MurphyA/hacker-news huggingface dataset:
by zahlman | 2025-11-19 16:21:59+00:00
I think this criticism doesn't go far enough. As https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45980503 says, the criticism appears to be more about governance than succession. But then, the next sentence after your quote is:

> Or, if reading is too woke, just behave like grown-ups rather than squabbling tweenagers.

To me, this makes it abundantly clear that the goal is to associate leadership the author doesn't like with politics the author doesn't like. It's in a "behold, Goofus and Gallant" style of diatribe that I've seen a few times before and it always rubs me the wrong way.

Yes, a lot of FOSS projects have seen friction between the official leadership[1] and major players in the community. But it seems to come in three major forms: the kind where the conflict is expected and part of how those people have gotten along historically for years[2]; the kind where the players are trying to stage a coup because they don't like the leadership's { real-world politics, social status, opinion of pineapple on pizza, ... } expressed entirely outside of development spaces; and the kind where the project is already forked but at least one party can't leave the other alone (sometimes because the project is really more about infrastructure/platform than software; sometimes because leadership kicked someone out, in an inverse of the previous situation).

But swipes like the above instantly throw out all nuance and good will, and effectively round everything off to "all these bad things happen because some people just can't behave themselves, which conveniently correlates with a caricature of my own political adversaries".

1. There are plenty of cases showing that moving away from the BDFL model doesn't actually fix the problem.

2. Believe it or not, many people actually enjoy operating that way. I hold that people who don't have no business telling people who do to cut it out.
by crazygringo | 2025-11-19 16:22:36+00:00
It seems like it depends a lot on the city/country.

To be clear, I'm talking about rear lights only. The front light is white and always-on so you can see the ground. Plus you can see what's in front of you, so you avoid things, people don't need to avoid you as much.

It's the rear red light that flashes. You yourself don't see the flashing, but it increases visibility so people don't run into you, when you can't see them behind you.

When I'm behind a cyclist with a flashing red rear light, it doesn't bother me. It feels safe. It probably encourages me to keep a little extra distance from them, which is a good thing.
by Spoom | 2025-11-19 16:22:42+00:00
> Heck, we could just snatch people off the street and declare they cannot prove they are a citizen therefore they have no Constitutional protections.

I'm not sure if you intended this as a joke, but this is happening now, even if you do have proof of citizenship on you[1]:

> Congressman Bennie Thompson, ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, reported that “ICE officials have told us that an apparent biometric match by Mobile Fortify is a “definitive” determination of a person’s status and that an ICE officer may ignore evidence of American citizenship—including a birth certificate” when the app says a person is undocumented.

1. https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/ice-face-recogn...
by nyrikki | 2025-11-19 16:23:23+00:00
HPE VM Essentials and Proxmox are just UI/wrappers/+ on top of kvm/virsh/libvirt for the virtualization side.

You can grow out of either by just moving to self hosted, or you can avoid both for the virtualization part if you don't care about the VMware like GUI if you are an automation focused company.

If we could do it 20 years ago once VT-x for production Oracle EBS instances for a smaller but publicly traded company with a IT team of 4, almost any midmarket enterprise could do it today, especially with modern tools.

It is culture and web-ui requirements and FUD that cause issues, not the underlying products that are stable today, but hidden from view.
by davidslv | 2025-11-19 16:23:46+00:00
I spent 5 years building a roguelike game in pure Ruby (no game engines) to explore Entity-Component-System architecture and event-driven patterns outside of typical Rails applications.

Full disclosure: The project benefited significantly from AI assistance in the later stages to keep momentum going while balancing a full-time job and family. I used AI as a coding partner - I made all architectural decisions, reviewed every change, and stayed in control of the direction. It let me focus on the interesting problems (ECS design, event systems) rather than grinding through boilerplate.

The game runs entirely in the terminal and uses the same architectural patterns we use in production web apps - ECS for entity management, pub/sub for events, observer patterns for game state.

Why Ruby? Honestly, because it's the language I know best, and I wanted to prove you could build a game without reaching for Unity, Godot, or even a Ruby game library. It's all vanilla Ruby.

