5 ms·

Assuming this post is real (it’s a screenshot, not a link), I wonder if Rob Pike has retired from Google? I share these sentiments. I’m not opposed to large l

by linguae 10mo ago

Assuming this post is real (it’s a screenshot, not a link), I wonder if Rob Pike has retired from Google? I share these sentiments. I’m not opposed to large language models per se, but I’m growing increasingly resentful of the power that Big Tech companies have over computing and the broader economy, and how personal computing is being threatened by increased lockdowns and higher component prices. We’re beyond the days of “the computer for the rest of us,” “think different,” and “don’t be evil.” It’s now a naked grab for money and power.

stackghost 10mo ago
It's real, he posted this to his bluesky account.
- f_allwein 10mo ago
  And here it is: https://bsky.app/profile/robpike.io/post/3matwg6w3ic2s https://bsky.app/profile/robpike.io/post/3matwg6w3ic2s
  - nmeagent 10mo ago
    "You must sign in to view this post." No.
    - black_puppydog 10mo ago
      I failed to ever see the appeal of "like twitter but not (yet) run by a nazi" and this just confirms this for me :|
      - sidrag22 10mo ago
        the potential future of the AT protocol is the main idea i thought made it differentiate itself... also twitter locking users out if they don't have an account, and bluesky not doing so... but i guess thats no longer true? I just don't understand that choice for either platform, is the intent not, biggest reach possible? locking potential viewers out is such a direct contradiction of that. edit: seems its user choice to force login to view a post, which changes my mind significantly on if its a bad platform decision.
        danabramov 10mo ago
        Bluesky is not locking anyone out. This is literally a user setting to not display their account without logging in. It's off by default. And yes, you can still inspect the post itself over the AT protocol: https://pdsls.dev/at://robpike.io/app.bsky.feed.post/3matwg6w3ic2s https://pdsls.dev/at://robpike.io/app.bsky.feed.post/3matwg6...
        Jach 10mo ago
        X went back on that quite some time ago. Have a bird post: https://x.com/GuGi263/status/2002306730609287628 https://x.com/GuGi263/status/2002306730609287628 (You won't be able to read replies, or browse to the user's post feed, but you can at least see individual tweets. I still wrap links with s/x/fxtwitter/ though since it tends to be a better preview in e.g. discord.) For bluesky, it seems to be a user choice thing, and a step between full-public and only-followers.
        jdhendrickson 10mo ago
        It's a setting on BlueSky, that the user can enable for their own account, and for people of prominence who don't feel like dealing with drive by trolls all day, I think it's very reasonable. One is a money grab, and the other is giving power to the user.
      - archagon 10mo ago
        You failed to see the appeal of a social network not run by a nazi...?
        black_puppydog 10mo ago
        Yet :) I'll (genuinely happily) change my opinion on this when it's possible to do twitter-like microblogging via ATproto without needing any infra from bluesky tye company. I hear there are independent implementations being built, so hopefully that will be soon.
    - danabramov 10mo ago
      Here is the raw post on the AT Protocol: https://pdsls.dev/at://robpike.io/app.bsky.feed.post/3matwg6w3ic2s https://pdsls.dev/at://robpike.io/app.bsky.feed.post/3matwg6... The Bluesky app respects Rob's setting (which is off by default) to not show his posts to logged out users, but fundamentally the protocol is for public data, so you can access it.
    - deleted 10mo ago
      [deleted]
    - f_allwein 10mo ago
      I understand Twitter posts are still shared here, even though I would often (usually?) have to log in?
simianwords 10mo ago
This argument always felt insincere to me. What power do big tech companies have and why do you have a problem with it? They are simply providing a service you didn’t have access to.
- jackyinger 10mo ago
  I remember a time when users had a great deal more control over their computers. Big tech companies are the ones who used their power to take that control away. You, my friend are the insincere one. If you’re young enough not to remember a time before forced automatic updates that break things, locked devices unable to run software other than that blessed by megacorps, etc. it would do you well to seek out a history lesson.
- bigyabai 10mo ago
  > What power do big tech companies have Aftermarket control, for one. You buy an Android/iPhone or Mac/Windows device and get a "free" OS along with it. Then, your attention subsidizes the device through advertising, bundled services and cartel-style anti-competitive price fixing. OEMs have no motivation not to harm the market in this way, and users aren't entitled to a solution besides deluding themselves into thinking the grass really is greener on the other side. What power did Microsoft wield against Netscape? They could alter the deal, and make Netscape pray it wasn't altered further.
- tjr 10mo ago
  https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-s...
- johnnyanmac 10mo ago
  For some context, this is the a long time Googler who's feats include major contributions to GoLang and Co-creating UTF-8. To call him the Oppenheimer of Gemini would be overly dramatic. But he definitely had access to the Manhattan project. >What power do big tech companies have and why do you have a problem with Do you want the gist of the last 20 years or so, or are you just being rhetorical? im sure there will be much literature over time that will dissect such a question to its atoms. Whether it be a cautionary tale or a retrospective of how a part is society fell? Well, we still have time to write that story.
johnnyanmac 10mo ago
I'm Assuming his Twitter is private right now, but his Mastodon does share the same event (minus the "nuclear"): https://hachyderm.io/@robpike/115782101216369455 https://hachyderm.io/@robpike/115782101216369455 And a screenshot just in case (archiving Mastodon seems tricky) : https://imgur.com/a/9tmo384 https://imgur.com/a/9tmo384 Seems the event was true, if nothing else. EDIT: alternative screenshot: https://ibb.co/xS6Jw6D3 https://ibb.co/xS6Jw6D3 Apologies for not having a proper archive. I'm not at a computer and I wasn't able to archive the page through my phone. Not sure if that's my issue or Mastodon's
- aboardRat4 10mo ago
  Don't use imgur, it blocks half of the Internet.
  - johnnyanmac 10mo ago
    Understood, I added another host to my comment.
    - aboardRat4 10mo ago
      Thank you, you're the best.
foresto 10mo ago
> Assuming this post is real (it’s a screenshot, not a link) I can see it using this site: https://bskyviewer.github.io/ https://bskyviewer.github.io/
abetusk 10mo ago
https://bsky.app/profile/robpike.io/post/3matwg6w3ic2s https://bsky.app/profile/robpike.io/post/3matwg6w3ic2s
- bangaladore 10mo ago
  Must sign in to read? Wow bluesky has already enshittified faster than expected. (for the record, the downvoters are the same people who would say this to someone who linked a twitter post, they just don't realize that)
  - epistasis 10mo ago
    It's a non-default choice by the user to require login to view. It's quite rare to find users who do that, but if I were Rob Pike I'd seriously consider doing it too.
    - bangaladore 10mo ago
      A platform that allows hiding of text locked behind a login is, in my opinion, garbage. This is done for the same reason Threads blocks all access without a login and mostly twitter to. Its to force account creation, collection of user data and support increased monetization. Any user helping to further that is naive at best. I have no problem with blocking interaction with a login for obvious reasons, but blocking viewing is completely childish. Whether or not I agree with what they are saying here (which, to be clear I fully agree with the post), it just seems like they only want an echochamber to see their thoughts.
      - csomar 10mo ago
        According to the parent, the platform gives the content creator the choice/control. So no, it's not garbage and that's the correct way to go about it.
        bangaladore 10mo ago
deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]
rikroots 10mo ago
The agent that generated the email didn't get another agent to proofread it? Failing to add a space between the full stop and the next letter is one of those things that triggers the proofreader chip in my skull.
deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]
ianlancetaylor 10mo ago
Rob Pike retired from Google a few years back.

