6 ms·

>"Is it just me that finds it terrifying that theres any Windows bits on a spaceship?" SpaceX Crew Dragon console interfaces are entirely React apps

ryandrake 6mo ago
Everything is terrifying in computing these days, and bringing it to space rockets makes it even more terrifying.
- burnt-resistor 6mo ago
  I think we need to mandate intentionally slower, sandboxed, and resource-constrained development environments/containers so developers are unable to abuse resources like they're "free" and in so using wasteful and improper algorithms to expand to fill the volume of the container (RAM, CPU, IOPS, storage capacity, and network bandwidth and latency) like an ideal gas. Lazy coding and excessive abstractions on top of VMs on top of more abstractions all the way down leads to shit.
  - hunterpayne 6mo ago
    So a web app then?
    - burnt-resistor 6mo ago
      You're conflating dev and production erroneously. Not necessarily in dev but it could be a VM, process, or web app. The point being the production version should be performant and light on restrictions... and not necessarily web-centric either.
kotaKat 6mo ago
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41655299 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41655299 This comment makes it feel a lot safer, when you think about it. "Web browsers are historically known for crashing, but that's partly because they have to handle every page on the whole Internet. A static system with the same browser running a single website, heavily tested, may be reliable enough for our needs." When you've also built up the metal that you're running that React on, it's a lot warmer and cozier than having to trust the whole fat Windows 11 codebase on Artemis...
- CodeWriter23 6mo ago
  It's fine if you ignore supply chain attacks on npm packages.
guzfip 6mo ago
[flagged]
HeyLaughingBoy 6mo ago
Good! I've long said that Embedded UIs should be transitioning to being locally hosted webapps for a variety of reasons.
- siruwastaken 6mo ago
  What would that variety of reasons be? Genuinely asking.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 6mo ago
    Main reason is easy availability of developers. Can't swing a dead cat without hitting a web developer, whereas try finding one that even knows what LVGL is. Tons of existing libraries and frameworks. Essentially every UI problem you're likely to have is solved already, there are Known Good ways of dealing with most problems that you'll encounter. Consistent interface: the primary interaction element is the browser and HTML is the simplest thing there is to generate. You can write a basic webserver in an afternoon. And so on...
- bigstrat2003 6mo ago
  God, no. The last thing we need is to bring the bloated, slow, unpleasant to use nature of web apps to embedded devices.

ryandrake 6mo ago

Everything is terrifying in computing these days, and bringing it to space rockets makes it even more terrifying.

burnt-resistor 6mo ago
I think we need to mandate intentionally slower, sandboxed, and resource-constrained development environments/containers so developers are unable to abuse resources like they're "free" and in so using wasteful and improper algorithms to expand to fill the volume of the container (RAM, CPU, IOPS, storage capacity, and network bandwidth and latency) like an ideal gas. Lazy coding and excessive abstractions on top of VMs on top of more abstractions all the way down leads to shit.
- hunterpayne 6mo ago
  So a web app then?
  - burnt-resistor 6mo ago
    You're conflating dev and production erroneously. Not necessarily in dev but it could be a VM, process, or web app. The point being the production version should be performant and light on restrictions... and not necessarily web-centric either.

kotaKat 6mo ago

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41655299 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41655299 This comment makes it feel a lot safer, when you think about it. "Web browsers are historically known for crashing, but that's partly because they have to handle every page on the whole Internet. A static system with the same browser running a single website, heavily tested, may be reliable enough for our needs." When you've also built up the metal that you're running that React on, it's a lot warmer and cozier than having to trust the whole fat Windows 11 codebase on Artemis...

CodeWriter23 6mo ago
It's fine if you ignore supply chain attacks on npm packages.

guzfip 6mo ago

[flagged]

HeyLaughingBoy 6mo ago

Good! I've long said that Embedded UIs should be transitioning to being locally hosted webapps for a variety of reasons.

siruwastaken 6mo ago
What would that variety of reasons be? Genuinely asking.
- HeyLaughingBoy 6mo ago
  Main reason is easy availability of developers. Can't swing a dead cat without hitting a web developer, whereas try finding one that even knows what LVGL is. Tons of existing libraries and frameworks. Essentially every UI problem you're likely to have is solved already, there are Known Good ways of dealing with most problems that you'll encounter. Consistent interface: the primary interaction element is the browser and HTML is the simplest thing there is to generate. You can write a basic webserver in an afternoon. And so on...
bigstrat2003 6mo ago
God, no. The last thing we need is to bring the bloated, slow, unpleasant to use nature of web apps to embedded devices.