> How articles like this leave off the big AI threats of ending the world of the effects on the environment is beyond me.

Hi there. I wrote the article. Can I help with anything?

In my personal, non-job opinion, generative AI is a scam, and the code is mostly junk. That's why we call it "bot slop".

Cloud scale LLMs are also catastrophic for the environment, yes, 100%. But they are a drop in the ocean compared to the oil industry, single-use plastics, etc.

It's bad but and it's worse because it's unnecessary, but it's not the #1 thing that is bad about it.

> I read these things and I feel like the people against AI are given a false choice.

What choice was given here?

> Like having someone asking you when you stopped beating your wife.

I don't see that there is an "or" in here. GenAI is bad. LLMs are bad. Bad for code, bad for jobs, bad for the skills and minds of their users, bad for the industry, bad for career progression, bad for writing, bad for the arts, bad for social media...

And they're also bad for the planet.

There is no "or" in there, only "and".

It's been a long time since I had a story on the front page and since I've been on /. for nearly 30 years now, it's gratifying. Last time, I accidentally submitted anonymously, because I am an idiot.

Since this story was published and I submitted it, I have discovered that I made some mistakes in the article.

The statement that it's a port of the Alpine userland isn't a fair description. It's not just NetBSD's kernel, but also init and libc and more.

It's the Alpine package manager, and some other Alpine packages, but it's more like a distro of NetBSD with a better packaging tool than I described.

Once they publish an ISO you can install, I will write a follow-up piece and explain better.

Sorry!

Article author here. You're missing the point.

> I don't think Alpine had AI before.

It didn't. That is irrelevant on 2 different points:

* This is not about AI in the OS. It is about AI-generated code in the OS.

* Alpine Linux is based on the Linux kernel. The Linux kernel is now an AI-code project. Therefore whether they like it or not, soon Alpine will contain bot slop in the kernel.

> It's a minimalist system, it often doesn't even have bloat like systemd.

True.

> AI free is here a label like "0% fat" for winegums.

No, that is wrong: you do not understand the reasons and reasoning.

No it is not. It is more like a label in clothing that says "not made with child labour". It is not about the contents. It is about the construction process.

> It's certainly true, but misleading about the competition.

It is not misleading, but you have been misled and you don't understand the motivations here.

100% all of this.

> None of the rest - the kernel, the GUI, the file systems, device drivers, the equivalent of init/systemd, et all are from BSD derived code, they're mostly proprietary Apple/NEXT.

Hi. Article author here. What you're saying is all wrong.

Specifically:

> the kernel,

FOSS. Here's the source:

https://github.com/apple-oss-d...

*Not* BSD.

> the GUI,

True, proprietary.

> the file systems,

Some are proprietary.

> device drivers,

Only some. That is how OCLP exists.

https://github.com/dortania/Op...

I am using an OCLP Mac to type this.

> the equivalent of init/systemd,

False. It's FOSS, and here's the code:

https://github.com/apple-opens...

Launchd is the basis of NextBSD, also FOSS:

https://www.theregister.com/os...

> are from BSD derived code,

False. Mach isn't BSD. Launchd and Iokit and much of the rest of the userland are Apple or NeXT original code and not from BSD.

Conclusion: I don't think you know what you're talking about.

Front page of Slashdot again wooo!

Couple of small corrections since I wrote that...

There is an Electron port and a version of VScode available.

The thing about Groff in core is really old and it's long gone.

> exposed to 196C

No. That is nearly twice the boiling point of water and would destroy any protein.

You ommitted both the units and the sign.

The article says:

> exposed to 196C

*Minus* 196 C. DEGREES centigrade. Kelvin is the one that isn't measured in degrees, and 196 K isn't too bad. I have survived that frequently myself. It's a very cold day up a mountain.
 

Exactly. Came here to say this. I suspect a bunch of people didn't edit or proof this and the originator is a lazy thief and used an LLM bot.

20mg tracker on a 600mg butterfly? Why not say it's a 60kg person carrying a 2kg backpack? That's meaningful and it's not much at all.

I wrote this article.

I don't think so, no. It's a local feature, not online, entirely optional, and you are perfectly free to ignore it, not turn it on, and use FFmpeg as before.

The size of the binary of FFmpeg is a rounding error compared to the many gigabytes of the video files it takes as input and emits. If you do not enable the Whisper model I am not even sure it'll take any additional memory at runtime.

> GNOME actually works decently on it

On a Surface Go? Touchscreen and all?

Is it usable without a keyboard and mouse? And if so, fully usable?

I have other questions but those are the significant ones. I don't know how anyone syncs books from a router -- huh? -- or how a dinghy would help. To me that is a small boat, either a sail powered or a rubber inflatable boat.

This is intriguing to me.

Agreed.

"AI" is the last thing I want. I have changed my browser settings to _block_ "AI" generated results.

I did not know DDG was run by the same sort of idiotic blind fashion-followers. This is sad news.

It's odd.

I get a strange mix of feedback. Some from people who call me a jerk etc., and if they go into detail, that usually means they did not understand what I wrote. And the rest says "thank you for writing this. So few people understand. We are really glad someone does."

I work hard on _not_ being hostile, confrontational, and rude.

But, to quote Bill Hicks:

'I don't mean to sound bitter, cold, or cruel, but I am, so that's how it comes out.'

The thing is that XMS is only for data. A real mode DOS binary can't put code there: the addresses are out of range. Only the 64kB of the HMA could hold executable code: 1024-1088kB.

XMS allows a DOS app running on a 286 or 386 to store blocks of data above 1088kB, but the programmer gets no more space for their executable at all.

While EMS _also_ gave you lots more storage, but was much longer established, and it worked on an 8088/8086 and didn't need a 286.

If you wanted bigger *programs* then they had to run in protected mode. To do that and access DOS services meant using a DOS extender, and that did mean paying, but it allowed you to have (a theoretical max of) 16MB programs on a 286 PC and 4GB programs on a 386 PC.

(Not that anyone had 4GB of RAM in an x86 PC in the 20th century.)

So, the choice was:
* EMS: runs on anything, highly compatible, only gets you more data
* XMS: only runs on >= 80286, less compatible, only gets you more data
* DOS Extender: only runs on >= 80286, less compatible, but you get up to 25x bigger programs and almost all the restrictions of plain old DOS go away.

Not a tough choice.

If you used Watcom C, you got Tenberry DOS/4G (or DOS/16) for free.

https://web.archive.org/web/20...

The point is that XMS was next to no use to DOS apps.

"Please, help me, I am so thirsty... I have not had any water in 2 days."
"Certainly, sir, welcome to our petrol station. Feel free to drink as much petrol as you want."