10 ms·

Closure

92 points by benatkin 14y ago

prezjordan 14y ago
Question for Steve: How did Summer of Code go? I understand you mentored a student who developed for Hackety Hack a few summers ago? By the way, I'd love to contribute to Hackety Hack :)
- steveklabnik 14y ago
  Summer of code went really well. I had a fantastic student that contributed so much. I'd love to have more contributors on Hackety. Development is basically frozen while we re-write Shoes to pay off the technical debt involved. (CORRUPTION really spoke to me...) So the best way to help is to get on https://github.com/shoes/shoes4 https://github.com/shoes/shoes4 and shoes@librelist.com and start pitching in!
  - adrianoconnor 14y ago
    CORRUPTION kind of explained a lot :) Hey, you're going the JRuby route? Are you using Swing and what-not to get rid of the platform specific code? How's it working out? I'll grab the source and see if there's anything I can help with. I don't get a lot of time away from my day-job while my children are so young, but as they grow up Hackety Hack is the sort of project I'd very much like to help out with.
    - steveklabnik 14y ago
      When I first started hacking on Shoes, it took me 6 months to compile. o_O. We are going a few routes: 1) The first iteration will be JRuby + SWT. 2) It's written in a way that the DSL is separate from the backend, so that SWT can be swapped out for Swing or whatever. 3) Same with the Ruby: ideally, someday we can move back to an embedded MRI. It's working out pretty well so far, a lot of the example code runs. Due to my Shoes burnout, I'm playing semi-absent benevolent dictator for now. A great team of people is doing all of the actual work.
erikpukinskis 14y ago
It's weird to see people so flagrantly posting stuff without a copyright license. Is it just because _why only put their past work on the internet temporarily that people feel like it's OK to distribute this new stuff freely?
- steveklabnik 14y ago
  From the first page of the updates yesterday: "Now I want to make it perfectly clear that these papers and all my other works in life belong to the general public. In fact, I also would like to turn myself over to all of you as well. This was actually done several years ago, but in an embarassingly disorganized manner. I like what you've done with the character, but I'd like to step into his tattered suit for the next hundred pages and a day. And after that, I'm yours again. Do what you must do! I always enjoy seeing what happens to me."
- benatkin 14y ago
  I find you're assertion, that something that lacks a copyright license shouldn't be shared, far more troubling.
  - steveklabnik 14y ago
    Technically, according to the law, they are 100% correct.
    - coldtea 14y ago
      He means according to Justice and Good, not the law.
  - eterm 14y ago
    Copyright is automatic and does not require a visible license. Any provided licenses are just that, a license, they do not strengthen, remove nor water down copyright. E.g. If you post something under a CC attribution license, and someone shares it without attribution then they are breaking copyright, not breaking the license. They aren't licensed. On the other hand, if no license at all is posted, this isn't a right to copy or derive works, there is automatic copyright on the works.
unalone 14y ago
Where was the IF game within _why's spool?
- steveklabnik 14y ago
  The part about "Sacred Clowns" is valid INFORM 7 code: http://playfic.com/games/waxpancake/sacred-clowns-by-why-the-lucky-stiff http://playfic.com/games/waxpancake/sacred-clowns-by-why-the...
  - jes5199 14y ago
    I can't figure out how to get to the red shed :-/
ricardobeat 14y ago
Is there a mirror for CLOSURE.pdf only? Github won't allow download, and I'm on a terrible connection to download the whole repo.
- steveklabnik 14y ago
  No problem: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5764687/CLOSURE.pdf https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5764687/CLOSURE.pdf
futhey 14y ago
<BLINK> Your homepage is brilliant. </BLINK>
holyjaw 14y ago
So I've been googling around and I think I've got most of the pieces of this puzzle figured out (_why was a great, eccentric developer, he disappeared and commited info-suicide). But what I don't get is why the author of this article waited a year ('So I marked my calendar for the 18th, and waited. That was yesterday.') --- What indication did he have to mark his calendar for the 18th (was this an anniversary?) I'm so very confused about this, but I'm intrigued.
- Jeremysr 14y ago
  Jan. 2013 was _why's first reappearance. He had actually updated his website with the first couple entries in the print queue in December, but no one noticed until January. After people noticed ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5015087 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5015087 ), _why started updating it with more pages in the print queue, one of which said the print queue was going down until April 18, and would then be up during the hours of 4 to 12. Which sounded like _why was going to do something big that day.
  - holyjaw 14y ago
    Ah; much clearer now. Thanks!
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
- steveklabnik 14y ago
  As far as I'm concerned, DISCLAIMER, (and to a lesser extent HELLOYES) which I quoted below, wraps up the story and allows us to all stop wondering and move forward. You, of course, may feel differently.
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]