The codebase is fully open source and I've also written a book about the process (5 years in the making) that walks through the architecture decisions: https://www.amazon.com/Building-Your-Own-Roguelike-Hands-ebo...

Technical highlights:

- Entity-Component-System from scratch - Event-driven game loop - No dependencies (just Ruby stdlib) - Runs in the terminal

I'd love feedback from the HN community, especially on the architecture patterns. Happy to answer any questions about the implementation.

Thank you, davidslv
by foxyv | 2025-11-19 16:23:47+00:00
Many people don't realize that any argument they can think of against a given medication has been gone over a thousand times by thousands of medical professionals. The truth is, they just don't trust the medical system as a whole.

Whether that is good or bad stands to be seen. However, I find that people with this position often reject effective and safe treatments along with the more questionable ones.
by faust201 | 2025-11-19 16:24:16+00:00
> That's irrelevant on Android because system apps can be updated without touching the /system partition, if the .apk is signed with the same key. The system will store the updated .apk file in /data/app, but otherwise grant it privileged permissions that only system apps can get. That's how google play services can update itself and still keep its privileged status, even though the phone OS hasn't been updated in years.

How is this relevant? Yes, in a custom ROM - USER NEEDS TO BE CAREFUL. (i.e) if someone installs random app - signed by AOSP keys (and that ROM was installed by AOSP keys) it will get installed.

I am yet to see proof that this causes major meltdown.

Reg complete ROM- Except for this: https://wiki.lineageos.org/signing_builds#changing-keys

Assuming a phone was securely installed (after verifying sha/sig) with lineageOS RECOVERY and ROM - it will not accept a build with different sign keys. (i.e) AOSP keys.
by sandworm101 | 2025-11-19 16:24:20+00:00
The hackers are still here, lurking in the shadows. Bananas. They are just tired of being berated by fanboys anytime they criticize the will of the tech bros. There is no fun in typing out a well-researched answer only to face a torrent of one-second "nah, you are wrong" replies mixed in with AI slop. Bananas.
by cobolcomesback | 2025-11-19 16:24:42+00:00
This wouldn’t have specifically helped in this situation (EC2 reading from S3), but on the general topic of preventing unexpected charges from AWS:

AWS just yesterday launched flat rate pricing for their CDN (including a flat rate allowance for bandwidth and S3 storage), including a guaranteed $0 tier. It’s just the CDN for now, but hopefully it gets expanded to other services as well.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45975411
by weberer | 2025-11-19 16:24:44+00:00
They seem to be reporting on two drafts that were leaked by Netzpolitik.

https://cdn.netzpolitik.org/wp-upload/2025/11/EU-Kommission-...

https://cdn.netzpolitik.org/wp-upload/2025/11/EU-Kommission-...

The official website mentions these documents, but for some reason doesn't let you view them, saying "It will be possible to request access to this document or download it within 48 hours".

https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-register/detail?...

https://ec.europa.eu/transparency/documents-register/detail?...
by yardie | 2025-11-19 16:24:46+00:00
> no need for notaries and in-person verbal agreements, etc.

With the advancement of AI being used to commit fraud through chat, video, and audio calls I think we're at the precipice of needing to in-person verbal agreements again.

And I thought the harmonization of markets in the EU would have reduced the red tape but some industries are built on it and will complain quite vocally if their MP makes any move on it.
by biophysboy | 2025-11-19 16:24:58+00:00
The main issue for me is the size of our platforms.

If the owner of a platform tries to enforce a set of virtues, it will always be seen as censorship by a fraction of its users. That fraction will increase as the user base increases, as the alternatives diminish, and as the owners govern with more impunity.

I personally think these loud users are immature, disrespectful, anonymous cowards, but my opinions are irrelevant — the important thing is that large platforms are politically unstable.

The solution to this is to fragment the internet. Unfortunately, this is incompatible with the information economies of scale that underpin the US economy. In my opinion, our insanity is an externality of the information sector, much like obesity for staple goods or carbon dioxide for energy.

