8 ms·

Redbean: Actually Portable Executable Web Server [video]

75 points by feross 5y ago

dang 5y ago
Some related past discussions: Redbean 0.4 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27001961 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27001961 - May 2021 (13 comments) Cosmopolitan Libc: your build-once run-anywhere C library - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26277521 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26277521 - Feb 2021 (11 comments) Actually Portable Executable - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26273960 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26273960 - Feb 2021 (162 comments) Show HN: Redbean – Single-file distributable web server - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26271117 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26271117 - Feb 2021 (249 comments) How Fat Does a Fat Binary Need to Be? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26103769 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26103769 - Feb 2021 (67 comments) Cosmopolitan Libc: build-once run-anywhere C library - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25556286 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25556286 - Dec 2020 (166 comments) αcτµαlly pδrταblε εxεcµταblε - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24256883 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24256883 - Aug 2020 (286 comments)
- dingdingdang 5y ago
  I came into this thread thinking I was going to cross-post the earlier Cosmopolitan/APE related posts, but dang, someone beat me to it, both on the username AND content front?! Thanks though, saved me quite bit of googling.
  - nighthawk454 5y ago
    dang is an admin here on HN :) often when there's been significant past discussions, you'll find these posts up top. quite helpful!
- capableweb 5y ago
  Do you keep something like topic pages in your personal wiki or how do you keep track of these? Just really quick and efficient searching when you remember something has been discussed before? Maybe even some Google Chrome extension to insert story title + link + date + # of comments from submission links into the comment field?
  - dang 5y ago
    Nope, I just use HN search (hn.algolia.com) but I have software that makes it faster and does the formatting - yes, it's a browser extension that I've been using for moderation and adding to for, gosh, coming up on 9 years this fall. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27236708 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27236708 and the other links there for more information if interested. I'm going to make it so any HN links to past threads will render as "title - link - month-year - # of comments" or something similar. One of these years I'll publish the browser extension too, and the Arc-over-JS implementation it's written in.
SPascareli13 5y ago
Not to be confused with RedbeanPHP.
- teddyh 5y ago
  Nor with “Red Bean Software” <https://red-bean.com/about.html https://red-bean.com/about.html>.
  - tssva 5y ago
    Nor with "Red Beans and Rice" <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_beans_and_rice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_beans_and_rice>
1vuio0pswjnm7 5y ago
Kinda sad to hear that small, offline programs to run on various OS was viewed as some sort of challenging problem for Google (or anyone). Offiline interoperability was intentionally made difficult. Too many people, many of whom do not know the history, are just way off-track. IMO, this project should not be called "mad science". It should be standard procedure and what many people are working on. Small, portable, fast, resource-efficient, offline programs. Instead they are working on all the monstrosities that she mentions. God bless her for admitting how slow Python is by comparison. And how large Go binaries are. She says she studied "old code" to make her discoveries. For years I have believed this is what is takes to make progress and I avoid all the "new" stuff that gets incessantly promoted to today's developers. IMO, no one "forgot" the things she discovered, others are just constantly trying to bury them. Outside of HN, as well as on HN, there is strong distaste for anything "old". Instead of being thankful for what we have to build on, that has withstood the test of time, I see steady resentment for it because it is not "modern". This "modern" stuff is all throwaway, it is not built-to-last. When salaries are paid by advertising, then the only content that matters is "popular" content. Unpopular stuff is not valued. That includes unpopular even though technically superior technology.
- 1vuio0pswjnm7 5y ago
  What gives me pause about this project is the author's apparent satisfaction with having a Linux-only development environment. With all the portability techniques discovered, portable Makefiles and a portable build system seems to have been ignored. NetBSD's toolchain and NetBSD itself can be built on a variety of OS. Yet this library can only be built on Linux. That does not sound right. Only supporting "NetBSD 9.1" when the code for older kernels is so easily available is also a bit odd.
  - BBC-vs-neolibs 5y ago
    A port of a compiler, for instance TCC, seems to be the next logical step. TCC could be a portable executable.
  - dundarious 5y ago
kickscondor 5y ago
Amazing! I loved seeing the binary dump slides of the executable headers and ZIP portions narrated. This is the true hacker spirit incarnate.
d136o 5y ago
mad science
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Henrry9610 5y ago
Jalkers Milon