92 points by benatkin 14y ago

Question for Steve: How did Summer of Code go? I understand you mentored a student who developed for Hackety Hack a few summers ago? By the way, I'd love to contribute to Hackety Hack :)

steveklabnik 14y ago
Summer of code went really well. I had a fantastic student that contributed so much. I'd love to have more contributors on Hackety. Development is basically frozen while we re-write Shoes to pay off the technical debt involved. (CORRUPTION really spoke to me...) So the best way to help is to get on https://github.com/shoes/shoes4 https://github.com/shoes/shoes4 and shoes@librelist.com and start pitching in!
- adrianoconnor 14y ago
  CORRUPTION kind of explained a lot :) Hey, you're going the JRuby route? Are you using Swing and what-not to get rid of the platform specific code? How's it working out? I'll grab the source and see if there's anything I can help with. I don't get a lot of time away from my day-job while my children are so young, but as they grow up Hackety Hack is the sort of project I'd very much like to help out with.
  - steveklabnik 14y ago
    When I first started hacking on Shoes, it took me 6 months to compile. o_O. We are going a few routes: 1) The first iteration will be JRuby + SWT. 2) It's written in a way that the DSL is separate from the backend, so that SWT can be swapped out for Swing or whatever. 3) Same with the Ruby: ideally, someday we can move back to an embedded MRI. It's working out pretty well so far, a lot of the example code runs. Due to my Shoes burnout, I'm playing semi-absent benevolent dictator for now. A great team of people is doing all of the actual work.

erikpukinskis 14y ago

It's weird to see people so flagrantly posting stuff without a copyright license. Is it just because _why only put their past work on the internet temporarily that people feel like it's OK to distribute this new stuff freely?

steveklabnik 14y ago
From the first page of the updates yesterday: "Now I want to make it perfectly clear that these papers and all my other works in life belong to the general public. In fact, I also would like to turn myself over to all of you as well. This was actually done several years ago, but in an embarassingly disorganized manner. I like what you've done with the character, but I'd like to step into his tattered suit for the next hundred pages and a day. And after that, I'm yours again. Do what you must do! I always enjoy seeing what happens to me."
benatkin 14y ago
I find you're assertion, that something that lacks a copyright license shouldn't be shared, far more troubling.
- steveklabnik 14y ago
  Technically, according to the law, they are 100% correct.
  - coldtea 14y ago
    He means according to Justice and Good, not the law.
- eterm 14y ago
  Copyright is automatic and does not require a visible license. Any provided licenses are just that, a license, they do not strengthen, remove nor water down copyright. E.g. If you post something under a CC attribution license, and someone shares it without attribution then they are breaking copyright, not breaking the license. They aren't licensed. On the other hand, if no license at all is posted, this isn't a right to copy or derive works, there is automatic copyright on the works.

unalone 14y ago

Where was the IF game within _why's spool?

steveklabnik 14y ago
The part about "Sacred Clowns" is valid INFORM 7 code: http://playfic.com/games/waxpancake/sacred-clowns-by-why-the-lucky-stiff http://playfic.com/games/waxpancake/sacred-clowns-by-why-the...
- jes5199 14y ago
  I can't figure out how to get to the red shed :-/

ricardobeat 14y ago

Is there a mirror for CLOSURE.pdf only? Github won't allow download, and I'm on a terrible connection to download the whole repo.

steveklabnik 14y ago
No problem: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5764687/CLOSURE.pdf https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/5764687/CLOSURE.pdf

futhey 14y ago

<BLINK> Your homepage is brilliant. </BLINK>

holyjaw 14y ago

So I've been googling around and I think I've got most of the pieces of this puzzle figured out (_why was a great, eccentric developer, he disappeared and commited info-suicide). But what I don't get is why the author of this article waited a year ('So I marked my calendar for the 18th, and waited. That was yesterday.') --- What indication did he have to mark his calendar for the 18th (was this an anniversary?) I'm so very confused about this, but I'm intrigued.

Jeremysr 14y ago
Jan. 2013 was _why's first reappearance. He had actually updated his website with the first couple entries in the print queue in December, but no one noticed until January. After people noticed ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5015087 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5015087 ), _why started updating it with more pages in the print queue, one of which said the print queue was going down until April 18, and would then be up during the hours of 4 to 12. Which sounded like _why was going to do something big that day.
- holyjaw 14y ago
  Ah; much clearer now. Thanks!

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

steveklabnik 14y ago
As far as I'm concerned, DISCLAIMER, (and to a lesser extent HELLOYES) which I quoted below, wraps up the story and allows us to all stop wondering and move forward. You, of course, may feel differently.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]