1. Valve is a wonderful upstream contributor to Linux and the open-source community
Total comment counts : 38
Summary
The article is a summary of Michael Larabel’s work as the principal author of Phoronix.com. He founded the site in 2004 with a focus on improving the Linux hardware experience. Larabel has written thousands of articles on topics such as Linux hardware support, performance, graphics drivers, and more. He is also the lead developer of benchmarking software like Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org. The article mentions that readers can support the site by subscribing to Phoronix Premium, contributing through PayPal or Stripe, or following Larabel on social media platforms.
Top 1 Comment Summary
This article praises Valve for its commitment to making good games and providing a platform for gamers, particularly through the Steam platform. The author notes that Valve has shown care for gamers by working on projects outside their expertise, such as Linux and virtual reality, for the benefit of gamers. The article acknowledges criticisms of Valve’s store policies but emphasizes that Valve has always had a genuine concern for gamers.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author of the article praises the increasing support for games on Linux, including older titles, and expresses optimism that game compatibility will continue to improve. They also commend Valve for sharing their improvements with the broader community.
2. I’m fed up with it, so I’m writing a browser
Total comment counts : 78
Summary
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Top 1 Comment Summary
The author of the article states that they are working on a pet project to create a browser. They acknowledge that there are already many browsers available, but they believe that having more options is beneficial. The author expresses frustration with the current state of the tech industry and sees this project as a way to take action. They do not necessarily expect the project to result in a fully functional browser, but rather hope that by sharing their code, others may find inspiration to improve existing technologies. The author is particularly interested in the HTML5 standard and the potential for major companies to create their own closed formats, raising concerns about market dominance. They want to start from scratch in order to better understand the technical challenges involved.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article is a comparison between Linus Torvalds’ announcement of Linux and a current project. The author expresses low expectations for the success of the project and does not believe it will become a dominant browser. It is reminiscent of Torvalds’ original announcement of Linux, where he also expressed modest expectations.
3. Outperforming larger language models with less training data and smaller models
Total comment counts : 11
Summary
The article discusses the challenges of deploying large language models (LLMs) for real-world applications due to their size and computational requirements. To overcome this, practitioners often deploy smaller specialized models using fine-tuning or distillation methods. However, these methods require expensive human-generated labels or large amounts of unlabeled data. The article introduces a new mechanism called “distilling step-by-step,” which extracts informative natural language rationales from LLMs and uses them to train smaller models more efficiently. By incorporating these rationales as additional supervision, the distilling step-by-step method achieves better performance using less training data and smaller model sizes compared to standard fine-tuning or distillation approaches. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the method across different NLP tasks. The article concludes that distilling step-by-step provides a resource-efficient paradigm that addresses the trade-off between model size and training data requirements.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article suggests that smaller expert models will be more prevalent in most applications, as there is a delicate balance between size and usability. The use of various mechanisms will help in finding and achieving this optimal balance.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses the use of the T5 model for text summarization, noting that encoder-decoder architectures, which were thought to be outdated, are still relevant. It also suggests that there is still plenty of room for innovation in the field of language models, and that a combination of different approaches might be the key to achieving the ultimate goal of text summarization.
4. Nintendo 3DS Architecture
Total comment counts : 16
Summary
The article discusses the architecture of the Nintendo 3DS gaming console, specifically focusing on the stereoscopic screens and the CPU. The 3DS features two LCD screens, with the upper screen capable of displaying images with a sense of depth using a parallax barrier. The CPU, an ARM11 MPCore, is divided into two areas: the cores and the AXI bus. The system also includes additional CPUs for security and backwards compatibility purposes. The article explains how these CPUs communicate with each other and the memory layout of the console. The programming model for the 3DS is based on multi-threading, allowing developers to write software compatible with various CPU configurations. The New 3DS model has additional hardware features that are activated when specific games target it. Finally, the article mentions that the GPU for the 3DS was sourced from a third-party supplier.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses the inclusion of an actual Gameboy Advance CPU in a device that plays Gameboy Advanced games. The author shares their personal experience with the “Ambassador Program” and playing Mario Kart Super Circuit, expressing their nostalgia and appreciation for the device. They thank the author of the article for bringing back memories.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author praises the 3DS console, stating that it became one of their all-time favorites despite a slow start. They particularly enjoyed the 3D remasters of games like Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, as well as the console’s full DS backward compatibility. The author also appreciates the range of homebrew and emulated systems that a softmodded unit supports. They mention that the smaller New 3DS console design is also a favorite, and they bought multiple faceplates for it. Additionally, the author is grateful for the ability to purchase new official batteries for their and their wife’s 3DS units and easily replace them without disassembling the system.
