johnr2

> An E-Mail client not written in C to start with.

Exim is an SMTP server (MTA), not an email client (MUA).

>There a lot of artificial dependencies that you can't break.

You still need libsystemd0 which is a compatibility library. It's actually unfortunately named, as it isn't part of systemd itself.

I've been using sysvinit on my Debian workstations since systemd became the default. It takes me about 5 minutes to switch a new system over (admittedly I don't use Gnome or KDE). The stackexchange thread you linked is out of date and switching is getting easier. I recommend following the debian-init-diversity mailing list for further info.

>if you're doing something Debian-based - make it Devuan-based, it's pretty straightforward.

It's also pretty straightforward to switch Debian systems back to sysvinit.

> It wouldn't be nice if in an human exploration on outer space we find a container full of unknown harmful waste from another civilization.

The unshielded fusion reactor which we orbit around is likely to be a bigger problem.

> Especially annoying is seeing paperbacks listed for a book that only exists in hardcover

Not quite as annoying as ordering a book listed as a hardcover and receiving a cheap photocopied paperback. (Has happened several times here).

> Ceramic-bearing drive shaft is twice as efficient as Dura-Ace, company claims

A conventional chain in good condition is >90% efficient. How do you double that?

> Schools, eh?

The lesson that many in positions of authority are petty-minded fools is a valuable part of your education.

> Doesn't this increase monoculture by preventing those who think there's a problem with comments.. from commenting?

This is probably true, unfortunately. In the last few years I've given up on most of the forums and mailing lists I used to frequent, due to my low tolerance of trolls, zealots, and adolescent behaviour. HN is one of the few places left with a high enough signal-to-noise ratio to keep me reading it.

>And that's fine, why does one have to understand an ancient language when they can interact perfectly fine with machines by using Python, Swift, Java etc?

If the interpreter or VM used by any of those languages is written in C, someone still needs to understand it. Not to mention that it doesn't hurt to understand the internals of your chosen language if you want to make the most efficient use of it.

>I find it absurd that, in criticizing C, you conflate that with the underlying machine.

It could be argued that assembly language doesn't always run on the underlying machine either, given the amount of microcode used in modern CPUs.

>Not everyone likes writing shell scripts to start services

Sure, but that isn't a good reason to remove the option to do so for everyone else.

I've been using Linux for 20+ years but the apparent shift from "stable and reliable" to "new and shiny" concerns me. The feeling of being an involuntary beta tester is not a good one.

"he obviously doesn't factor in the enormous difficulty of nuclear waste"

Scientist that he is, I very much doubt that he didn't factor it in. (You may disagree with his conclusions).

"Planting a tree does capture carbon. However, when it dies and rots, all the carbon gets re-released over time back into the atmosphere."

Not all the carbon. Some of it stays in the ground to eventually form more fossil fuel.

"both at perception, dexterity and mind work"

Off-by-one error ;-)

> https://www.quora.com/Is-it-true-that-the-15-biggest-ships-i....

Thanks for the link. So it isn't carbon emissions that exceed those of cars but SOx and NOx (which are still a problem).

> These ships alone pollute more than all the cars on Earth.

Do you have a link to figures that show this?

Knowing how to count beats and bars can be helpful when writing music, as can knowing how string lengths are related to notes when playing a stringed instrument.

'This website does not put pieces of poo disingenuously called "cookies" on your computer.'

This made me laugh.

It means you have JavaScript enabled.

> Music has little to do with math.

As a musician (and audio engineer) I disagree. You don't need to think about math while writing or playing music, just like you don't need to think about physics when riding a bike, but that doesn't mean it has little to do with it.

> "Pi seconds is a nanocentury". My copy is not at the office, so I can't tell you to whom he attributes this.

Tom Duff.

It's in Column 7/7.1/Rules of Thumb.

> They did that, just like Linux did before them. I especially like the reply to the announcement that was "uh… I hope you didn't spend these two months coming up with that solution. We already did that for Linux, so you could have just asked".

Linux developers were told about meltdown/spectre right away, but OpenBSD wasn't told until the end of the embargo over two months later.

https://www.itwire.com/security/81338-handling-of-cpu-bug-di...

> Since SystemD has become so prevalent in Linux, I've been looking longingly at BSD.

After ~20 years of using Debian, I switched my desktop PC to OpenBSD about a year ago due to concerns about the direction Linux has taken (eg. systemd).

It was easier to set up the kind of minimalist desktop I like than on Debian, where I have to change a lot of defaults (eg. switching to sysvinit). The package manager is great, and there are ~10k packages available for 6.4. I'm now looking at switching my server to OpenBSD. I'm keeping some dedicated audio workstations on Linux for now (need the raw performance and drivers), but my impression of OpenBSD so far has been very good.

OpenBSD caveats: Video and audio can be a little glitchy. Releases are only supported for one year. ABI can change between releases. There's no filesystem journal. The only non-BSD filestems supported are msdos and ext2fs (and read/write speeds on those are slow).

>Is there some technical reason why it can't be removed?

One reason is that alternative octane boosters can cause icing in carburetors and fuel injection systems, resulting in engines cutting out at low temperatures. Improvements in combustion chamber design have helped reduce the reliance on high octane fuel, so I expect the situation will gradually improve.

> I don't know what math you're referring to...

Thank you for the rational comment. I found some of your other posts in this discussion to be emotional enough to make me not take them seriously (although I agree with the need for being cautious with GM). A post like the one above carries a lot more weight than "makes me sick" type comments. It's an emotive subject for sure, but straying too much from a rational tone can be counterproductive.

You're right. I'm so used to seeing it used in a snarky way that I was overlooking the original meaning of "sic erat scriptum" (thus was it written).

Interesting article, but I'm slightly puzzled by the [sic] comments following many of the quotes. The use of English looks correct for the time.

You beat me to it. Having used word clocks in audio engineering for many years, this is a new use of the term for me.

I can read it in Firefox if I allow scripts from time.com and cloudflare.com (using NoScript). I'm in UK. It also works in Dillo, which has no JavaScript support.

This one's pretty good for audio DSP in general, including some fairly detailed material on synthesis:

https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/audio-programming-book

Most of the code is C (and some C++). The first two chapters are a C tutorial, followed by audio-specific C programming. If you already know C you may want to skip the first couple of chapters.

If you're going to buy it I'd recommend a hard copy, as the DVD includes a lot of stuff that isn't in the Kindle version.