Notices by fasterthanlime 🌌 (fasterthanlime@hachyderm.io)

when rustc links you to https://doc.rust-lang.org/reference/subtyping.html you know you're in for a good time

oh my god

OH MY GOD

I can make merde_json so much simpler and better now!

Wonder how long we’ll get “LLMs do nothing for productivity” takes from folks who have ~zero first-hand experience with current-day solutions.

I respect y’all a lot, but come on.

LLMs bridge the gap whenever repetition is needed, whenever you need to "draw the rest of the fucking owl".

If you can read/review/validate faster than you can write all these details (maybe you have RSI?), then LLMs are valuable.

Things I agree with:

- there's an AI bubble
- many uses of "AI" are shit/vile/immoral
- LLMs are bad at many things (counting etc.)
- LLM output /must/ be human-reviewed
- the copyright/labor question remains open

And:

- current-gen LLMs are a tremendous tool for programming

Most folks work in boilerplate-heavy environments.

You can write macros, you can do codegen, you can use types or use dynamic typing to reduce repetition, there's still a lot of things that "a whole bunch of weights" can figure out for you, filling in the outline you created.

I do believe there are domains where LLMs are /completely useless/: domains where you have to think hard about every little bit of every little line and every little detail matters.

And I'm kinda jealous of people working in those domains. Those are the exception.

I'm fairly sure I alienated part of my audience by "not shitting unconditionally on LLMs" and, well, too bad?

What's happening to artists is vile and I will commission art as much as I can. What's happening to developers is exciting: you can build so much on your own now!

All the architectural decisions should be made by humans. Humans are in the driver's seat, always.

I don't give a shit about the "my 8yo built a React app" demos (maybe I will when I have an 8yo?). I care about senior developers being able to think at a higher level.

Would anyone argue that trains are a net negative for society because it put stagecoach drivers out of a job?

It feels different now because we can see people lose jobs in real time, and I have zero faith in society for handling this transition well. But it's happening.

The problem with technology replacing labor is not jobs becoming obsolete.

The problem is that society reacts to "jobs becoming obsolete" not by "redistributing wealth and lowering overall work" but by stripping people of homes, health insurance, and food.

It's a bit disheartening to be put in the same camp as tech bros milking VC funding from whichever current trend is happening.

I'm aggressively trying to stay current /as a matter of survival/. If I'm gonna live in the torment nexus, I may as well make myself at home.

Defending "every single bit of labor should be done by hand and we should protect those jobs" does not make you a compassionate human being.

Dissociating basic human rights (shelter, food, health care) from "having a job" does. The EU has a bit of a lead there — it's a start.

to be fair my expectations were really low to start with, BUT! this just goes to show: I don't let people tell me "everything is going to shit" anymore because.. like, it's not! I get that it feels cathartic to say it, and it's a safe rant, but it's not!

all around the world there are people doing their best with the resources they have and I'm so thankful for them. not everything is getting worse all the time, quite the contrary.

the French medical system has wildly exceeded my expectations this week:

- buildings were sanitary
- all signs were clear and well designed
- waiting time was 20min max (w/appointment)
- most people spoke functional English
- walked out w/a diagnosis and a treatment!

@aral Being a huge downer and lamenting catastrophes that haven't even happened yet, pretending the world is nothing but awful, always has been, always will be, does not make someone wise or virtuous.

I'm done with this mindset. I'm going to appreciate the little things. It's a matter of survival. If I end up blocking you or people with similar viewpoints, it's not because I don't share your concerns — it's because I don't need the constant fucking reminder.

@aral I don’t believe in promises from private companies, but I do believe in open source licenses.

They could close up shop tomorrow and they still would’ve completely changed the game UI-wise

If you're sleeping on https://zed.dev "because AI" I get it, but you're genuinely missing out — it is an incredible engineering feat, a jewel of product design, and a very active ecosystem.

I think you owe it to yourself to find out what code editors could be.

👀

Well, it’s nothing nested tokio runtimes cannot fix 🤡