Hacker News: GeorgeTirebiter

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "Python 3.15: features that didn't make the headlines"

GeorgeTirebiter — Fri, 22 May 2026 21:41:28 +0000

Wow, the Python folks do not want to entertain different goals for the language, it would seem. I still remain interested in whether it makes sense to add features to Python anymore, given that LLMs write all the code. Unless, as I said, such features enhance human comprehension (since we have to review the code the LLM produces).

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "Python 3.15: features that didn't make the headlines"

GeorgeTirebiter — Fri, 22 May 2026 17:37:13 +0000

Absolutely serious question: is anybody actually writing code anymore? (Reviewing it, architecting it, sure -- we do that). But writing code? If NOT, then seems to me, what we want in our LLM output is CODE THAT IS TRIVIAL TO UNDERSTAND (I apologize for shouting from the rooftops.)

I'm not sure adding 'features' to Python anymore makes sense - UNLESS those features help humans understand LLM code. Part of the problem is, of course, that LLMs haven't been trained on the latest-and-greatest, so they won't output any of it (even new training events won't capture the latest very much, since there is so little of it relative to what is already out there).

But again -- do new features help HUMANS understand what the LLMs produce? If not, seems to me ... new features merely add complexity for no apparent gain. (Or am I confused about this?) THANKS for any helpful opinions.

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "Project Gutenberg – keeps getting better"

GeorgeTirebiter — Sat, 16 May 2026 15:22:38 +0000

Paul Graham? ;-)

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "PySimpleGUI 6"

GeorgeTirebiter — Fri, 08 May 2026 04:21:12 +0000

If we used it more than just "ok look it works, we'll standardize on this internally" we'd have been happy to buy it, as we all other open source that has a donation option. We were just getting our feet wet, tho, and that's where it seemed burdensome; heck, if it phoned home every time it was used, it would have noticed we only used it about 3 times!

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "PySimpleGUI 6"

GeorgeTirebiter — Fri, 08 May 2026 04:18:22 +0000

It was written in older version of PySimpleGUI -- it just stopped working! Pretty annoying.

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "SQLite Is a Library of Congress Recommended Storage Format"

GeorgeTirebiter — Thu, 07 May 2026 19:22:26 +0000

Now, if only the LoC would recognize the brilliance of the Fossil SCM ....

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "PySimpleGUI 6"

GeorgeTirebiter — Thu, 07 May 2026 19:12:50 +0000

I had heavily used PySimpleGUI in various work projects, and one day, when I had to run some older piece of code I had not run in a while, I get a notice that PySimpleGUI won't work, because was free, but nobody paid, and so, good luck! So I was piping mad, paid the 3-year or whatever the max license fee was, received a code, and THEN I was able to get my stuff to work, like it used to.

LESSON: N E V E R Use code that can "stop working" until you pay ransom. N E V E R.

At this point, it's irrelevant, because the LLMs can replace PySimpleGUI with PyQt etc so --- thanks but no thanks. I did like it because you could throw up something around a CLI and it looked at least presentable. Now, since 2025, nobody codes anymore, so ... seems to me, this PySimpleGUI 6 is just a bit of history.

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "Cells for NetBSD: kernel-enforced, jail-like isolation"

GeorgeTirebiter — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 23:01:08 +0000

Excuse my ignorance, but does this functionally mean we can treat this as a 'microkernel' a la minix? I always liked the 'tiny protected subsystem' in Ring 0, then a Ring 1 for Drivers (which are restartable, and dynamically loadable), then one or two rings for User processes (maybe Ring 2 for 'ls' etc and Ring 3 for typical user processes).

I am also curious: What hardware enhancements would benefit 'lightweight, kernel-enforced isolation' ? Do we need memory tags? HW Capability Lists? ?

( I believe we've concentrated far too much in making "damn fast pdp-11s" with our hardware advances, and far less on building Reliable Systems -- even if a few percent of peak possible performance is consumed by extra HW. )

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "Computational Physics (2nd Edition) (2025)"

GeorgeTirebiter — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 06:04:40 +0000

A bit surprised Sussman's and Wisdom's book hasn't yet been mentioned: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262028967/structure-and-interpr...

