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Fabrice Bellard: Portrait of a super-productive programmer (2011)

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Re: Fabrice Bellard: Portrait of a super-productive programmer (2011)

#101

Post by nekopa »

cookiecaper wrote: post #40
yorak wrote: post #6

The question from previous discussion remains unanswered. How does he finance his production of top notch open source software? At least for me, the day to day churn of my day job leaves me too mentally exhausted to chase the crazy ideas I get from time to time, let alone finish them. Imagine a world where hackers, artists and artisans could follow their passions and could chase crazy ideas without a risk of losing t…

>But how to do this in real life? Mormonism prescribes an entire system for this called "The United Order", if you're really interested in a unique answer to that question. Happy to field your questions about it.

One question: how do you go about removing human nature from this interesting idea? As is true with most noble ideas, it always falls over because some person is going to twist it to suit their ends. Communism is a fantastic idea until you find out that 'Some animals are more equal than others' How does 'The United Order' deal with this?

Edit: spelling (iPad use in a pub is highly discouraged)

Re: Fabrice Bellard: Portrait of a super-productive programmer (2011)

#102

Post by zalzane »

hallowtech wrote: post #49

> Bellard, born in 1972, began practicing his own coding techniques first on a TI-59 scientific calculator, at the beginning of the ‘80s. I wonder how many people have started their programming experience on a TI calculator. I had the same way in with a TI-85.

TI-84 here. I actually tried to get into java a few years earlier (like 9 or 10 years old), but ran into loads of problems trying to get a decent tutorial. Everything about TI-BASIC was right there in the manual, which removed all the bullshit of learning a real programming language.

Re: Fabrice Bellard: Portrait of a super-productive programmer (2011)

#103

Post by lifeisstillgood »

DigitalJack wrote: post #88
lifeisstillgood wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some might see this as a bit negative - I take that in a positive way - I have maybe another 20 years of brain power left. Since the last 20 years were not nearly as productive as Bellard's I shall endeavour to calm down, and make the next 20 count.

I have to ask, what is your age that you think you only have 20 years of brain power left? For sure, there are ages for which this is true, but given the age distribution of HN readers, seeing this post makes me curious. Perhaps the plasticity of our brains is reduced, but that alone doesn't mean you have no brain power. If you think of learning as "leveling up", you may stop increasing in level at some point, but yo…

I am 41, and am assuming I will (be able to !) want to retire at 60.. I know Ghandi, Linus Pauling etc. But I suspect I shall be a tiny bit tired by 60.

Who knows. Maybe I have 40 years to go.

Whatever, I am fed up with looking back and thinking "if only" - so I shall try and minimise those by 60.

Re: Fabrice Bellard: Portrait of a super-productive programmer (2011)

#106

Post by jahewson »

danso wrote: post #84
rdudekul wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There are a lot of those kind of people, from all walks of life. They're just not on HN. I am sure there are more such people. Can you please point to some that you know of?. It is inspiring to read bios/accomplishments of such super productive programmers.

Steve Wozniak. I feel like a dork saying this, but sometimes I'll randomly page through his autobiography because I know I'll be inspired/amused from reading it: http://www.amazon.com/iWoz-Computer-Invented-Personal-Co-Fou... It's hard to think of many others who are as unequivocally good-natured as Woz...accomplished or not.

+1 I met him in Edinburgh last year and he's one hell of a nice guy.

Re: Fabrice Bellard: Portrait of a super-productive programmer (2011)

#107

Post by philh »

DigitalJack wrote: post #87
ytNumbers wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If one person calls you a jackass, ignore him. If two people call you a jackass, think about it. If three people call you a jackass, buy yourself a saddle.

I like this proverb, but I think maybe it should be updated to 1% of people who know you, 2%, 3% or some such. I mean, if thousands of people know you, 3 thinking you are a jackass isn't bad.

Though, one person out of ten is less significant than 100/1000. We should work out the probabilities of someone telling you you're a jackass given that you are/are not one, and update the proverb to use likelihood ratios.

Re: Fabrice Bellard: Portrait of a super-productive programmer (2011)

#108

Post by cookiecaper »

nekopa wrote: post #101
cookiecaper wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>But how to do this in real life? Mormonism prescribes an entire system for this called "The United Order", if you're really interested in a unique answer to that question. Happy to field your questions about it.

One question: how do you go about removing human nature from this interesting idea? As is true with most noble ideas, it always falls over because some person is going to twist it to suit their ends. Communism is a fantastic idea until you find out that 'Some animals are more equal than others' How does 'The United Order' deal with this? Edit: spelling (iPad use in a pub is highly discouraged)

Participation is totally voluntary. Private ownership still exists. When someone is dissatisfied, they can seek redress within the system, and if they find that unsatisfactory they can leave with little impedance. It's a voluntary co-op, not a compulsory governmental program. While human nature will exist, widespread tyranny and/or compulsion is not a function of The United Order, and those inclined to prefer that nature over discipline or concern for the group are free to do so, and they are free to pursue whatever opportunities they would like on the outside.

Control is very local, administered by bishops who supervise a few hundred people. Unless there was blatant misappropriation or significant credible protest, a bishop's dispensations would likely go unchallenged. Broad centralized programs that cause trouble for some unforgotten little guy are not plausible in a scenario where control is so widely dispensed and so locally focused.

Of course, there's a religious element to this. We believe the bishop has the right to be led by revelation in these duties, so that dilutes a lot of otherwise intractable social ramifications of such an organization. If a man has been ordained by the prophet to do a thing, tolerance is much, much higher than otherwise, and peace is much more likely to be kept despite individual disagreements.

By extension, Mormons further believe that those who accept the judgment of the bishop with the recognition that their bishop is the authorized representative of God in that matter, even if it opposes their personal judgment or opinion, will be lead and blessed such that they become the wealthiest people on earth many, many times over, incomprehensibly more wealthy than contemporary Western nations. Mormon eschatology, in fact, indicates that a society operating under these conditions will be the only place of prosperity on the whole earth for a time, and everyone else will be at war and unable to cooperate sufficiently to sustain any significant productive output.

Re: Fabrice Bellard: Portrait of a super-productive programmer (2011)

#109

Post by Ingaz »

rckrd wrote: post #97
schmrz wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No meaningful disussion can come from this. Other students went to the same school I'm sure. Why are we not seing the same results from all of them or at least from the majority of them? The question whether you should get university education is not an easy one. I'm strugling with it all the time and I am going to an university.

He went to a institution known for its math, we do see the same kind of results from his peers - just not in computer science.

>> we do see the same kind of results from his peers It's interesting. Can you name some of them? With published works

Re: Fabrice Bellard: Portrait of a super-productive programmer (2011)

#110

Post by tharun »

jahewson wrote: post #106
danso wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Steve Wozniak. I feel like a dork saying this, but sometimes I'll randomly page through his autobiography because I know I'll be inspired/amused from reading it: http://www.amazon.com/iWoz-Computer-Invented-Personal-Co-Fou... It's hard to think of many others who are as unequivocally good-natured as Woz...accomplished or not.

+1 I met him in Edinburgh last year and he's one hell of a nice guy.

Totally agree with what you just said
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