4 ms·

Can someone explain the significance of this like I'm 5?

by xthrowawayxx 4y ago

infogulch 4y ago
It's a cute anecdote. ?
low_tech_love 4y ago
It’s just a fun little anecdote, nothing else much. :)
Const-me 4y ago
Mutex is a synchronization primitive implementing mutual exclusion. When created with a name, they can be used to synchronize processes across the whole OS. For instance, a named mutex is a good way to ensure the program can only be running in a single instance. Specifically, the program creates a named mutex on startup, and locks it forever. If failed to lock, it shows a message saying "another instance is already running" and quit. When the program quits normally, the OS will automatically unlock the mutex, allowing the program to run once again. Now, imagine that by coincidence, 2 unrelated programs have implemented that approach using the same name for the mutex. This gonna break both of them with weird bugs. Launch program A, then launch program B, and it won't run complaining "another instance is already running" despite that's not true. For this reason, mutex names are better be very unique. A typical solution is generating a GUID and using it for the name of the mutex. But the developer of that particular program instead used the string "What are the odds that some idiot will name his mutex ether-rot-mutex!" They're not wrong in the sense the odds are miniscule, however GUIDs are unique too and much shorter, only 36 characters.
- warent 4y ago
  You must have interactions exclusively with prodigious 5 year olds
  - nonethewiser 4y ago
    It was a good explanation. How good is "the man tried to think of a name no one ever thought of before?"
- xthrowawayxx 4y ago
  thank you :)
- _carbyau_ 4y ago
  Thanks!
- dqpb 4y ago
  what does ether-rot refer to?
  - DarylZero 4y ago
    This is the real question. How can the ether rot? Is it not eternal?
    - deleted 4y ago
      [deleted]
  - spydum 4y ago
    wondering the same, maybe simple word play on ethernet.. who knows what floats about in the brain of a developer! naming vars is hard dangerous work in my experience!
  - markstos 4y ago
    In 2003, “ether” might have referred to “Ethernet”, wired networking. Rot might have referred to decay or a rotation cipher, like ROT13. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROT13 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROT13 I think here they are essentially random like “I hope no one else uses Correct Battery Horse Staple for their globally unique ID”. https://xkcd.com/936/ https://xkcd.com/936/
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
butwhywhyoh 4y ago
When someone tells you a funny story in person do you respond with this question too?
- KineticLensman 4y ago
  If a funny story goes 'whoosh' over my head I would might, if I was bothered, say something like "I'm probably just being dense, but I don't get that".
totetsu 4y ago
Mutually exclusive - MutEx

Can someone explain the significance of this like I'm 5?

infogulch 4y ago

It's a cute anecdote. ?

low_tech_love 4y ago

It’s just a fun little anecdote, nothing else much. :)

Const-me 4y ago

Mutex is a synchronization primitive implementing mutual exclusion. When created with a name, they can be used to synchronize processes across the whole OS. For instance, a named mutex is a good way to ensure the program can only be running in a single instance. Specifically, the program creates a named mutex on startup, and locks it forever. If failed to lock, it shows a message saying "another instance is already running" and quit. When the program quits normally, the OS will automatically unlock the mutex, allowing the program to run once again. Now, imagine that by coincidence, 2 unrelated programs have implemented that approach using the same name for the mutex. This gonna break both of them with weird bugs. Launch program A, then launch program B, and it won't run complaining "another instance is already running" despite that's not true. For this reason, mutex names are better be very unique. A typical solution is generating a GUID and using it for the name of the mutex. But the developer of that particular program instead used the string "What are the odds that some idiot will name his mutex ether-rot-mutex!" They're not wrong in the sense the odds are miniscule, however GUIDs are unique too and much shorter, only 36 characters.

warent 4y ago
You must have interactions exclusively with prodigious 5 year olds
- nonethewiser 4y ago
  It was a good explanation. How good is "the man tried to think of a name no one ever thought of before?"
xthrowawayxx 4y ago
thank you :)
_carbyau_ 4y ago
Thanks!
dqpb 4y ago
what does ether-rot refer to?
- DarylZero 4y ago
  This is the real question. How can the ether rot? Is it not eternal?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- spydum 4y ago
  wondering the same, maybe simple word play on ethernet.. who knows what floats about in the brain of a developer! naming vars is hard dangerous work in my experience!
- markstos 4y ago
  In 2003, “ether” might have referred to “Ethernet”, wired networking. Rot might have referred to decay or a rotation cipher, like ROT13. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROT13 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROT13 I think here they are essentially random like “I hope no one else uses Correct Battery Horse Staple for their globally unique ID”. https://xkcd.com/936/ https://xkcd.com/936/

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

butwhywhyoh 4y ago

When someone tells you a funny story in person do you respond with this question too?

KineticLensman 4y ago
If a funny story goes 'whoosh' over my head I would might, if I was bothered, say something like "I'm probably just being dense, but I don't get that".

totetsu 4y ago

Mutually exclusive - MutEx