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Hundred Rabbits is a small collective exploring the failability of modern tech

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Re: Hundred Rabbits is a small collective exploring the failability of modern tech

#11

Post by pushfoo »

stonethrowaway wrote: post #2

Their philosophy makes me think they should just use Windows XP/7 or something and call it a day. Offline first? “past-proofing”? These are desktop and console programs where the OS vendors have spent onerous amounts of capital to maintain backward API compatibility. In other words: Windows and Win32, and nothing but. Everything else, including the Web, has been broken and deprecated several times over.

TL;DR: They already wrote Varvara[1] + software[2] for it

My understanding is:

* The authors wanted to run on a Raspberry Pi powered by solar + batteries

* They're often somewhere in the Pacific so their internet connection is often bad

* Varvara[1] is the portable-enough solution which works for them

* Others liked it enough to write a bunch of other tools[2]

It's all pretty much self-hosting at this point. It's not for everyone, but why bother with Windows if it fits your needs?

[1]: https://wiki.xxiivv.com/site/varvara.html

[2]: https://github.com/hundredrabbits/awesome-uxn?tab=readme-ov-...

Re: Hundred Rabbits is a small collective exploring the failability of modern tech

#12

Post by stonethrowaway »

mikae1 wrote: post #3
stonethrowaway wrote: post #2

Their philosophy makes me think they should just use Windows XP/7 or something and call it a day. Offline first? “past-proofing”? These are desktop and console programs where the OS vendors have spent onerous amounts of capital to maintain backward API compatibility. In other words: Windows and Win32, and nothing but. Everything else, including the Web, has been broken and deprecated several times over.

https://git.sr.ht/~vdupras/duskos > Dusk OS is a 32-bit Forth and big brother to Collapse OS. Its primary purpose is to be maximally useful during the first stage of civilizational collapse, that is, when we can't produce modern computers anymore but that there's still many modern computers around.

[flagged]

Re: Hundred Rabbits is a small collective exploring the failability of modern tech

#13

Post by Bluestein »

jldugger wrote: post #9
mikejulietbravo wrote: post #8

The start of this reads like the beginning of a cult manifesto, but then transitions to a very logical solution for an important problem. Baffling. I'm in

It keeps bouncing between too real and too absurd. Absurd: Not enough power on our sailboat to run Ableton and Photoshop. Real: So we replaced it with open source technology. Absurd: That technology was based on Electron. Real: Electron was too bloated. Absurd: So we ported everything over to the NES. Real: And now you can run our software anywhere you can emulate an NES

Exactly my feeling.-

PS. Which leads me - tangentially - to think that (maybe) the solution to (at least) some of our problems might someday be found in a cult :)

Who knows ...

> Absurd: So we ported everything over to the NES.

This was grand. The NES as a most effective "baseline" platform. Can totally see humanity sending out an NES emulator on Voyager VI as a last gasp.-

Re: Hundred Rabbits is a small collective exploring the failability of modern tech

#14

Post by montebicyclelo »

Their 2d music programming language, Orca is very cool/fun. Some examples:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=MNF8SF69QvM&list=PLb1uDATFJPcEEG...

https://youtube.com/watch?v=DBI8eBMGyYs

https://youtube.com/watch?v=mxr8Dtw2R5w

https://youtube.com/watch?v=RDZiKYSGsjg

Re: Hundred Rabbits is a small collective exploring the failability of modern tech

#15

Post by imrejonk »

bagels wrote: post #5

My solution would have been: older copies of photoshop that don't require an internet connection and a larger battery + solar panels.