5. AWS Customers Cannot Escape IPv4
Total comment counts : 30
Summary
AWS has announced that they will start charging for public IPv4 addresses, which has been mostly welcomed as it is expected to encourage IPv6 adoption. The charge will apply to dedicated public AWS IPv4 addresses at a rate of $0.005 per hour starting in February 2024. The article discusses some anti-patterns to watch out for and highlights the impact of the charge on services like Elastic Load Balancer and Managed NAT Gateway. It also explores the benefits of IPv6 adoption and the challenges of running IPv6-only environments on AWS. Despite the charge, the article argues that AWS has neglected IPv6 support and that the charge will not drive IPv6 adoption. The article concludes by mentioning that upcoming blog posts will delve into more detailed topics related to IPv6 support on AWS.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses a past project at Amazon to split up internal systems into regional versions due to a shortage of internal IPv4 addresses. The Principal PM leading the effort explained that switching to IPv6 was not feasible because a large number of internal networking devices did not support it. Replacing these devices would have required purchasing nearly the world’s entire yearly output of such devices, making it a massive and time-consuming project. The author acknowledges that while it is easy to assume malicious intent on Amazon’s part, the scale of their AWS systems suggests that replacing old network hardware may simply be too large of a task to accomplish quickly.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article claims that Amazon Web Services (AWS) has incentives to discourage the use of IPv6 in their services. The author argues that AWS’s recommended practices and tools steer users towards building networks with ambiguous addressing using the 10.x RFC1918 range, instead of using internet-style architectures with end-to-end addressing. The article also suggests that AWS discourages the concept of public IP addresses and offers additional tools to detect and mitigate their use, which can generate dependency and add complexity at the expense of security.
6. Turning an old car into a powerful generator
Total comment counts : 26
Summary
This article discusses how to convert an old car into a powerful generator. The author explains that generators can be expensive, but old cars with working engines can be obtained for a low price. The author mentions Jake von Slatt’s video series, where he demonstrates how to convert a Toyota Sienna minivan into a generator. The engine of the minivan is still functional, making it suitable for this purpose. To maintain a steady 60Hz output, an Arduino is used to control the cruise control actuator, which keeps the engine stable at 3600rpm. This method allows for the repurposing of both an old car and an old generator, providing off-grid power.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article suggests that if you want to optimize the fuel efficiency of your car engine when using it to power a generator, you should consider using a gearbox between the engine and generator. Running the engine at around 2000 rpm at high load is typically the most efficient, although lower RPMs may be more efficient at lower loads. However, it is important to consider the cooling capacity of your car’s system when running at high loads for extended periods. To achieve the optimal RPM for the generator, you can run the engine at 1800 rpm with a 1:2 gear ratio. This approach simplifies the design process and is considered to be “close enough” to the ideal configuration without needing detailed knowledge of your engine’s efficiency and power curves.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article discusses a conversion project where an individual replaced a broken internal combustion engine (ICE) with a generator in a car. The author questions the logic of this conversion, suggesting that it would have been more practical and cost-effective to simply replace the ICE with a standard engine. They highlight the additional space requirements, investment in electronics, and the end result of having a car with limited generator power. While acknowledging the resourcefulness of the conversion, the author cannot understand why someone would choose this approach.
7. The Bogus CVE Problem
Total comment counts : 32
Summary
The article discusses the problems with the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system, which is used to track vulnerabilities in software. While CVE numbers are effective for tracking vulnerabilities, the process of assigning CVEs and their severity scores is flawed. The system can be gamed, and the organizations overseeing it have not done a great job. The article highlights an incident with an integer-overflow bug in the curl tool, which was given a high severity score by the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) despite not being a security problem. The article argues that the CVE system is broken in various ways and that open-source projects need to figure out how to coexist with it.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses two incidents related to Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs). The first incident, known as CVE-2020-19909, is described as an example of what is wrong with CVEs. The second incident pertains to bogus follow-ups on CVEs. The article provides links to discussions on Hacker News for further reference.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The author of the article criticizes the CVE database, stating that it is too noisy to be useful and lacks higher standards and thorough vetting. They provide two examples: a security researcher filed a CVE for a bug in Caddy with false claims, and a 0-day vulnerability in acme.sh was assigned a high CVSS score despite being relatively benign. The author concludes that the CVE system is broken and they are now ignoring CVEs, but will still patch their system if instructed.
