Open source software Updated +Created
What happens when the underdogs get together and try to factor out their efforts to beat some evil dominant power, sometimes victoriously.
Or when startups use the cheapest stuff available and randomly become the next big thing, and decide to keep maintaining the open stuff to get features for free from other companies, or because they are forced by the Holy GPL.
Open source frees employees. When you change jobs, a large part of the specific knowledge you acquired about closed source a project with your blood and tears goes to the trash. When companies get bought, projects get shut down, and closed source code goes to the trash. What sane non desperate person would sell their life energy into such closed source projects that could die at any moment? Working on open source is the single most important non money perk a company can have to attract the best employees.
Open source is worth more than the mere pragmatic financial value of not having to pay for software or the ability to freely add new features.
Its greatest value is perhaps the fact that it allows people study it, to appreciate the beauty of the code, and feel empowered by being able to add the features that they want.
That is why Ciro Santilli thought:
Life is too short for closed source.
But quoting Ciro's colleague S.:
Every software is open source when you read assembly code.
And "can reverse engineer the undocumented GPU hardware APIs", Ciro would add.
While software is the most developed open source technology available in the 2010's, due to the "zero cost" of copying it over the Internet, Ciro also believes that the world would benefit enormously from open source knowledge in all areas on science and engineering, for the same reasons as open source.
Park Tool Updated +Created
Project-based learning Updated +Created
There is just one key gotcha: the project has to be useful.
ProtonMail Updated +Created
One of the very few encrypted emails... beauty. And they also have an encrypted password manager!!! Using this is a must as of 2023 basically. The only missing thing now is to find a fully open source alternative!!!
Sure, search capabilities have to be somewhat limited: proton.me/blog/engineering-message-content-search
techcrunch.com/2021/09/06/protonmail-logged-ip-address-of-french-activist-after-order-by-swiss-authorities/ you've fucking got to use Tor Browser with it if you want your IP to remain hidden, learn that...
Are daily notifications without a recovery email possible? www.reddit.com/r/ProtonMail/comments/yjau8f/allow_daily_email_notifications_without_having_a/ OK, they do work actually.
The lack of Gmail dot trick is tragic however, and you have to pay for multiple aliases. But you can however create separate inboxes with the same cell phone verification however.
Python typing Updated +Created
rsync Updated +Created
Sass (stylesheet language) Updated +Created
The more of their syntax gets merged into mainline Cascading Style Sheets, the better the world will be.
Scalable Vector Graphics Updated +Created
Companies have been really slow to support SVG features in their browsers, and that is very saddening: medium.com/@michaelmangial1/introduction-to-scalable-vector-graphics-6450c03e8d2e
You can't drop SVG support for canvas until there's a way to run untrusted JavaScript on the browser!
SVG does have some compatibility annoyances, notably SVG fonts. But we should as a society work to standardize and implement a fix those, the benefits of SVG are just too great!
Examples:
SQLite Updated +Created
The minimalism, serverlessness/lack of temporary caches/lack of permission management, Hipp's religious obsession with efficiency, the use of their own pure Fossil version control[ref]. Wait, scrap that last one. Pure beauty!
Official Git mirror: github.com/sqlite/sqlite
Create a table
sqlite3 db.sqlite3 "
CREATE TABLE 'IntegerNames' (int0 INT, char0 CHAR(16));
INSERT INTO 'IntegerNames' (int0, char0) VALUES (2, 'two'), (3, 'three'), (5, 'five'), (7, 'seven');
"
List tables:
sqlite3 db.sqlite3 '.tables'
output:
IntegerNames
Show schema of a table:
sqlite3 db.sqlite3 '.schema IntegerNames'
outputs the query that would generate that table:
CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS 'IntegerNames' (int0 INT, char0 CHAR(16));
Show all data in a table:
sqlite3 db.sqlite3 'SELECT * FROM IntegerNames'
output:
2|two
3|three
5|five
7|seven
Static website Updated +Created
strings (Binutils) Updated +Created
Sylvain Poirier Updated +Created
Ciro Santilli feels a bit like this guy:
singlesunion.org/ so cute, he's looking for true love!!! This is something Ciro often thinks about: why it is so difficult to find love without looking people in the eye. The same applies to jobs to some extent. He has an Incel wiki page: incels.wiki/w/Sylvain_Poirier :-)
Figure 1.
Sylvain's photo from his homepage.
Source. He's not ugly at all! Just a regular good looking French dude.
Video 1.
Why learn Physics by yourself by Sylvain Poirier (2013)
Source.
Text-based user interface Updated +Created
The perfect Middle Way between command-line interfaces and GUIs. A thing of great beauty.
The Criterion Collection Updated +Created
Respect, big respect to those people.
Video 1.
The Cult of the Criterion Collection by The Royal Ocean Film Society (2020)
Source. One American culture thing this clarified to Ciro Santilli is that they are known for is being part of the 50% off sale at Barnes & Noble.
Video 2.
The Entire Criterion Collection Supercut by Reckoned Opinions
. Source. Featured at: www.reddit.com/r/criterion/comments/13x14he/the_entire_criterion_collection_all_1190_spine/ Holy crap, how!
Theravada Updated +Created
The school that believes only in the Pali Canon, i.e. the best school.