75 points by feross 5y ago

dang 5y ago

Some related past discussions: Redbean 0.4 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27001961 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27001961 - May 2021 (13 comments) Cosmopolitan Libc: your build-once run-anywhere C library - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26277521 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26277521 - Feb 2021 (11 comments) Actually Portable Executable - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26273960 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26273960 - Feb 2021 (162 comments) Show HN: Redbean – Single-file distributable web server - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26271117 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26271117 - Feb 2021 (249 comments) How Fat Does a Fat Binary Need to Be? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26103769 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26103769 - Feb 2021 (67 comments) Cosmopolitan Libc: build-once run-anywhere C library - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25556286 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25556286 - Dec 2020 (166 comments) αcτµαlly pδrταblε εxεcµταblε - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24256883 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24256883 - Aug 2020 (286 comments)

dingdingdang 5y ago
I came into this thread thinking I was going to cross-post the earlier Cosmopolitan/APE related posts, but dang, someone beat me to it, both on the username AND content front?! Thanks though, saved me quite bit of googling.
- nighthawk454 5y ago
  dang is an admin here on HN :) often when there's been significant past discussions, you'll find these posts up top. quite helpful!
capableweb 5y ago
Do you keep something like topic pages in your personal wiki or how do you keep track of these? Just really quick and efficient searching when you remember something has been discussed before? Maybe even some Google Chrome extension to insert story title + link + date + # of comments from submission links into the comment field?
- dang 5y ago
  Nope, I just use HN search (hn.algolia.com) but I have software that makes it faster and does the formatting - yes, it's a browser extension that I've been using for moderation and adding to for, gosh, coming up on 9 years this fall. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27236708 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27236708 and the other links there for more information if interested. I'm going to make it so any HN links to past threads will render as "title - link - month-year - # of comments" or something similar. One of these years I'll publish the browser extension too, and the Arc-over-JS implementation it's written in.

SPascareli13 5y ago

Not to be confused with RedbeanPHP.

teddyh 5y ago
Nor with “Red Bean Software” <https://red-bean.com/about.html https://red-bean.com/about.html>.
- tssva 5y ago
  Nor with "Red Beans and Rice" <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_beans_and_rice https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_beans_and_rice>

1vuio0pswjnm7 5y ago

Kinda sad to hear that small, offline programs to run on various OS was viewed as some sort of challenging problem for Google (or anyone). Offiline interoperability was intentionally made difficult. Too many people, many of whom do not know the history, are just way off-track. IMO, this project should not be called "mad science". It should be standard procedure and what many people are working on. Small, portable, fast, resource-efficient, offline programs. Instead they are working on all the monstrosities that she mentions. God bless her for admitting how slow Python is by comparison. And how large Go binaries are. She says she studied "old code" to make her discoveries. For years I have believed this is what is takes to make progress and I avoid all the "new" stuff that gets incessantly promoted to today's developers. IMO, no one "forgot" the things she discovered, others are just constantly trying to bury them. Outside of HN, as well as on HN, there is strong distaste for anything "old". Instead of being thankful for what we have to build on, that has withstood the test of time, I see steady resentment for it because it is not "modern". This "modern" stuff is all throwaway, it is not built-to-last. When salaries are paid by advertising, then the only content that matters is "popular" content. Unpopular stuff is not valued. That includes unpopular even though technically superior technology.

1vuio0pswjnm7 5y ago
What gives me pause about this project is the author's apparent satisfaction with having a Linux-only development environment. With all the portability techniques discovered, portable Makefiles and a portable build system seems to have been ignored. NetBSD's toolchain and NetBSD itself can be built on a variety of OS. Yet this library can only be built on Linux. That does not sound right. Only supporting "NetBSD 9.1" when the code for older kernels is so easily available is also a bit odd.
- BBC-vs-neolibs 5y ago
  A port of a compiler, for instance TCC, seems to be the next logical step. TCC could be a portable executable.
- dundarious 5y ago

kickscondor 5y ago

Amazing! I loved seeing the binary dump slides of the executable headers and ZIP portions narrated. This is the true hacker spirit incarnate.

d136o 5y ago

mad science

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

Henrry9610 5y ago

Jalkers Milon