Posts by desht 140 publicly visible posts • joined 3 Nov 2009
The MF COBOL compiler is indeed written in COBOL, but it compiles to INT code, an intermediate form which runs on a virtual machine, mostly written in C.
There's also the code generator which emits GNT code, native code for the platform it's on, with a common object file format across systems, also loaded by the C runtime. That's also written in COBOL iirc, but it's been a long time so I could be wrong on that.
Reference: I used to work on the C runtime.
> Fascist much?
Saying people shouldn't use defective products is "fascist"? I thought fascism was more a system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, a capitalist economy subject to stringent governmental controls, violent suppression of the opposition, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
But what do I know, eh? My washing machine broke down yesterday and the repairman told me not to use it until he got the new heating element ordered and fitted. If only I'd known what you know, I'd have kicked him out on his fascist arse!
Not an imaginative or original option, but one that works just fine for me: Mint.
Especially given that my new rig has an AMD video card - it worked, literally, out of the box. Install Mint, install Steam, install my games, done. *
* Unless you love online games with anti-cheat bullshit built in, which tend to only work on Windows. But you can always check what works on protondb.
"Racism/sexism/whateverism = anything the radical left doesn't like."
I'm hardly radical left (I'd call myself centre-left, but that probably makes me a woke radical commie tofu eater in the eyes of some chuckleheads here)
But oddly enough I find myself not liking racism and sexism, so I'm not quite sure what argument you think you're making here...
> We may be headed in the same direction, but at least we have the Constitution with the Bill of Rights, and the 1st and 2nd Amendments in particular, that at least give us a fighting chance.
How's your book-burning drive going over there? Understand you've got quite the bonfire blazing.
> So water evaporates at 100F, does it?
Of course it does, and at temperatures well below that. You may be confusing evaporation with boiling.
> Shouldn't the humidity be the objective, not the temperature?
A combination of both of those factors determines how effectively water can be evaporated away from an object.
And this is why I won't trust Xitter, running on any number of servers run by who knows what kind of monkeys (with no accountability) who may or may not fix problems like this and introduce vulnerabilities that could affect me even if I'm not on their server. (There are other reasons I have no interest in it, though.)
> If Unity can't keep pace with developer needs
I think it's less that they can't keep pace, and more that they're a bunch of lying backstabbing arseholes who reneged on their pricing commitments, and suffered the mother of all backlashes (and even now haven't fully rolled back on their changes, meaning competitors like Godot and Unreal are seeing a big uptick in interest).
Have a read of this witness statement: https://www.postofficehorizoninquiry.org.uk/evidence/witn00620100-david-mcdonnell-witness-statement
And then you'll realise that wasn't really designed at all, more cobbled together by cowboy developers, and defended by a bunch of management bastards who knew full well it wasn't fit for purpose.
"I refer to The Expanse for a clear idea on how this could work : citizens, upon graduation, would decide if they wish to have a life defined by Basic (revenue, support, health care, etc.. I guess), or if they want to actually work for their subsistance and attain a career worth something."
As excellent a story as The Expanse is, I'm not sure I'd use it as an example of a future utopia. Billions of people living a miserable existence with just about enough money not to starve, and subject to a lifelong lottery to get a decent job (with no guarantee of actually getting one) doesn't sound great to me
> I thought the idea was 'innocent until proven guilty',
1) It's innocent *unless* proven guilty, and 2) this case is a civil case where the concepts of guilt and innocence don't apply. Trump has already been found *liable* for fraud in the state of New York, for which he could be permanently from doing business in the state in future.
That's a fair comment; Li-Ion batteries are undoubtedly a fire hazard. But a tank full of petrol isn't sweetness and light either, and even diesel (less flammable than petrol) isn't exactly 100% safe, as today's events demonstrated.
It all boils down to this: if you want the comforts of a modern hi-tech lifestyle, you need lots of energy, in one place. Any such concentration of energy comes with risks, but that's the trade-off modern society makes. Are electric vehicles more risky than fossil fuel vehicles? In some respects, yes. On the other hand, the long-term danger of continuing to burn fossil fuels to satisfy our desire for modern comforts is probably a hell of a lot more dangerous.
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