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ArXiv declares independence from Cornell

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131–140 of 300 posts

Re: ArXiv declares independence from Cornell

#131

Post by queuebert »

frankling_ wrote: post #40

The recent announcement to reject review articles and position papers already smelled like a shift towards a more "opinionated" stance, and this move smells worse. The vacuum that arXiv originally filled was one of a glorified PDF hosting service with just enough of a reputation to allow some preprints to be cited in a formally published paper, and with just enough moderation to not devolve into spam and chaos. It ha…

> Unfortunately, over the years, arXiv has become something like a "venue" in its own right, ...

In my experience as a publishing scientist, this is partly because publishing with "reputable" journals is an increasingly onerous process, with exorbitant fees, enshittified UIs, and useless reviews. The alternative is to upload to arXiv and move on with your life.

Re: ArXiv declares independence from Cornell

#132

Post by budman1 »

ChrisGreenHeur wrote: post #57
Garlef wrote: post #39

Maybe they should implement a graph based trust system: You need your favourite academic gatekeeper (= thesis advisor) to vouch for you in order to be allowed to upload. Then AI slop gets flagged and the shame spreads through the graph. And flaggings need to have evidence attached that can again be flagged.

Science reduced to people with a phd?

not a bad first order filter.

can you think of a better one?

Re: ArXiv declares independence from Cornell

#133

Post by Miraltar »

bjourne wrote: post #124
magnio wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They do have their own: https://hal.science/ It is actually quite common to come across HAL in subfields of mathematics in my experience.

HAL is decidedly second-tier. Given the option, everyone would pick arXiv over HAL. Hence, HAL hosts lots of stuff that didn't (even) make it to arXiv => lots of subpar dredge.

> HAL is decidedly second-tier. Given the option, everyone would pick arXiv over HAL.

Can you elaborate on that?

Re: ArXiv declares independence from Cornell

#134

Post by throw-the-towel »

mort96 wrote: post #117
0x3f wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You get by on a low salary by living with multiple people in the same apartment. Or you live far away and commute. Or both. Not really a tenable long-term situation for a senior employee with plans to start a family. Family homes of decent size and area are literally millions of dollars.

I guess I don't understand why programmers somehow deserve a better life than other people. Janitors deserve to start families too, don't they?

Usually this kind of argument leads to punishing the programmers, not lifting up the janitors.

Re: ArXiv declares independence from Cornell

#135

Post by bonoboTP »

oscaracso wrote: post #129
juped wrote: post #118

>Cornell, for example, had a limited capacity to pay software developers to maintain and upgrade the site, which still has a very no-frills look and feel. arXiv is doomed. It was nice while it lasted.

I am not a software engineer, although I do write programs. What is it about digital infrastructure that requires maintenance? In the natural world, there is corrosion, thermal fluctuation, radiation, seismic activity, vandalism, whathaveyou. What are the issues facing the arxiv demanding the attention of multiple people 'round the clock?

They have to update the software stack, replace usage of deprecated APIs, support new latex packages etc. They could probably minimize these by limiting the scope but just keeping a small, tightly scoped software functional is always boring, people want to work on fun new features, they enjoy the brand recognition and feel like they should do more stuff.

I wonder when they will introduce the algorithmic feed and the social network features.

Re: ArXiv declares independence from Cornell

#137

Post by throw-the-towel »

mort96 wrote: post #114
0x3f wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh right, well it depends on CoL doesn't it? You can reframe European salaries as 'obscene' by world standards too. Both the US and Europe have totally broken and unaffordable housing markets, for example, but at least the Bay Area compensates with salary. I would say that relative to costs it's more that other salaries are obscenely low, if anything. People in Europe should be rioting, but unfortunately only the hom…

Does cities like San Francisco not have janitors? Waiters? Food delivery drivers? Or do those jobs command a six-figure salary too? If they can live comfortably in the city on a five-figure salary, maybe the argument that "cost of living is so high in SF that you can't live without a $300,000/year salary" is just a little bit overblown? I can not imagine what one could possibly need $300,000 per year for unless an ap…

> I can not imagine what one could possibly need $300,000 per year for unless an apartment costs like $200,000 per year.

Being able to afford unpredictable expenses and not have it bankrupt you. In the US, that would include healthcare. Everywhere in the world, that would be useful if you were laid off.

Re: ArXiv declares independence from Cornell

#138

Post by oscaracso »

0x3f wrote: post #126
oscaracso wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Universities are also not suited to test which race car is the fastest, but that does not obviate the need for academic research in mechanical engineering.

Perhaps but the fastest race car is not possibly marshalling in the end of human involvement in science, so you might consider these of considerably different levels of meriting the funding.

>marshalling in the end of human involvement in science

Good riddance! But not relevant in the least.

Re: ArXiv declares independence from Cornell

#139

Post by 0x3f »

oscaracso wrote: post #138
0x3f wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps but the fastest race car is not possibly marshalling in the end of human involvement in science, so you might consider these of considerably different levels of meriting the funding.

>marshalling in the end of human involvement in science Good riddance! But not relevant in the least.

Impact size is not relevant to funding allocation?

Re: ArXiv declares independence from Cornell

#140

Post by carlosjobim »

dev_l1x_be wrote: post #98
mort96 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Salaries in the US are so bonkers. Everywhere else outside of the US, $300,000 is an outlandish high salary. To call it "mid to high" is insane.

So is the living cost. Insurance, housing, etc. A better comparison is PPP.

Living costs are similarly high in many places that have nowhere near the salaries of the US.

It's still the land of opportunities. It's easier to find ways to reduce your living costs than ways to increase your salary.

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