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If human civilization has been ended with fire, then how does it come back with in ten years and with GNU/HURD to be specific. I don't get what's the humor here

by aq3cn 10y ago

If human civilization has been ended with fire, then how does it come back with in ten years and with GNU/HURD to be specific. I don't get what's the humor here. Is it possible that AI has taken control over free OS from all over the web and killed all proprietary stuff along with humans and now run's the earth without any human civilization? Am I correct?

tremon 10y ago
If human civilization has been ended with fire, then how does it come back with in ten years and with GNU/HURD to be specific. Human civilization ending does not imply humans are extinct. There may be a few basement dwellers that survived, and kept coding.
emiliobumachar 10y ago
From http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1508:_Operating_Systems http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1508:_Operating_System... "This infamously and perennially late GNU/Hurd OS will finally make it in to Randall's home after human civilization has been wiped out. The joke is that GNU/Hurd began to be developed in 1990, and while it was expected to be released in a relatively short time, even now only unstable builds have been released. So Randall is saying that he will finally run it in his house a decade or two after the end of civilization. GNU/Hurd will presumably have an advantage as humanity rebuilds civilization due to the widespread availability of its code and development tools, and perhaps also because of Stallman's depth of belief, based on the title text. Alternatively, GNU/Hurd might be finished by the same force that finished humankind, for instance Skynet, in case of AI Apocalypse. (Interestingly, although still far from completion, a new version of GNU/Hurd was released less than a week after this comic.)" [...] "The GNU/Hurd reference might also be a pun, as in a "herd" of Gnus "running" in his living room, as wild animals reclaim the Earth after the end of human civilization."
- aq3cn 10y ago
  > "The GNU/Hurd reference might also be a pun, as in a "herd" of Gnus "running" in his living room, as wild animals reclaim the Earth after the end of human civilization." If we fill our home with IoT devices which carries Lithium ion batteries and relies on AI to function, I am sure fire will happen. Look at Samsung phones, even after recall there are cases of explosions. So much automation in basic things is be like shooting in foot. Driver-less cars, really? Since when people started considering mental retardation as a status symbol. I wonder if self-driving is going to be illegal in near future because we are incompetent to keep up with technological advances happening in our lifetime. One day, masses will learning this hard way and come back to GNU. PS: I am not alone saying this. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/27/musk-wozniak-hawking-ban-ai-autonomous-weapons https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/27/musk-wozn...
  - chronolitus 10y ago
    > Driver-less cars, really? Since when people started considering mental retardation as a status symbol Sure, only 'retards' crash cars. But I am smart so I would never crash a car ever. People should be more like me, then the world would be perfect, problem solved.
fuzzfactor 10y ago
No. You are incorrect. Obviously from the comic, the author is an early adopter. That's why he embraces HURD as soon as it's ready, instead of waiting until after 2060.

by aq3cn 10y ago

tremon 10y ago

If human civilization has been ended with fire, then how does it come back with in ten years and with GNU/HURD to be specific. Human civilization ending does not imply humans are extinct. There may be a few basement dwellers that survived, and kept coding.

emiliobumachar 10y ago

From http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1508:_Operating_Systems http://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1508:_Operating_System... "This infamously and perennially late GNU/Hurd OS will finally make it in to Randall's home after human civilization has been wiped out. The joke is that GNU/Hurd began to be developed in 1990, and while it was expected to be released in a relatively short time, even now only unstable builds have been released. So Randall is saying that he will finally run it in his house a decade or two after the end of civilization. GNU/Hurd will presumably have an advantage as humanity rebuilds civilization due to the widespread availability of its code and development tools, and perhaps also because of Stallman's depth of belief, based on the title text. Alternatively, GNU/Hurd might be finished by the same force that finished humankind, for instance Skynet, in case of AI Apocalypse. (Interestingly, although still far from completion, a new version of GNU/Hurd was released less than a week after this comic.)" [...] "The GNU/Hurd reference might also be a pun, as in a "herd" of Gnus "running" in his living room, as wild animals reclaim the Earth after the end of human civilization."

aq3cn 10y ago
> "The GNU/Hurd reference might also be a pun, as in a "herd" of Gnus "running" in his living room, as wild animals reclaim the Earth after the end of human civilization." If we fill our home with IoT devices which carries Lithium ion batteries and relies on AI to function, I am sure fire will happen. Look at Samsung phones, even after recall there are cases of explosions. So much automation in basic things is be like shooting in foot. Driver-less cars, really? Since when people started considering mental retardation as a status symbol. I wonder if self-driving is going to be illegal in near future because we are incompetent to keep up with technological advances happening in our lifetime. One day, masses will learning this hard way and come back to GNU. PS: I am not alone saying this. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/27/musk-wozniak-hawking-ban-ai-autonomous-weapons https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/27/musk-wozn...
- chronolitus 10y ago
  > Driver-less cars, really? Since when people started considering mental retardation as a status symbol Sure, only 'retards' crash cars. But I am smart so I would never crash a car ever. People should be more like me, then the world would be perfect, problem solved.

fuzzfactor 10y ago

No. You are incorrect. Obviously from the comic, the author is an early adopter. That's why he embraces HURD as soon as it's ready, instead of waiting until after 2060.