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sigcodeon P4: a high-level language for programming protocol-independent packet processors

mininet, which this project uses, appears to be written only for linux?

is this project linux only?

sigcodeon Cuban Cartoonist Fled from Castro and Created 'Spy vs. Spy'

Until now I had no idea there was a game. :)

This comic strip is the second thing I visualize when I think of MAD magazine.

The first is the drawing of Alfred Newman's face.

It is interesting how different generations are seemingly cut off from different sets of information about the same subject.

sigcodeon A x64 OS #1: UEFI

BIOS just runs whatever is in the first 512 byte sector.

Unless it fits in 512 bytes this is not a "kernel" but is just instructions to jump to another address, where there is more small bootstrap code that loads another program, maybe a bootloader that loads another program, maybe a kernel.

Those who multiboot Windows with some other OS that uses disklabels may notice that Windows expects to always be the first OS. Any other bootstrap code put into that first sector will be overwritten by a Windows install.

sigcodeon A x64 OS #1: UEFI

Do you think there are any BIOS developers who can do all their work without Microsoft Windows?

sigcodeon A x64 OS #1: UEFI

Does anyone disagree that UEFI has the capability to be an OS itself?

If it is only used as a "BIOS" then is it unreasonably adding the surface area for bugs and attacks? Is it much larger and more complex than legacy BIOS?

Is this trade-off proportional to the benefits it provides: obviating need to for developers to understand backwards compatibility?

sigcodeon A x64 OS #1: UEFI

Would your idea include small form factor external media as the "card/chip"?

What would be the negatives to this approach?

I have been doing this for many years and have still not found any.

Currently I prefer RO space embedded in the kernel for the "core" OS and mfs/tmpfs overlay for a RW, larger "additional" OS.

If RW portion crashes, the system falls back to the RO portion.

sigcodeon Writing a video chat application from the ground up, part 1

Cheers.

sigcodeon A JVM Does That? (2011) [pdf]

Nothing perjorative at all about the term "nerd".

The issue is not simply privacy, it's control of the hardware.

sigcodeon Writing a video chat application from the ground up, part 1

I was referring to IRC gateways. Were those IRC gateways?

sigcodeon A JVM Does That? (2011) [pdf]

This is a great comment.

You should not close apps because you may interfere with tracking your location and other data collection.

Data collection is necessary to enrich your "user experience". When we know what you want we can fulfill your every wish! Just say "OK, Google". It will be great!

The developers behind this crap do not hear from satisfied users. Because the truth is no one really cares about this stuff. They care about things like reception and battery life...

except for some nerds like the ones who comment on HN who can easily point out all the stupidity of these "business" models.

When users are like puppets on a string, helplessly dependent. When there are no alternatives, no competition. Is that a business? And I suppose shooting fish in a barrel is game of skill.

Oddly enough, Googlers read HN comments and frequently defend the company, speaking only for themselves of course. Why should they care that anyone sees Android for what it really is? Whining nerds do not count, right? So why pay attention to what they think?

If developers of Android and iOS had any respect, if they had a conscience, then they would not be usurping people's computing resources for their own ends. Sure, users will be oblivious to what is going on and they will not complain. That does not mean it's OK to do these things.

sigcodeon Building a C Compiler Type System – Part 1: The Formidable Declarator

Can HolyC be used to write a network stack? Are there any plans to do this?

sigcodeon Writing a video chat application from the ground up, part 1

Ever tried bitlbee? Not sure how well it's keeping up with the new protocols but years ago it was a way to consolidate at least a few of the older ones into a single application. Also not sure why this idea has not been replicated. Maybe it has.

sigcodeon Building a BitTorrent client from scratch in C#

http://cr.yp.to/proto/netstrings.txt (1997)

sigcodeon Implementing Software Timers (1990)

That domain name brings back memories. Registration dates back to 1989. It's WR Stevens' website, isn't it?

sigcodeon Pretty Curved Privacy

You are allowed to be concerned. I probably read too much into your comment. But I think you all understand my point. I was concerned that some mortals might be scared off from experimenting with NaCl. "Experts only."

Some years ago, there was another fellow who wrote a set of NaCl utilities that were very simple, UNIX filters. While I was "scared of the code" because he's not a renown cryptographer (does he need to be?), I was thankful for a simple, working example. There really weren't any publicly available at the time.

I really appreciate when people share these self-learning projects.

sigcodeon Pretty Curved Privacy

Agreed. Now kindly point to the mistakes the author has made so others can learn from them.

sigcodeon Pretty Curved Privacy

The use of the word "expert" here gives me pause.

I thought one of the motivations behind this library was that you did not need to be an "expert" to use it.

sigcodeon Wget Arbitrary Commands Execution

Correct. My mistake. Only down for me. I block AWS as part of blocking mobile ads.

sigcodeon Wget Arbitrary Commands Execution

Note to securiteam: ns2.beyondsecurity.com 209.40.99.8 appears to be dead

Edit: Ignore this. I was blocking AWS.

sigcodeon Why You Should Try tmux Instead of screen

"tmux was supposed to provide [of] additional value"

Are you sure?

Could it be the author just wanted a BSD licensed screen alternative or some other reason(s)?

"The keybindings are different" argument seems quite silly since you can easily change them to whatever you want. It's like when people say they will not use Lua because indices start at 1 instead of 0.

tmux may be thought of as an alternative, not a replacement.

Whether that's correct is an open question.

Example: If I start a build world in a screen window, then detach and later I want to get a "screen shot" or "screen grab" of the output without re-attaching, how do I do that?

Also, tmux's "clipboard buffer(s)", e.g., tmux loadb, tmux lsb, etc., seems a little more versatile than screen, but I'm open to suggestions from screen users how to do these things in screen.

Here's what I use in tmux for the Example:

   cat tt
   case $1 in
   ""|-b|-E|-S|-t)
   tmux capturep $@ 
   exec tmux showb $@ 
   ;;
   *)exit
   esac

sigcodeon moreutils

May I suggest an "Ask HN." Show your .json input and the desired output.

sigcodeon moreutils

I propose a new project: lessutils. You post about some program that you use for some simple task that's not among the "standard UNIX utils". (ed, sed, AWK, lex, etc.) Then we show you how to do the same task with only the standard utils. (i.e. no install needed) -- inevitably someone shows us how to do it in AWK and makes all feel stupid. :) If we are successful, you get to eliminate one more dependency from your system, not to mention reducing attack surface.

sigcodeon Everything You Always Wanted to Know About “Hello, World”

  write(1, hello, sizeof(hello)-1);