted out that plan and stuck to it for months. Most people don't even commit to their gym memberships as long as he did to his cover story.

People aren't evil. But people also don't improve by rotting in prison. You can argue that means we need something better than prison and I would, but you can't argue that means he should be treated as redeemed or released early.

Dropping a feel-good out of context MLK quote to try and impress a future parole hearing is not a demonstration of character growth. Still referring to his victim as "my wife" when she had already broken up with him is not a demonstration of character growth. If he seeks redemption he needs to address those surviving his victim. If he wants to demonstrate rehabilitation he needs to do more than just get older and memorize meaningless platitudes.

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