I don’t agree with these individualized how-to guides. I can turn my phone off and go outside, but I still have to live in a world informed by social-media sentiment.
by bazzargh | 2025-11-19 16:25:04+00:00
That's an odd take. Teams doesn't have the leading market share in videoconferencing, Zoom does. I can't judge what it's like because I've never yet had to use Teams - not a single company that we deal with uses it, it's all Zoom and Chime - but I do hear friends who have to use it complain about it all the time. (Zoom is better than it used to be, but for all that is holy please get rid of the floating menu when we're sharing screens)
by theodorethomas | 2025-11-19 16:25:07+00:00
"The language assumes contiguous memory, column-major order, and no hidden aliasing between arrays."

One out of three ain't bad.

"Column-major order", that's the one. That just says that there is an implied order of elements of an array. This enables efficient mapping of an array of the language definition to storage with a linear address space. It does not require storage to be organised in any particular way.

"Contiguous memory". Not really, the language definition does not even use the word "memory". The language is carefully defined so that you can implement it efficiently on a linear address space in the presence of caches (no accident that IBM machines in the 80s were pushing caches while CRAY was pushing vector processors). The term "contiguous" in the language definition just means a collection whose parts are not separated by other data objects.

"no hidden aliasing between arrays". This is a crude mis-statement of the actual rule of argument association across subroutine/function caller-callee boundary. The rule takes pages to describe fully. A language that still has EQUIVALENCE statement (although marked obsolete) cannot be said to disallow aliasing. It is still quite hard to find a compiler that will reliably diagnose inadvertent aliasing at runtime. The actual rule in Fortran says something like "thou shall not cause any effect on (dummy name) A through a reference to some other name, unless (some-clause-x or y or z)".
by tuetuopay | 2025-11-19 16:25:38+00:00
Given the context and what the configuration file contains, I'd argue it's mission-critical for the software to keep running with the previous configuration. Otherwise you might shutdown the internet. Honestly, I'm pretty sure their pre-rewrite version had such logic, and it was forgotten or still on the TODO pile for the rewrite version.

At a previous job (cloud provider), we've had exactly this kind of issue, with exactly the same root cause. The entrypoint for the whole network had a set of rules (think a NAT gateway) that were reloaded periodically from the database. Someone rewrote that bit of plumbing from Python to Go. Someone else performed a database migration. Suddenly, the plumbing could not find the data, and pushed an empty file to prod. The rewrite lacked "if empty, do nothing and raise an alert", that the previous one had. I'll let you imagine what happened next :)
by ksymph | 2025-11-19 16:25:58+00:00
I've always had a soft spot for Metro design, aka Windows 8 UI. Win8 as a whole was a mess of course -- but looking beyond the glaring flaws, I think the new direction captured some of that Win95-esque spartan functionality while also having its own sense of personality. The modern minimalist UI hellscape is miserable, but overly skeumorphic designs like Win7 Aero (or Apple Liquid Glass) are obnoxious and cluttered to my eye, and I think Win8 Metro is an interesting attempt at a best-of-both-worlds.

Honorable mention goes to the original Nintendo DS UI. For a console so laser focused on the casual market it's weirdly professional looking. A little on the sterile side but it works great for the low resolution.
by ianbicking | 2025-11-19 16:25:58+00:00
I've come around to feeling that if I'm going to make an experimental development tool, I need to make it in service of building something specific. Maybe something playful... if I'm building something "important" then it can put unwanted conservative pressure on the tool. But something, and if I do that then at least I have something interesting regardless of the fate of the development tool. Because yeah, there's a good chance no one else is going to be excited about the tool, so I have to build for my own sense of excitement, be my own most enthusiastic user.
by cristiangraz | 2025-11-19 16:26:06+00:00
AWS just released flat-rate pricing plans with no overages yesterday. You opt into a $0, $15, or $200/mo plan and at the end of the month your bill is still $0, $15, or $200.

It solves the problem of unexpected requests or data transfer increasing your bill across several services.

https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/networking-and-content-delivery...
by corry | 2025-11-19 16:26:39+00:00
You've got your finger on the pulse of something that open source has always represented to me: freedom of the creator and others to just... do what they want with it (subject to the license of course).

