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DedaSys Journal
Personal blog · journal.dedasys.comprogrammingstartups
DedaSys Journal is a personal blog at journal.dedasys.com about programming and startups. Since 2007, 37 different Hacker News readers have linked it 275 times, most often “Slicehost vs Linode”. The last post was in 2018, but the archive is still widely read.
Computer Stuff from DedaSys.com
Most-linked posts?
- Slicehost vs Linode7 people · 24 mentions · first linked 2008-11-24
- Where Tcl and Tk Went Wrong (2010)6 people · 9 mentions · first linked 2016-09-22
- People, Places, and Jobs4 people · 10 mentions · first linked 2014-12-29
- Where Tcl and Tk Went Wrong4 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2012-02-11
- Where Tcl and Tk Went Wrong3 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2010-03-30
- An Erlang Postgres driver: refurbishing open source2 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2014-04-27
- Startups and Work: Europe vs the US2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2008-12-13
- Software Economics - Public Goods2 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2009-03-27
- Angry Perl Users2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2009-01-10
- Startups: government help and hindrance2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2008-06-09
What Hacker News says?
As always, so much zero-sum thinking in all these discussions. Often, the person may not have been as productive, happy, or well compensated in their own country. Also, over time, some of those people make money in the US and take that, their knowledge and skills and go back home to share there. Everyone is better off. I was discussing this elsewhere, and dug up something I wrote 11 years ago, and I think I'm still…
Comment linking /2014/12/29/people-places-and-jobs/
on “Trump to impose $100k fee for H-1B worker visas, White House says”Submitted Elixir vs. Erlang: a question of momentum as a story · 240 points
HN discussion> If the only reason you'd mess around with Starfighter is to get a job, we've done something wrong That was just my first impression. At my age, I kind of know how I stack up: I've met really awesome people like Andrew Tridgell and... I'm not one of them. So I don't feel like I have anything to prove, and I much prefer to hack on open source ( http://journal.dedasys.com/2014/04/27/an-erlang-postgres-dri... ) or sid…
Comment linking /2014/04/27/an-erlang-postgres-driver-refurbishing-open-source/
on “Announcing Starfighter”Submitted Where Tcl and Tk Went Wrong (2010) as a story · 131 points
HN discussionAnd having a physical object adds some scarcity into the mix, which you need: https://journal.dedasys.com/2007/02/03/in-thrall-to-scarcity...
Comment linking /2007/02/03/in-thrall-to-scarcity/
on “How I earn a living selling my open-source web-based invoicing application”Submitted Where Tcl and Tk Went Wrong as a story · 120 points
HN discussionSomething like this happened to me recently: http://journal.dedasys.com/2015/03/12/alarming-number-of-spa... A Googler on HN was kind enough to get in touch with me and help bring the problem to the attention of the right people at Google, who fixed things on their end and made a few suggestions on my end. Presumably, Linus Torvalds will get about 1000x as much Google love as I did. Good idea to check often though:…
Comment linking /2015/03/12/alarming-number-of-spam-false-positives-in-gmail/
on “Dear Google Mail Team”Submitted The Software Millionaire Next Door as a story · 103 points
HN discussionI think of this concept as the 'cargo cult cofounder': http://journal.dedasys.com/2015/03/20/the-cargo-cult-cofound...
Comment linking /2015/03/20/the-cargo-cult-cofounder/
on “I Am Sam Altman, President of Y Combinator. AMA”Submitted Where Tcl and Tk Went Wrong as a story · 102 points
HN discussionThe devil is in the details: How do you propose we give someone the means to make a living writing books, for instance? Someone who is at the margin, not Stephen King ( http://journal.dedasys.com/2012/01/21/thinking-at-the-margin )? * Commoditizing components doesn't work very well with books. This might work ok for saturday morning cartoons, where there are toys to be purchased, but it's a fairly limited model, esp…
Comment linking /2012/01/21/thinking-at-the-margin
on “Defining Property”Submitted Zero to Profitable - LiberWriter Lessons Learned as a story · 90 points
HN discussionI started writing a response, but then moved it here, since this seems such a common discussion: http://journal.dedasys.com/2015/01/22/when-to-use-aws-and-wh... tl;dr: I would not use AWS unless you know that you need what it offers.