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "CERN uses ultra-compact AI models on FPGAs for real-time LHC data filtering"

GeorgeTirebiter — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 20:15:39 +0000

i let v0 = 0.616u + 0.291v - 0.135 let v1 = if 0 > v0 then 0 else v0

is there something 'less good' about:

    let v1  = if v0 < 0 then 0 else v0

Am I the only one who stutter-parses "0 > value" vs my counterexample?

Is Yoda condition somehow better?

Shouldn't we write: Let v1 = max 0 v0

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "Two pilots dead after plane and ground vehicle collide at LaGuardia"

GeorgeTirebiter — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 21:04:58 +0000

yes, and, fortunately -- even the frogs have enough awareness they actually jump out before they are boiled.

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "Elon Musk pushes out more xAI founders as AI coding effort falters"

GeorgeTirebiter — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 04:28:06 +0000

It's possible. I don't know. My tone comes off as support Elon, and I do not, at all. I've seen first-hand almost all of these tactics while I was at . I'm observing that some people seem to do OK at Elon's companies, and for many years, and never seem to get the boot or be abused in other ways. Therefore, Elon is probably not quite as bad a manager as he is made out to be. This is all I am saying. Since I have firsthand knowledge, I believe my opinion has value. Those that disagree? Show me your Source of Truth. Thank you.

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "Elon Musk pushes out more xAI founders as AI coding effort falters"

GeorgeTirebiter — Sat, 14 Mar 2026 04:18:13 +0000

BIG Head.

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "Elon Musk pushes out more xAI founders as AI coding effort falters"

GeorgeTirebiter — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 22:08:26 +0000

Karparthy worked for Elon for, what, 5 years? How did he do it, if Elon is Ivan the Terrible?

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "PL/0"

GeorgeTirebiter — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 20:36:08 +0000

I have always disliked the := as assignment operator convention. In these declarative languages, assignment is done frequently. There is little cognitive load to using '=' as assignment, although perhaps a bit jarring for math folk.

<- is somewhat better, but, again, for such a common operation, a single character is just more convenient. Sure, we could have editors that turn "=" into := or <- but now we're getting too fancy especially for something pedagogical.

I also don't mind the -> for C pointers; and certainly don't mind the <= >= or even == conventions (although at least today's compilers warn when they see "if (a=b) ...".

Ultimately, humans won't be writing code anymore anyway ( ;-) ?) so maybe the issue is entirely moot.

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "We mourn our craft"

GeorgeTirebiter — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 20:07:36 +0000

One other helpful frame: I consider LLMs simply to be very flexible high-level 'language' Compilers. We've moved up the Abstraction Chain ever since we invented FORTRAN and COBOL (and LISP) instead of using assembly language.

We're 'simply' moving up the abstraction hierarchy again. Good!

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "We mourn our craft"

GeorgeTirebiter — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 20:05:17 +0000

I want to be in your camp, and am trying hard. But the OP's blog entry should at least give us a moment to "respect the dead". That's all he's asking, I think.

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "We mourn our craft"

GeorgeTirebiter — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 20:03:59 +0000

And all that time spent doing leetcode? Yeah, THAT was time Well Spent.... ;-)

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "Systems Thinking"

GeorgeTirebiter — Fri, 06 Feb 2026 20:55:04 +0000

Exactly. On a yuuge project, I first identify the Risks. Then, evaluate the risks -- can actually be done? In XX time? For YY dollars? with acceptable bugs on 1st version?

It's sort of the old General Eisenhower quote: "In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."

New comment by GeorgeTirebiter in "A web server on a single floppy disk"

GeorgeTirebiter — Sun, 01 Feb 2026 17:45:05 +0000

RX-01 DEC / IBM 3740 compatible was 77 tracks, single-sided, 128 bytes per sector and 26 sectors per track. Total 256,256 bytes. FM Modulation. 360 RPM. Disk to drive buffer: 4 µsec per data bit. Track-to-Track Seek: 6 ms. Head Settle Time: 25 ms. Average Access: Approximately 262 ms. 8" diameter diskette

One of these was used to load the microcode into the VAX-11/780 upon boot.