Don't like what the main developer is doing with it? You're free to fork and continue on your way if they don't see it your way. If you lack the skills or time to do that, that's your problem - you're not entitled to the maintainers' labor.

The freedom cuts both ways, and by adding in elements of social contracts and other overlays onto the otherwise relatively pure freedom represented by OSS, you end up with the worst of both worlds.

THAT ALL SAID - there's an important distinction between a given piece of software that's open source versus a "true project", which is larger-scale, more contributors involved, might be part of mission-critical systems, etc, where the social dynamics DO need to careful thought and management.

But even that seems to be more a question of specific types of OSS business models which is related but not the same as the licenses and overall social dynamics around OSS projects.
Ask HN: Image Recognition
by davidajackson | 2025-11-19 16:26:58+00:00
In this thread I would like to discuss the interesting ways we've found to increase model accuracy when analyzing images. I have been learning about vision models and trying a few different strategies, to varying degrees of success, and would like to brainstorm a bit further.

To that end, I have a few questions for HN:

What's your experience with bounding boxes?

What's your experience with different models/what are your favorites?

What's your experience with triaging extraction errors while managing cost?
by bashkiddie | 2025-11-19 16:27:07+00:00
I have WeChat and WhatsApp. From a user perspective they do not differ much.

There is a rumor when both companies tried to enter the Indian market: Whatsapp won.

WeChat assumes there is good reception and fast data transfer anywhere so there is no need to compress pictures and videos.

Whatsapp could be passed as Android APK between phones. And it resizes and recompresses every picture you send.

So thats my guess why WhatsApp won 1/6 of the planets pooulation in India.
by bobajeff | 2025-11-19 16:27:15+00:00
I have recently tried it again and it seems to have gotten worse that what I remembered. The interface was really hard on my eyes. I spent a little time trying to tweak the theme but I don't think that was the problem but the font rendering. I also noticed some weird layout bugs in the tab buttons. So not as smooth as I previously remembered.

I do appreciate they have the option to disable the big sign-in button however there are other account related UI I still can't disable.

The main feature that keeps me from moving to any other editor is the vscode/vscodium feature of clicking and dragging files to insert links and embed images in markdown files. Weird that no other editor has this.
by absoluteunit1 | 2025-11-19 16:27:36+00:00
Depends.

I’ve been actively using the first tier paid version of:

- GPT - Claude - Gemini

Usually it’s via the cli tool. (Codex, Claude code, Gemini cli)

I have a bunch of scripts setup that write to the tmux pane that has these chats open - so I’ll visually highlight something nvim and pipe that into either of the panes that have one of these tools open and start a discussion.

If I want it to read the full file, I’ll just use the TUIs search (they all use the @ prefix to search for files) and then discuss. If I want to pipe a few files, I’ll add the files I want to nvim quickfix list of literally pipe the files I want to a markdown file (with a full path) and discuss.

So yes - the chat interface in these cli tools mostly. I’m one of those devs that don’t leave the terminal much lol
by Lord-Jobo | 2025-11-19 16:27:36+00:00
Bad writing examples here in separate comment, lots of recency bias with them, they’re almost all litrpgs, but they’re cheap! And bad is a strong word. It’s probably more fair to say they have notable faults to me.

——

Bad prose with good ideas and flow: -defiance of the fall 1 -the primal hunter 1

Bad structural flow and immersion breaking: -bibliomancer 1

Polarizing characterization with strong Voice: -he who fights with monsters 1

Most improved book to book: -The cradle series. First book is intentionally stilted, but just difficult to read. Author quickly adjusts away from this.
by faust201 | 2025-11-19 16:27:58+00:00
Your top question is like...

I have no idea what is security. What is good? Such questions cannot be answered easily. Read https://ssd.eff.org/module/your-security-plan

- Trying to protect all your data from everything all the time is impractical and exhausting. - There is no perfect option for security. Not everyone has the same priorities, concerns, or access to resources. Your risk assessment will allow you to plan the right strategy for you, balancing convenience, cost, and privacy.

