Post B8xgnCnGz7jrw3NA3c by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
 (DIR) More posts by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
 (DIR) Post #B8xTfhikoeLE8KLs6S by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
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       @pixx @andrewrk yay, debate!> nuclear power plants are physically incapable of exploding. Historical incidents have all been due to e.g. steam pressure buildup and chemical explosions - it's all on the thermal / electrical side, not the nuclear side!There is no conclusive explanation for the two explosions in Chernobyl Reactor 4, and some of the evidence points toward one of those being a fizzle - i.e. prompt supercriticality that disassembles the uranium before all of it can fission.
       
 (DIR) Post #B8xTtP4OxL7OLK0eDQ by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
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       @pixx @andrewrk regarding robots:> I'm not saying that the interpretation I laid out (which I carefully am not calling *my* interpretation) is correct; merely that yours is no more objective than this one. Both embed specific political and moral views and assume the conclusion as a result.I have not read "I Robot" but I heard that was the point of the book - that the best robot laws we can come up with are too ambiguous and fail in spectacular ways, wasn't it?
       
 (DIR) Post #B8xVE1JOaEVyh4PwhM by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
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       @pixx @andrewrk > "Computers were a mistake."For years my response to this was:Computers are great, but humans suck, and they make computers do horrible things.Now Andrew says that> As technologists, our role is to accelerate humanity along its current trajectory.And correctly concludes this means either we should believe in humanity, or change our careers.But doesn't the premise assume we have no agency?Does PGP accelerate humanity in the same direction as in-browser JavaScript?
       
 (DIR) Post #B8xWBrvcbFVcxyprMG by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
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       @pixx @andrewrk Now, when we write Free Software, we reject the power to coerce our users through the software we write.And when we write proprietary software for an employer, any coercive power of the software is controlled by the employer, not by us.But we still can choose what software we write or don't write.I wish I believed in humanity, but even if I did, shouldn't we programmers refuse to implement things that push humanity in the wrong direction?
       
 (DIR) Post #B8xXlPKAWhAMdDpLea by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
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       @andrewrk great article, thank you!When adding it to my Readeck so as not to lose it, and thinking what tags it should have, this one came to mind:purposeHow fitting for an article that starts with a picture of Neo.
       
 (DIR) Post #B8xYugLihH6DzhXU5A by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
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       @pixx@andrewrk (cor: the difference between a supercriticality incident and an atomic bomb is that in an atomic bomb, most of the fuel fissions before it the explosion pushes it apart)
       
 (DIR) Post #B8xgnCnGz7jrw3NA3c by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
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       @pixx@andrewrk I agree there is a huge quantitative difference, and because of it, it's a bad idea to compare a reactor fizzle to a [properly functioning] nuclear bomb when talking to the general public.I still think qualitatively, a fizzle has more in common with a proper nuclear explosion than with a hydrogen explosion, but I get that it's hard to commnicate that nuance on national TV.
       
 (DIR) Post #B8xgqMZD6Ywx7CIhLk by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
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       @pixxAlso, I like your fertilizer comparison.@andrewrk
       
 (DIR) Post #B8xi1CiEBTUVgvFfNo by xeroxed@mastodon.social
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       @wolf480pl @andrewrk how is readeck?
       
 (DIR) Post #B8xiBDbzh8UZNQ6xNo by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
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       @xeroxedKinda annoying it can't handle PDFsAlso, haven't used it for reading much yet, I'm mostly just saving interesting articles after readng them, in case I need them later.@andrewrk
       
 (DIR) Post #B8xicQtMQZlmNoD9AO by xeroxed@mastodon.social
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       @wolf480pl @andrewrk currently just using the Reading List bookmark feature on chrome
       
 (DIR) Post #B8xieEAYhWTrVI6wsq by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
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       @xeroxed @andrewrk does it save an offline copy though?
       
 (DIR) Post #B8xl6XTAjjEdNYRePg by xeroxed@mastodon.social
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       @wolf480pl @andrewrk it says it would, but it doesn't
       
 (DIR) Post #B8y3jnha7Jg2Bw3X3Q by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
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       @andrewrk also, I'll add some extra disagreement unrelated to @pixx 's> If you refrain from participating in the software of the commons, the only thing you're doing is surrendering more of our collective agency to abusive, centralized powers.IMO it's not as clear cutThere's a reason GPL has copyleftSuppose a person choosing software places finite value on the software respecting their agency.If proprietary SW devs only take the commons and make a worse version of it, ez win for us1/
       
 (DIR) Post #B8y40wvV4dQVivk9pY by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
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       @andrewrk @pixx But if they add some genuine advantages, it becomes a tradeoff. And it doesn't matter if the commons tide lifts all boats, it only matters how much better the proprietary software is compared to Free Softare.In some cases it won't be, but in some it will be.So a way to prevent slopware from benefitting from Free Software, similar to copyleft, may be needed.2/
       
 (DIR) Post #B8y4QsFF6P4OjWL7D6 by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
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       @andrewrk @pixx On top of that there are two more reasons unrelated to an end user's software freedom (and thus may be out of scope for Software Should Work) to not want to publish software if that means LLMs will be trained on it:1. Labor disputeIf I'm worried that LLMs will get better at coding and make me lose my job, then I don't want to contribute to LLMs being better than coding3/
       
 (DIR) Post #B8y4kqMpnCjyhZPevA by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
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       @andrewrk @pixx 2. AttributionEven permissive FOSS licenses require crediting the author. For many people, getting attribution, and building up a reputation of expertise, is the main motivation to contribute.There was an article (can't find it rn :/ ) that described how in the... 80s (?) Xerox (?) built a knowledge sharing platform for field technicians, and then discovered that attribution is the most important reward for the techs contributing there.
       
 (DIR) Post #B8y5N74o7HJdWqEGmG by wolf480pl@mstdn.io
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       @andrewrk @pixx I think it was Xerox Eureka, and the term the article used to describe it was "community of practice"