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John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

arstechnica.com

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Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#111

Post by lgas »

rchaud wrote: post #5
nicolaslem wrote: post #3

> allowing for a randomly discovered shrink wrapped headset twenty years from now to be able to update to the final software version, long after over-the-air update servers have been shut down. This resonates so much with me. Each time I setup a new device that requires an Internet connection, I think about how we can enjoy booting 30 years old retro computers and how the next generation will not be able to do the sa…

The same is true of some of the best work being done on the web, such as the NYTimes interactive infographics. Because they are so JS-heavy, and reliant on CI/CD pipelines for deployment, on custom CMSes, there is no way to archive them in the way that static pages containing just text and images can be archived on the Wayback Machine. Heck, even Flash projects from 15 years ago still run fine when compiled on Ruffle…

I don't see how JS, CI/CD, or CMSes impact archivability, but something like dependence on API availability instantly ruins archivability.

Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#112

Post by sneak »

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #97
horsawlarway wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could not agree more. At the bare minimum a vendor should not be allowed to sell a device that has digital locks if the user is not also given a copy of the keys. You can lock the device, but if I don't get a key at time of purchase, then I don't own the damn thing.

I'm trying to think of a situation where this is objectively bad, and I having trouble thinking of areas where this is objectively bad. The best I came up with is purchasing an elevator, which has a key for firemen. I wouldn't really want to just give everybody a copy of that key. But on the other hand, you can buy that key on Amazon for $5. It would maybe help people think about security a bit more if they bought a…

The reason Apple doesn't do this is because users will get deceived into providing those keys to malicious entities which will compromise their devices and everything on them in exchange for the promise of free games, or free in-game currency, or whatever.

Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#113

Post by treesknees »

soylentcola wrote: post #94
ralmidani wrote: post #59

Massive props to John Carmack! We also need laws to protect consumers when they don’t have an enlightened champion on their side. Part of the reason I buy Apple devices is because Apple is unlikely to get acquired or go out of business for the foreseeable future. I wish there were viable alternatives. Android devices are not an option for me, as they are more likely to be abandoned and/or contain Google/manufacturer/…

Oddly enough, this is why I stopped buying iOS devices. With my old Android phones/the one Android tablet I got I was able to install something useful and pared-down once they became older and unsupported. They work fine as readers/browsers on my home network or as "fancy" remotes and local-network media players. The only old iOS device I haven't sold/tossed is an iPad 2 which is unbearably slow for most things, and…

As long as that Android device has an unlocked bootloader, or an exploit to bypass the bootloader. The same thing can be said about iOS devices (other than perhaps a lack of 3rd party operating systems to install in the first place.)

Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#114

Post by jessaustin »

Arrath wrote: post #33
freediver wrote: post #9

Imagining that future is about people wearing VR devices on their head (even as minimal as a pair of glasses) is hard to grasp. "In their head" would be a different matter but that is not what the current technology is focusing on (apart from Neuralink). Edit: not propagating for any such vision the future! just noticing that wearing stuff on head would be clunky and impractical for true immersion.

I'm just waiting for a lightweight pair of AR glasses that I can wear while wrenching on a hobby car that give overlays, labels, disassembly instructions akin to car mechanic simulator. If they can automagically tell me what size wrench/socket i need to grab, even better.

As hard as it is to find any service manual at all for old machinery, and then when you spend $100 to order a used manual off ebay find that the really useful pages are ripped out or covered with grease, I think a product like you describe is waiting on AGI more than it's waiting on nice AR glasses. Very few people need this product, so the intellectual labor to produce it will need to be nearly free.

I've gotten to where I can identify most bolt head sizes on sight... I very rarely have to pick up more than two wrenches and usually the first one is right. Also I find that bolt sizes are typically fairly standardized on a particular machine. I occasionally work on a mini-excavator that has 10mm, 13mm, and 19mm bolts (and 8mm allen-heads), but nothing else I've found so far.

Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#115

Post by AdmiralAsshat »

dewey wrote: post #57
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why I still try so hard to buy physical copies of games, and if there is a GOTY Edition, to have the DLC be on-disk , as opposed to being a bunch of download vouchers. I wanna be able to play the freaking game in ten years without worrying about whether the game/console's online service is still available to do some mandatory authentication or version check.

> This is why I still try so hard to buy physical copies of games Aren't these also subject to disk rot?

It's certainly a possibility, but anecdotally, I have audio CDs from the late 80s that still play.

Meanwhile, I have games I played 3-4 years ago on the PS3 that are severely hampered because the online components no longer work--the servers were either shut down, or in one case the company completely went under.

Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#116

Post by xtracto »

quakeguy wrote: post #93
sillysaurusx wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Carmack made multiple fundamental breakthroughs in 3D graphics. Not only that, but he consistently positioned himself to commercialize those , which is not easy. His Quake 3 engine was the bread and butter of Id Software, generating billions in revenue. In recent times, he's done coronavirus simulations (I don't know anything else about that), and is doing AGI research. He's also a true hacker through and through. Si…

He also helped to create a generation of people which modded and created forks of the engines he wrote to use in their own projects, providing the basis for tools to modify assets and whatnot. I owe him so much and I thank him for what he enabled everyday.

I think a lot of people miss this. I grew up half a generation after him, so I got into computers by tinkering with Commodore Log, GWBasic and later C++/Allegro. But the next generation after that was of a huge amount of kids doing mods for Quake, Doom and the like. It opened the doors in an accessible way to computing for a lot of people.

Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#117

Post by z3t4 »

Asmod4n wrote: post #106
rchaud wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same is true of some of the best work being done on the web, such as the NYTimes interactive infographics. Because they are so JS-heavy, and reliant on CI/CD pipelines for deployment, on custom CMSes, there is no way to archive them in the way that static pages containing just text and images can be archived on the Wayback Machine. Heck, even Flash projects from 15 years ago still run fine when compiled on Ruffle…

Just wait for the first big JS Framework which uses the canvas for everything.

Ive implemented a text editor with screen reader support using the html canvas element. Every graphics interface is just a canvas, what is sent to the screen is just data. The nice thing with html is that the data is human readable.

Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#119

Post by Spivak »

Asmod4n wrote: post #106
rchaud wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same is true of some of the best work being done on the web, such as the NYTimes interactive infographics. Because they are so JS-heavy, and reliant on CI/CD pipelines for deployment, on custom CMSes, there is no way to archive them in the way that static pages containing just text and images can be archived on the Wayback Machine. Heck, even Flash projects from 15 years ago still run fine when compiled on Ruffle…

Just wait for the first big JS Framework which uses the canvas for everything.

That kind of thing makes indexing a nightmare but it's not any more difficult to archive than .exe or .swf files. Sure you need a "player" but that's true of PDF and OOXML and people don't really complain about those.

Re: John Carmack pushes out unlocked OS for defunct Oculus Go headset

#120

Post by erickhill »

nicolaslem wrote: post #3

> allowing for a randomly discovered shrink wrapped headset twenty years from now to be able to update to the final software version, long after over-the-air update servers have been shut down. This resonates so much with me. Each time I setup a new device that requires an Internet connection, I think about how we can enjoy booting 30 years old retro computers and how the next generation will not be able to do the sa…

This is precisely one of the key reasons I stick with Nintendo consoles for gaming. Sure, they sell plenty of connected games and online experiences, too, but I purchase all new games as physical "cartridges." This way in 20 years my son will be able to relive Breath of the Wild and a very large library of other Switch classics should he so desire.
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