Comment linking /2015/01/22/when-to-use-aws-and-when-not-to/
on “A Comprehensive Guide to Building a Scalable Web App on AWS”Submitted Slicehost vs Linode as a story · 90 points
HN discussionYeah, if I start a new project, I default to Postgres: https://journal.dedasys.com/2015/02/21/i-default-to-postgres... I'd consider something else if I'm really, really sure that it's better suited to whatever niche problem than Postgres, but it'd take a lot of thinking and convincing myself.
Comment linking /2015/02/21/i-default-to-postgres/
on “PostgreSQL Scalability: Towards Millions TPS”Submitted An Erlang Postgres driver: refurbishing open source as a story · 82 points
HN discussion> understand the hate for GPL Here's an attempt, although before I start, I don't hate the GPL at all. I think it's a clever hack, and a good license for some situations. Sometimes, as a practical matter, it is annoying: Sometimes, you work on proprietary code (as to why this is, here's one thing I wrote a few years back: http://journal.dedasys.com/2007/02/03/in-thrall-to-scarcity/ but it's a long, involved discussi…
Comment linking /2007/02/03/in-thrall-to-scarcity/
on “The GNU Manifesto Turns Thirty”Submitted I'm not good enough to work on open source software as a story · 81 points
HN discussionIt's tough. Linuxcare, where I worked in the dot.com days, wanted to be the support company for open source software, but they got derailed by ... other issues. Most of the 'successful' open source companies are not just straight up service outfits. Redhat, for instance, has a model where you must buy a subscription, or you don't get support. In fact, you can't even use Redhat if you don't buy a subscription. They d…
Comment linking /2007/02/03/in-thrall-to-scarcity
on “Nginx established as a company”Submitted Alarming number of spam false positives in Gmail as a story · 54 points
HN discussionBoulder is a really cool place, but Bend ended up working out for me a lot better financially: http://journal.dedasys.com/2015/06/18/boulder-colorado-vs-be... Ft Collins might work out really well for the right person and company.
Comment linking /2015/06/18/boulder-colorado-vs-bend-oregon/
on “Tech workers are increasingly looking to leave Silicon Valley”Submitted Erlang vs node.js as a story · 32 points
HN discussion32 bit "wastes less memory": http://journal.dedasys.com/2008/11/24/slicehost-vs-linode At least for some things, in my experience.
Comment linking /2008/11/24/slicehost-vs-linode
on “Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty Narwhal)”Submitted Welton's Law of Trite Business Advice as a story · 28 points
HN discussionBingo - if something's being sold, it's because it's scarce: http://journal.dedasys.com/2007/02/03/in-thrall-to-scarcity If what you sell is not scarce... watch out.
Comment linking /2007/02/03/in-thrall-to-scarcity
on “This Photograph Is Not Free”Submitted Startups and Work: Europe vs the US as a story · 28 points
HN discussionI decided to write about this myself, as a place to collect a lot of my thoughts on the errant economic and moral reasoning I see on these threads: http://journal.dedasys.com/2014/12/29/people-places-and-jobs...
Comment linking /2014/12/29/people-places-and-jobs/
on “Let the Other 95% of Great Programmers In”Submitted Ovi Lays an Egg as a story · 26 points
HN discussionNo - I'm just saying that it objectively gained a lot of popularity because they did some things right, and then lost it again because they got some things wrong. Of course part of that is technical, but part of 'marketing' is understanding what your users want and delivering it to them. This article I wrote about Tcl a while back is what I'm talking about: https://journal.dedasys.com/2010/03/30/where-tcl-and-tk-wen…
Comment linking /2010/03/30/where-tcl-and-tk-went-wrong/
on “Is Perl 6 Being Renamed?”Submitted Make Life Easier for European Startups: Simpler/Cheaper LLC's as a story · 26 points
HN discussion