by linguae 10mo ago

stackghost 10mo ago

It's real, he posted this to his bluesky account.

f_allwein 10mo ago
And here it is: https://bsky.app/profile/robpike.io/post/3matwg6w3ic2s https://bsky.app/profile/robpike.io/post/3matwg6w3ic2s
- nmeagent 10mo ago
  "You must sign in to view this post." No.
  - black_puppydog 10mo ago
    I failed to ever see the appeal of "like twitter but not (yet) run by a nazi" and this just confirms this for me :|
    - sidrag22 10mo ago
      the potential future of the AT protocol is the main idea i thought made it differentiate itself... also twitter locking users out if they don't have an account, and bluesky not doing so... but i guess thats no longer true? I just don't understand that choice for either platform, is the intent not, biggest reach possible? locking potential viewers out is such a direct contradiction of that. edit: seems its user choice to force login to view a post, which changes my mind significantly on if its a bad platform decision.
      - danabramov 10mo ago
        Bluesky is not locking anyone out. This is literally a user setting to not display their account without logging in. It's off by default. And yes, you can still inspect the post itself over the AT protocol: https://pdsls.dev/at://robpike.io/app.bsky.feed.post/3matwg6w3ic2s https://pdsls.dev/at://robpike.io/app.bsky.feed.post/3matwg6...
      - Jach 10mo ago
        X went back on that quite some time ago. Have a bird post: https://x.com/GuGi263/status/2002306730609287628 https://x.com/GuGi263/status/2002306730609287628 (You won't be able to read replies, or browse to the user's post feed, but you can at least see individual tweets. I still wrap links with s/x/fxtwitter/ though since it tends to be a better preview in e.g. discord.) For bluesky, it seems to be a user choice thing, and a step between full-public and only-followers.
      - jdhendrickson 10mo ago
        It's a setting on BlueSky, that the user can enable for their own account, and for people of prominence who don't feel like dealing with drive by trolls all day, I think it's very reasonable. One is a money grab, and the other is giving power to the user.
    - archagon 10mo ago
      You failed to see the appeal of a social network not run by a nazi...?
      - black_puppydog 10mo ago
        Yet :) I'll (genuinely happily) change my opinion on this when it's possible to do twitter-like microblogging via ATproto without needing any infra from bluesky tye company. I hear there are independent implementations being built, so hopefully that will be soon.
  - danabramov 10mo ago
    Here is the raw post on the AT Protocol: https://pdsls.dev/at://robpike.io/app.bsky.feed.post/3matwg6w3ic2s https://pdsls.dev/at://robpike.io/app.bsky.feed.post/3matwg6... The Bluesky app respects Rob's setting (which is off by default) to not show his posts to logged out users, but fundamentally the protocol is for public data, so you can access it.
  - deleted 10mo ago
    [deleted]
  - f_allwein 10mo ago
    I understand Twitter posts are still shared here, even though I would often (usually?) have to log in?

