vacuity

23 ms·

301.
by vacuity 1y ago
Thanks. I stand corrected. I guess I should also add that, aside from the black box view, there are pro-computer stances that claim there is mentality and intentionality.
302.
by vacuity 1y ago
There is a critical distinction between tests and formal specification/verification. It is not sufficient to make a bunch of tests if you want to ensure behavior. Formal methods have long been recognized. If a programmer is only now re
303.
by vacuity 1y ago
The Chinese room experiment was originally intended by Searle to (IIUC) do as you claim and justify computers as being capable of understanding like humans do. Since then, it has been used both in this pro-computer, "black box" se
304.
by vacuity 1y ago
With some caveats, particularly ensuring a baseline level of competence, in a way that is somehow not overly discriminatory, I agree. The challenge then is to train the representatives sufficiently, but I think it could be done. And natural
305.
by vacuity 1y ago
I think you're right that men and women (tend to) have different responses to someone venting to them, and different tendencies in when and who to vent to, but I think both (tend to) prefer the listening approach when they are venting.
306.
by vacuity 1y ago
How's your Electron app's performance? It's very concerning when software developers neglect that their tools (abstractions) have tradeoffs . "If civil engineers built bridges the way software engineers build applicatio
307.
by vacuity 1y ago
Agreed. Rust is on track to becoming a practical language for many verification projects. If necessary, perhaps a dialect that focuses on verification could be made and separately maintained (it would probably cut out a lot of normal Rust),
308.
by vacuity 1y ago
I think abstractions for structuring code are just a different kind of CS-math abstraction. Particularly, a programming language is a heavyweight abstraction that provides the ability to create further abstractions. Good abstractions for st
309.
by vacuity 1y ago
All history lessons are indoctrination at the very least. There's not some "objective history book" where people can just learn "objective history" without zero doubts. Even for things that are taught more or less &
310.
by vacuity 1y ago
There's plenty of money thrown at schools in the US, but the issue is that the students that live in poor socioeconomic conditions tend to not do well. The "simple answer" that addresses the root cause would make individuals
311.
by vacuity 1y ago
On a general note, if this feels natural and right to you, don't be quick to dismiss others' views as having less substance or credibility and being conditioned. But I appreciate that you earnestly believe this, and for that there
312.
by vacuity 1y ago
I disagree with the idea that computer science has an inverted use of abstractions. Unfortunate naming aside, computer science is basically mathematics applied to computation and data (still theoretical!) and software engineering (a good na
313.
by vacuity 1y ago
It's much easier to see flaws in others than ourselves. Introspection is a habit that must be developed, and it has layers. The average person is not rational (I would say no one is); it's because of education that we have "r
314.
by vacuity 1y ago
You're both right. We don't distinguish between the reasonable middle grounders and the unreasonable ones. More broadly, we don't distinguish between reasonable and unreasonable arguments. We never have. Truth as determined b
315.
by vacuity 1y ago
It can be, but I think practically it can't be. Maybe that doesn't fit into a nice logical statement, but there you have it. Or: when you build yourself a constantly-accelerating, never-stopping racecar and get on it, it's ha
316.
by vacuity 2y ago
Personally, I have a negative opinion of LLMs, but I agree completely. Many people are motivated to reject LLMs solely because they see them as "soulless machines". Judge based on the facts of the matter, and make your values clea
317.
by vacuity 2y ago
You're right. Recently there was a thread about how some (many?) people know a field well but can't teach well, and some people know and teach well.
318.
by vacuity 2y ago
Definitely weird, or perhaps I'm just not imaginative enough. I have a hard time figuring out what some KeyKOS constructs mean in familiar terms, particularly whether a given feature is an instance of essential or accidental complexity
319.
by vacuity 2y ago
Or capabilities. Additive security has been known for decades; Linux really dropped the ball here. Linux file descriptors (open file descriptions, whatever) are close to a genuine capability model, except there's plenty of leakage wher
320.
by vacuity 2y ago
My understanding of why Rust does monomorphization by default is that it wanted maximum performance, since it was meant to replace C++. Excellent post!
321.
by vacuity 2y ago
In fact, Barrelfish is based on running a microkernel per core, and makes good use of this design to better adapt to hardware diversity. I understand why Linux develops everything in one place. This makes it far easier to manage. However, i
322.
by vacuity 2y ago
He is right. The point of the operating system is to, well, operate the system. Hardware, firmware, software engineers should work together to make good systems . Political and social barriers are not an excuse for poor products delivered
323.
by vacuity 2y ago
> Maybe it would be more feasible with some capability-based kernel, but you'd inherently have a lot of logic around user accounts, privileges, and queries. You end up involving the kernel in what is row-level database security. Tha
324.
by vacuity 2y ago
Empirically, then, we don't have enough programmers capable of mastering such control.
325.
by vacuity 2y ago
Exactly. There are always the people who complain and the people who defend. They are both not indicative of actual social changes. They're just statement factories. Think deeper about what a statement is actually saying instead of dis
326.
by vacuity 2y ago
If you only compare against C++, maybe. Otherwise, no. C++ and Rust are in a class of their own when it comes to compile times and complexity.
327.
by vacuity 2y ago
I should say that software complexity is different than normal engineering complexity; physical constraints are replaced with cognitive constraints on managing abstractions. To address both: designing a modern microprocessor is very complex
328.
by vacuity 2y ago
Consider it a personal ideal in a discussion about ideals, then.
329.
by vacuity 2y ago
> The answer everyone else is using is to add an operating system and an application language as a starting assumption, and then slowly grind through every issue caused by giving up control at the base layer to these more automatic syste
330.
by vacuity 2y ago
I agree that we don't live up to the title of "software engineering", and it's not a mistake that software is uniquely complex, but all the same this advanced degree of complexity doesn't preclude a culture of engin

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