Hacker News: sherr

New comment by sherr in "Help Keep Thunderbird Alive"

sherr — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 13:53:03 +0000

I've just donated. I use Thunderbird every day and have used it for years now. Mozilla, Firefox and Thunderbird are very important to me and my internet usage. For all the complaints (many just unwarranted in my opinion) I'm a happy user.

New comment by sherr in "Philips to drop Google TV for European-based Titan OS"

sherr — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 17:20:55 +0000

From : https://docs.titanos.tv/introduction

"Titan OS is the European, independent Linux-based smart TV operating system from Titan OS S.L, the technology, entertainment, and advertising company based in Barcelona."

Also :

"Titan OS operates on a Chromium browser, offering support for standard audio and video codecs, streaming protocols, and DRM options"

I don't watch TV, but have a non-smart Samsung hooked up to a laptop running Linux. I wonder how locked down or hackable this OS would be? Would an EU based system be better for privacy? I'd love to have a better option for when I update the "TV" I have in my living room.

New comment by sherr in "Parallel Perl – autoparallelizing interpreter with JIT"

sherr — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 17:00:41 +0000

Going to the link and just hitting the spacebar worked for me. Next slide, and so on. Firefox/Linux.

New comment by sherr in "OpenSUSE Kalpa"

sherr — Tue, 17 Mar 2026 16:49:30 +0000

This appears to be a "pre-beta" site, so this will be why it is not polished yet. From the documentation page :

"note: These installation instructions will be changing, with the Beta release of Kalpa"

A bit rough around the edges - so probably unfair to publicise too prominently yet.

New comment by sherr in "Allegations of insider trading over prediction-market bets tied to Iran conflict"

sherr — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 06:52:55 +0000

According to the Economist recently [1], Israel recently caught a couple of men who bet on the timing of the Iran attacks last year :

"Last summer one “ricosuave666” won more than $150,000 on Polymarket, a betting platform. Their true identity was not clear, but the source of the winnings was: ricosuave666 had bet, with suspicious accuracy, on the precise timing of Israel’s attacks on Iran."

So, these people can be found. Overall however, the magazine does not think that these markets should have a blanket ban.

[1] https://archive.is/W8Ga8 (Prediction markets are rife with insider betting)

New comment by sherr in "Ubuntu 26.04 ends a 40-year old sudo tradition"

sherr — Sun, 01 Mar 2026 06:58:47 +0000

There are alternatives to sudo other than the new Rust version here.

"doas" [1] comes from OpenBSD and is a smaller (LOC) tool, easier to audit and keep secure (supposedly). Also available for Linux.

Also "run0" [2], another alternative that comes from the Linux/Systemd camp, using "polkit" and is similar to "systemd-run".

[1] https://man.openbsd.org/doas.1

[2] https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/257/run0.ht...

New comment by sherr in "William Latham – Art and the Computer (1990) [video]"

sherr — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 14:53:42 +0000

Latham worked at the IBM UK Scientific Centre in Winchester, the computer artist working with the software engineers to create an "organic" type of art. This was not realtime or interactive, at least not at the start and for a few years, but might have got there eventually. IBM had just started producing their Unix workstation (the RS6000) that could have some 3D capability. They were overshadowed by the SGI's they also brought in at the time. I worked there very briefly in the 80's (Occam/transputers).

New comment by sherr in "UK PM: "No platform gets a free pass""

sherr — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 10:10:57 +0000

I think the possible age restriction on VPN use will be problematic in many ways. The direction of travel here is a worry even though I agree that children need some protections from social media use. The site ISP Preview [0] has an article about this as well :

'The UK Prime Minister, Kier Starmer, has today proposed last minute amendments to two Bills that will enable the Government to set a minimum age limit for social media (i.e. greater use of Age Verification), as well as options to age restrict or limit children’s use of Virtual Private Networks (VPN), where it “undermines safety protections and changing the age of digital consent".'

[0] https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2026/02/government-set...