simianwords 10mo ago

This argument always felt insincere to me. What power do big tech companies have and why do you have a problem with it? They are simply providing a service you didn’t have access to.

jackyinger 10mo ago
I remember a time when users had a great deal more control over their computers. Big tech companies are the ones who used their power to take that control away. You, my friend are the insincere one. If you’re young enough not to remember a time before forced automatic updates that break things, locked devices unable to run software other than that blessed by megacorps, etc. it would do you well to seek out a history lesson.
bigyabai 10mo ago
> What power do big tech companies have Aftermarket control, for one. You buy an Android/iPhone or Mac/Windows device and get a "free" OS along with it. Then, your attention subsidizes the device through advertising, bundled services and cartel-style anti-competitive price fixing. OEMs have no motivation not to harm the market in this way, and users aren't entitled to a solution besides deluding themselves into thinking the grass really is greener on the other side. What power did Microsoft wield against Netscape? They could alter the deal, and make Netscape pray it wasn't altered further.
tjr 10mo ago
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-serve.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/who-does-that-server-really-s...
johnnyanmac 10mo ago
For some context, this is the a long time Googler who's feats include major contributions to GoLang and Co-creating UTF-8. To call him the Oppenheimer of Gemini would be overly dramatic. But he definitely had access to the Manhattan project. >What power do big tech companies have and why do you have a problem with Do you want the gist of the last 20 years or so, or are you just being rhetorical? im sure there will be much literature over time that will dissect such a question to its atoms. Whether it be a cautionary tale or a retrospective of how a part is society fell? Well, we still have time to write that story.

johnnyanmac 10mo ago

I'm Assuming his Twitter is private right now, but his Mastodon does share the same event (minus the "nuclear"): https://hachyderm.io/@robpike/115782101216369455 https://hachyderm.io/@robpike/115782101216369455 And a screenshot just in case (archiving Mastodon seems tricky) : https://imgur.com/a/9tmo384 https://imgur.com/a/9tmo384 Seems the event was true, if nothing else. EDIT: alternative screenshot: https://ibb.co/xS6Jw6D3 https://ibb.co/xS6Jw6D3 Apologies for not having a proper archive. I'm not at a computer and I wasn't able to archive the page through my phone. Not sure if that's my issue or Mastodon's

aboardRat4 10mo ago
Don't use imgur, it blocks half of the Internet.
- johnnyanmac 10mo ago
  Understood, I added another host to my comment.
  - aboardRat4 10mo ago
    Thank you, you're the best.

foresto 10mo ago

> Assuming this post is real (it’s a screenshot, not a link) I can see it using this site: https://bskyviewer.github.io/ https://bskyviewer.github.io/

abetusk 10mo ago

https://bsky.app/profile/robpike.io/post/3matwg6w3ic2s https://bsky.app/profile/robpike.io/post/3matwg6w3ic2s

bangaladore 10mo ago
Must sign in to read? Wow bluesky has already enshittified faster than expected. (for the record, the downvoters are the same people who would say this to someone who linked a twitter post, they just don't realize that)
- epistasis 10mo ago
  It's a non-default choice by the user to require login to view. It's quite rare to find users who do that, but if I were Rob Pike I'd seriously consider doing it too.
  - bangaladore 10mo ago
    A platform that allows hiding of text locked behind a login is, in my opinion, garbage. This is done for the same reason Threads blocks all access without a login and mostly twitter to. Its to force account creation, collection of user data and support increased monetization. Any user helping to further that is naive at best. I have no problem with blocking interaction with a login for obvious reasons, but blocking viewing is completely childish. Whether or not I agree with what they are saying here (which, to be clear I fully agree with the post), it just seems like they only want an echochamber to see their thoughts.
    - csomar 10mo ago
      According to the parent, the platform gives the content creator the choice/control. So no, it's not garbage and that's the correct way to go about it.
      - bangaladore 10mo ago

deleted 10mo ago

[deleted]

rikroots 10mo ago

The agent that generated the email didn't get another agent to proofread it? Failing to add a space between the full stop and the next letter is one of those things that triggers the proofreader chip in my skull.

deleted 10mo ago

[deleted]

ianlancetaylor 10mo ago

Rob Pike retired from Google a few years back.