A larger battery and more solar panels doesn’t seem to be an option for the authors:

> The modern stack doesn't really work for us, it doesn't apply to the limitations that we have on the boat. We have 180 watts of solar. We just spent the whole summer with two 6-volt batteries, which is very small. When you're going down that route, at every turn people are telling to just put more solar panels, or to buy more batteries. That is such a modern way of solving your problem. In reality, technology like this(especially high-tech) rarely solves problems. It creates a lot of other problems, which on a sailboat is very immediate. Putting more solar would mean more windage, more chance of things flying off and cutting our limbs. More batteries would mean the boat would be heavier, it would stop us from being able to run away from storms.

https://100r.co/site/weathering_software_winter.html

Re: Hundred Rabbits is a small collective exploring the failability of modern tech

#16

Post by anthk »

jldugger wrote: post #9
mikejulietbravo wrote: post #8

The start of this reads like the beginning of a cult manifesto, but then transitions to a very logical solution for an important problem. Baffling. I'm in

It keeps bouncing between too real and too absurd. Absurd: Not enough power on our sailboat to run Ableton and Photoshop. Real: So we replaced it with open source technology. Absurd: That technology was based on Electron. Real: Electron was too bloated. Absurd: So we ported everything over to the NES. Real: And now you can run our software anywhere you can emulate an NES

I think they used Krita first. But UXN isn't restricted to small res art/screens. Look at oquonie.

Re: Hundred Rabbits is a small collective exploring the failability of modern tech

#17

Post by anthk »

stonethrowaway wrote: post #2

Their philosophy makes me think they should just use Windows XP/7 or something and call it a day. Offline first? “past-proofing”? These are desktop and console programs where the OS vendors have spent onerous amounts of capital to maintain backward API compatibility. In other words: Windows and Win32, and nothing but. Everything else, including the Web, has been broken and deprecated several times over.

They run 9front, much better than XP and 7. No reinstalls, no DLL hells, everything it's statically compiled, updates can be done totally in place and offline.

Good luck running Windows 7 on an RPI and with a laughable power draw.

Oh, and don't even compare VS + MSDN documentations (huge GB's wasted) vs what Acme can do and just the plan9's 9.intro.pdf book. The disk usage would wear out any SD in days. 9front, otoh, can even selfcompile itself in a breeze. Try that under Windows.

Re: Hundred Rabbits is a small collective exploring the failability of modern tech

#18

Post by Bluestein »

munificent wrote: post #10

I had the good fortune to meet and spend some time with Devine at Handmade Seattle a couple of years ago. It was an absolutely wonderful, inspiring experience.

Wishing to thank you for your comment, please, do tell. Can imagine it would have been (inspiring, etc.).-

Re: Hundred Rabbits is a small collective exploring the failability of modern tech

#19

Post by wizzwizz4 »

Bluestein wrote: post #13
jldugger wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It keeps bouncing between too real and too absurd. Absurd: Not enough power on our sailboat to run Ableton and Photoshop. Real: So we replaced it with open source technology. Absurd: That technology was based on Electron. Real: Electron was too bloated. Absurd: So we ported everything over to the NES. Real: And now you can run our software anywhere you can emulate an NES

Exactly my feeling.- PS. Which leads me - tangentially - to think that (maybe) the solution to (at least) some of our problems might someday be found in a cult :) Who knows ... > Absurd: So we ported everything over to the NES. This was grand. The NES as a most effective "baseline" platform. Can totally see humanity sending out an NES emulator on Voyager VI as a last gasp.-

LessWrong had some pretty good advice in the early months of the pandemic, despite their terrible track record on politics and AI. There's a lot right with the Amish. You could write an entire book about the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Cults can have a lot to offer.

Re: Hundred Rabbits is a small collective exploring the failability of modern tech

#20

Post by Bluestein »

anthk wrote: post #17
stonethrowaway wrote: post #2

Their philosophy makes me think they should just use Windows XP/7 or something and call it a day. Offline first? “past-proofing”? These are desktop and console programs where the OS vendors have spent onerous amounts of capital to maintain backward API compatibility. In other words: Windows and Win32, and nothing but. Everything else, including the Web, has been broken and deprecated several times over.

They run 9front, much better than XP and 7. No reinstalls, no DLL hells, everything it's statically compiled, updates can be done totally in place and offline. Good luck running Windows 7 on an RPI and with a laughable power draw. Oh, and don't even compare VS + MSDN documentations (huge GB's wasted) vs what Acme can do and just the plan9's 9.intro.pdf book. The disk usage would wear out any SD in days. 9front, otoh,…

The constraints under which they work are wonderful. Power included. It basically mandates excellence, efficiency.-
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