New comment by sherr in "The full history of Windows widgets, from 1997 to today"

sherr — Wed, 04 Feb 2026 15:35:58 +0000

On my Pixel 8a, a swipe right on the home screen shows the "google app", I don't like that so I disabled it (home settings).

New comment by sherr in "Anthropic's plan to scan and dispose of books"

sherr — Mon, 02 Feb 2026 20:36:27 +0000

I have visions of the book scanner in Vernor Vinge's SF novel "Rainbows End" (a book I love). A machine rips the books up into small pieces, photographs are taken and "AI" software then reads and assembles the pictures to digital files. Vinge didn't write an instruction manual for this process.

New comment by sherr in "Rare Iron Age war trumpet and boar standard found"

sherr — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 10:03:56 +0000

The History Blog has more :

https://www.thehistoryblog.com/archives/75071

I look forward to the "musicologists" getting to grips with this carnyx and figuring out improvements to the reproductions they make.

New comment by sherr in "Rare Iron Age war trumpet and boar standard found"

sherr — Mon, 12 Jan 2026 09:59:43 +0000

Sounds like rubbish to me. What "political reasons" do you mean? Don't be shy.

New comment by sherr in "Firefox to create AI Window: Built for choice and control"

sherr — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 09:27:32 +0000

Get what?

The page says this thing will be opt-in. As it also says, they can't ignore the effect AI is having in the world. I'm not much of a fan of a lot of this effect, but see some benefits in places.

New comment by sherr in "Horses: AI progress is steady. Human equivalence is sudden"

sherr — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 17:25:18 +0000

Ha ha, yes. You should write that up as a pamplet somewhere.

New comment by sherr in "'Extraordinary Discovery' at Orkney's Ness of Brodgar Neolithic Site"

sherr — Mon, 08 Dec 2025 11:10:12 +0000

Well, they won't say what they see yet and they won't know what it is until they actually excavate. So, let's hope it's worth the expectation they've built up. At least it also appears that "Time Team" are involved to document the dig. A great team and a great program for those interested in archaeology. It's on YouTube now.

New comment by sherr in "Show HN: A Minimal Monthly Task Planner (printable, offline, no signup)"

sherr — Thu, 04 Dec 2025 06:57:16 +0000

Looks great. I like simple, useful tools.

Is it worth a) adding a link to your source repo (if it exists) b) add a license somewhere? c) add a README on how to self-host (even if simple).

New comment by sherr in "APT Rust requirement raises questions"

sherr — Tue, 25 Nov 2025 17:26:47 +0000

I've been using apt regularly on Debian for a long time and never seen it crash or segfault. Very strange that you do. All software has bugs of course, but apt is so heavily used that I expect it gets attention. It just works for me.

New comment by sherr in "My favorite cult sci-fi and fantasy books you may not have heard of before"

sherr — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 20:16:31 +0000

I agree to an extent but they are usefully kept somewhat separate. The introduction to the great "Encyclopedia of Fantasy" put this well. Re: Fantasy :

"Its roots go much deeper into history, and its concerns are more archetypal" [1]

There can be a lot of cross-over of course. Right now, "fantasy" (perhaps of the "romantic" variety) seems to be a juggernaut and is taking over.

[1]https://sf-encyclopedia.com/fe/introduction

(edit: spelling)

New comment by sherr in "My favorite cult sci-fi and fantasy books you may not have heard of before"

sherr — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 15:19:54 +0000

Iain M Banks is science-fiction rather than fantasy, so I would not expect him in a "Fantasy Masterworks" series. The two genres have some over-lap but are distinct.

New comment by sherr in "The UK is still trying to backdoor encryption for Apple users"

sherr — Sun, 05 Oct 2025 06:21:01 +0000

> "Security services" isn't a power center, they are a tool used by power centers.

No, they /are/ a power center. They have a lot of power: they advise governments, police and business, who listen to their advice and act on it very often. A lot of the work they do is (sadly) essential in the world as it exists today. Of course the "security services" want to open and read your mail and will advise accordingly.