- Some install custom ROM because they don't install 3rd party apps like WhatsApp etc but want to use only OpenSource Email - Some may say - using original factory ROM is bad for privacy as Google snoops a lot but they have some assurance that some random script kiddie cannot take over

- Some want security but not privacy (i.e) get a ChromeOS - yes everything is given to Google but Google has one of the best security team in the world.
by nazgulsenpai | 2025-11-19 16:27:58+00:00
Glad to see I'm not alone. I never install apps unless there's no other way, and often remove them as soon as possible. My home screen is a collection of web shortcuts. Amazon, YouTube, X, bank, all web links. But I also use LineageOS with MicroG.

I've been asked why, and it's not really fear of surveillance (although I'm not a fan of it) or making a difference or whatever, just because it's one of the few ways I'm able to give the finger. Sure, noone will notice but it makes me feel better :)
by giraffe_lady | 2025-11-19 16:28:05+00:00
A satisfying alternative to what? Some of these things can only be provided or alleviated by relationship and community.

A cult recruiter (or MLM or whatever) is offering what you need, it's just not a sincere offer. Your ability to assess that, to judge which relationships can safely meet these needs, is exactly what is compromised by having those experiences.
by GuinansEyebrows | 2025-11-19 16:28:23+00:00
one of my favorite long-forgotten benchmarks is the "3M Computer" [0]:

- 1 megabyte of RAM - 1 megapixel display (1024x1024@1bit - black and white!) - 1 MIPS

... all for under $10,000. hey, a nerd can dream!

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3M_computer
by webstrand | 2025-11-19 16:28:29+00:00
Not all cookies are bad for the user, for instance the one that keeps you logged in or stores the session id. Those kind were never banned in the first place.

Blocking cookies locally doesn't allow you to easily discriminate between tracking and functional cookies. And even if the browser had a UI for accepting or rejecting each cookie, they're not named such that a normal user could figure out which are important for not breaking the website, and which are just for tracking purposes.

By passing a law that says "website providers must disambiguate" this situation can be improved.
by superkuh | 2025-11-19 16:29:00+00:00
It is not your smartphone. The user computer is yours but the phone is owned by the telcom. You do not have a license to operate it. The telco does. They are the owners of your smart phone. Smart phones are terrible computing devices. They are excellent shopping/bank terminals and navigational aids, but they are not allowed to compute. Set it to host a hotspot and use a real computer if you want control. A smartphone will never, can never, allow you to own it. It would be illegal.
by lproven | 2025-11-19 16:29:00+00:00
> had they not gotten lucky with the whole MS-DOS deal, maybe they would have kept Xenix and who knows how that would have turned out.

Oh, absolutely, yes. It's one of the historical inflection points that's visible.

My favourites...

• MS wanted to go with Xenix but DOS proved a hit so it changed course.

• DR had multitasking Concurrent DOS on the 80286 in 1985, but Intel's final released chip removed the feature CDOS needed, so it pivoted to FlexOS and RTOSes, leaving the way open to MS and OS/2 and Windows.

• MS wanted OS/2 1.x to be 386-specific but IBM said no. As a result, OS/2 1.x was cripped by being a 286 OS, it flopped, and IBM lost the x86 market.

• Quarterdeck nearly had DESQview/X out before Windows 3: a TCP/IP enabled X11-based multitasking DOS extended that bridged DOS to Unix and open systems... but it was delayed and so when it appeared it was too late.

* GNU discussed and evaluated adopting the BSD kernel for the GNU OS, but decided to go with Mach. Had it gone for the BSD kernel, there would have been a complete working FOSS Unix for 386 at the end of the 1980s, Linux would never have happened, and Windows 3 might not have been such a hit that it led to NT.

I got whole series of articles out of this, titled in honour of Douglas Adam's fake trilogy about god...

#1

https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/28/where_computing_went_...

#2

https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/29/where_computing_went_...

#3

https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/04/where_computing_went_...

With apologies to Oolon Colluphid. ;-)