8. Ways to capture changes in Postgres
Total comment counts : 18
Summary
This article discusses various methods for capturing and processing changes in PostgreSQL. The first method mentioned is using Postgres’ interprocess communication feature, Listen/Notify, which allows a session to listen to a channel for notifications and receive instant updates when changes occur. However, Listen/Notify has limitations such as the need for continuous listening and payload size restrictions.
Another method is to poll the table directly, where each table has an updated_at column that is updated whenever a row changes. This method is simple but lacks the ability to detect deleted rows or provide detailed information on the changes made.
Streaming replication is another option, where Postgres sends the Write-Ahead Log (WAL) stream over a network connection to a replica database, keeping it in sync with the primary database. This method requires replication slots and can be complex to set up and debug.
Creating a separate table for logging changes and using triggers to populate it is another approach. This method allows for easy querying of the changelog but may require additional tweaks for large-scale production use.
Foreign Data Wrappers (FDWs) are a feature in Postgres that allow reading from and writing to external data sources. Using FDWs to capture changes is uncommon, but it can be useful when replicating changes between Postgres databases.
Ultimately, the choice of method depends on the specific requirements and complexity of the application. The article also mentions that none of the existing methods met the author’s specific needs, leading them to build a custom Postgres proxy.
Top 1 Comment Summary
This article emphasizes the use of triggers and history tables (audit tables) as a reliable technique for data management. The author recommends adopting this approach, which has been in use for over 30 years. They provide a generic method for implementing it and highlight the importance of not forgetting mutable data in databases. The article discourages using application-based history tracking libraries, as they can be slow, error-prone, and unable to capture changes that bypass the application stack. Instead, the author advocates for using the database clock for capturing accurate timestamps.
Top 2 Comment Summary
This blog provides a concise overview of different approaches native to Postgres. The “capture changes in an audit table” section discusses the use of Temporal Tables pattern, which is not built into Postgres but can be implemented using a SQL function. This pattern allows for viewing a table’s state at a specific point in time and can be used for various purposes such as querying user configurations, checking unprocessed records, or comparing feature flags. The article also includes a link to a GitHub repository for more information on implementing Temporal Tables in Postgres.
9. GitHub Actions could be so much better
Total comment counts : 52
Summary
The author of the article expresses their love for GitHub Actions but also points out frustrations and areas for improvement. They describe their experiences with setting up workflows and the difficulties they encountered during the debugging process. The author suggests implementing an interactive debugging shell and the ability to re-run workflows with small changes without going through a git commit cycle. They also call for a repository setting to reject commits with invalid workflows and push-time rejection of insecure workflows. The article discusses potential security vulnerabilities and suggests stricter type-checking and more official actions for better security. The author concludes by emphasizing the need for GitHub to address these concerns and improve the platform.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The article discusses two approaches to building workflows with GitHub Actions. The first approach involves programming with GitHub Actions and using marketplace tools, resulting in long and complex workflows. This approach can lead to difficulties in understanding and maintaining the YAML code. The second approach is to configure workflows with GitHub Actions by pushing the complexity into scripts whenever possible. This results in shorter workflows that are easier to maintain. Despite the benefits of the second approach, many teams still choose the first approach, which can lead to vendor lock-in and debugging challenges. The article emphasizes the advantages of the second approach, such as lower vendor lock-in and easier debugging.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article talks about the author’s frustration with setting up a new GitHub actions pipeline. They explain that they always create a new branch and push their changes there until everything is working properly. Once it’s working, they squash merge all the changes into a single commit.
10. Show HN: Paisa – Open-Source Personal Finance Manager
Total comment counts : 41
Summary
The article discusses the use of cookies to improve documentation effectiveness and user experience. It emphasizes the importance of consent in making documentation better.
Top 1 Comment Summary
The author finds the idea of using a system built on ledger and moving away from Simplifi Money appealing. They believe that the challenge lies in aggregating data from various banks accurately, with Plaid being the most reliable option. The author suggests the possibility of integrating a Plaid plugin for automated data imports, even though it comes with some drawbacks. They mention using Tiller as a workaround to pull data from Plaid and then exporting it to a CSV/Excel format. The author hopes that there is a plan in place to enable automated data imports, even if it requires the involvement of a third-party service.
Top 2 Comment Summary
The article is about a software license called AGPL3. The author states that they cannot use this license because they cannot guarantee that all their systems, such as bank systems, will comply with AGPL3.