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When I stopped trying to self-optimize, I got better

nytimes.com

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Re: When I stopped trying to self-optimize, I got better

#71

Post by contravariant »

ph4evers wrote: post #62
Izkata wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually find it easier to memorize the flags than to memorize the commands I created myself, because they're a lot more descriptive than short commands like in your examples. The few times I do come up with my own stuff, it's a 2+ line function (or full shell script) that can't be duplicated in a single command and can't be done as an alias.

Except for tar. But there I use the mnemonic “xtrackt ze files”

That may work, but I can never for the life of me remember what on earth each flag was for.

Doesn't help that '-a' basically means 'all the flags', meaning you have to know them all to figure out what on earth it's doing. Or just hope it is enough.

Re: When I stopped trying to self-optimize, I got better

#72

Post by j7ake »

pdmccormick wrote: post #20

Over the past year, I’ve made a deliberate effort to improve my “personal computing”, which for me is about how I use the shell. I start by trying to notice when I’m doing the same task multiple times and getting tripped up on the specific syntax or sequence of commands (i.e. what’s the Git command again to split certain files out of a previous commit into a separate one?) I will then create an alias, a shell script…

Would love a system that analyses my shell command usage and recommend when I should link commands I often use in series and turn them into one line.

It’s more than just frequency analysis because it helps to remember what commands happened before or after. It also needs to be smart about when two commands are actually “the same thing” but with different flags or input filenames.

Maybe something like an N-gram model.

Re: When I stopped trying to self-optimize, I got better

#73

Post by HansardExpert »

ajkjk wrote: post #11

I have found that happiness seems to be inversely proportional to how much time I spend worrying that I'm acceptable or likeable to others. Got a notion early in life that being liked would involve being the way other people are and trying not to be the way I am and that messed everything up for fifteen years or so. It was the realization that ' as myself I will still be appealing to others' that finally dispelled a…

“Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” ― Oscar Wilde

Re: When I stopped trying to self-optimize, I got better

#75

Post by sambazi »

Noumenon72 wrote: post #64
sambazi wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> alias ss="git status" ss is actually a 'socket stats' and will list all active connections while resolving their reverse dns name, be careful

Is there any harm in that?

the swath of dns-requests from calling ss on a machine with a lot of connections can trigger rate-limiting from the dns-server which in turn can disrupt other things.

i wish this was hypothetical

Re: When I stopped trying to self-optimize, I got better

#76

Post by nirui »

I'm sure the scenery near the cliff is beautiful, and climbing can be a good experience. But then I don't really think failing the first few tries is a lost.

Funny enough, the first few things that I want to learn before a "self-optimize" includes what could happen if I failed (and how to recover from it). The combined knowledge makes the process safer (for your time and effort).

The first time I tried to drive a car, the first thing I asked the teacher even before I started the engine was "what should I do in order to make it stop?", because I expect mess ups, the knowledge on how to react to it might be valuable later.

BTW: Another thing that I've learned in my life so far is don't get too fixated on something. Life is short, putting your effort on one thing removes it from another. Not all optimization is required, which is true in software development as well as in life.

The city where I live got a few cliffs from mining operations, almost 90 degrees up down and very tall. I lived under one of them when I was little, but I never developed any passion for it. If I try to climb it base on my none-existing skills, I'll probably end up as a missing-person record and food for mountain rats. But I never feel any lost in my life for not able to climb those cliffs.

There are so many struggles we can commit our lives to fight against, the act of picking a good one is equally important as the fight itself.

Re: When I stopped trying to self-optimize, I got better

#77

Post by williamdclt »

j7ake wrote: post #72
pdmccormick wrote: post #20

Over the past year, I’ve made a deliberate effort to improve my “personal computing”, which for me is about how I use the shell. I start by trying to notice when I’m doing the same task multiple times and getting tripped up on the specific syntax or sequence of commands (i.e. what’s the Git command again to split certain files out of a previous commit into a separate one?) I will then create an alias, a shell script…

Would love a system that analyses my shell command usage and recommend when I should link commands I often use in series and turn them into one line. It’s more than just frequency analysis because it helps to remember what commands happened before or after. It also needs to be smart about when two commands are actually “the same thing” but with different flags or input filenames. Maybe something like an N-gram model.

I don't like being this guy, but maybe throwing your history at a GPT, asking it exactly that, would work fairly well?

Re: When I stopped trying to self-optimize, I got better

#78

Post by Kiro »

keyle wrote: post #24
pdmccormick wrote: post #20

Over the past year, I’ve made a deliberate effort to improve my “personal computing”, which for me is about how I use the shell. I start by trying to notice when I’m doing the same task multiple times and getting tripped up on the specific syntax or sequence of commands (i.e. what’s the Git command again to split certain files out of a previous commit into a separate one?) I will then create an alias, a shell script…

Everyone does this. Otherwise you'd go bat sh*t crazy trying to remember every intricate details of common tools. also using ctrl+r and filter through older commands (ctrl+r to cycle) is also necessary for good mental health. for example alias ll="lsd --icon never -l" alias lla="lsd --icon never -l -a" # all alias llr="lsd --icon never -l -r -a" # reversed alias lls="lsd --icon never -l -r -a -S" #by size alias llt="…

Everyone is definitely not doing this. I would say the vast majority doesn't even know how to set up an alias.

Re: When I stopped trying to self-optimize, I got better

#79

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

pdmccormick wrote: post #20

Over the past year, I’ve made a deliberate effort to improve my “personal computing”, which for me is about how I use the shell. I start by trying to notice when I’m doing the same task multiple times and getting tripped up on the specific syntax or sequence of commands (i.e. what’s the Git command again to split certain files out of a previous commit into a separate one?) I will then create an alias, a shell script…

For me, personally, I’ve never been particularly interested in self-metering.

It does have its place, though. Each morning, I do a 5K walk, and am constantly glancing at my Apple Watch, to ensure I maintain a pace of As for my software development, I just enjoy the work, and have dealt with CRS[0], since I was about 17. It’s always been a basic challenge, and isn’t something I can control.

It’s made me very good at finding information quickly and relevantly. I’m really good at googling answers; even embarrassingly basic ones.

My work speaks for itself. I definitely perform at a pretty high level. There are many folks that are better than me, but many, many more that can’t do as well.

[0] https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=CRS

Re: When I stopped trying to self-optimize, I got better

#80

Post by coldtea »

dehrmann wrote: post #36
Izkata wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually find it easier to memorize the flags than to memorize the commands I created myself, because they're a lot more descriptive than short commands like in your examples. The few times I do come up with my own stuff, it's a 2+ line function (or full shell script) that can't be duplicated in a single command and can't be done as an alias.

I memorize the flags because it means I'm comfortable on any machine. Issue in production, and your aliases aren't there? No problem.

One could see it as the opposite:

Forcing yourself to memorize flags, means you're just equally uncomfortable on any machine: that is, you haven't optimized any particular machine, especially the 1-2-3 machines you use 90% of the time with your aliases.

Not to mention in 2023 on doesn't have to memorize anything to have aliases on "any machine". Have your aliases on a file (or GitHub) and just download it and source it to whether you are.

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