I note that even a hybrid kernel would require a compatibility layer to provide all the userspace stuff including the the display environment, access to the Unix file system, etc.

As far as compatibility layers go, years ago there was one called Merge which supported win32 on Unix. It was a commercial offering. I actually used a derivative of this back in the windows 95 days to run Windows 95 apps on Linux. Sadly they never made the transition to supporting modern windows NT apps.

Hint: You cannot run win32 apps on a unix kernel without a compatibility layer of some kind! (Which is what WINE *is*.) There's no way around this to get seamless win32 binary support. You either need to have WINE integrated into the OS and desktop environment, or some other implementation of win32 in the OS that translates win32 calls into kernel calls and unix libraries for I/O, screen display, etc. Or some kind of hybrid kernel.

All of this is true whether you're running windows apps on *nix or wanting to run Linux apps on FreeBSD, or Linux apps on Windows. What do you think WSL is?

Tight integration between WINE and the OS and desktop environment is certainly possible. If Wine were actually "finished" then I'm sure distros would be doing this. Meanwhile only MS could produce a true 100% win32 compatibility layer for Unix OS's.

Right. You mean with a compatibility layer like WINE. And that's literally what WINE is. An implementation of the win32 platform for the Linux (and now BSD) kernel.

Obviously. But the agents will suggest an appropriate language if asked. I suspect Rust is being recommended more and more.
And agents regularly do make arbitrary decisions if you don't explicitly tell them what to do. For example I know someone working on a large project and the agent chose python and some Tk-based UI library without being asked.

And like I said, it doesn't matter if I know Rust or not anymore. I can simply choose it (because it's popular, or because it is "safe") and the agent will go to work.

With more and more software development being turned over to AI coding agents, in many respects the language itself no longer matters. However I'm not surprised Rust is growing in popularity, driven by AI code generation. And it's a good match for that. While a lot of human developers find Rust difficult to learn and work with, AI agents have no such difficulties and the Rust compiler guarantees help mitigate some of the problems from mediocre, generated code.

I've seen quite a few projects introduced lately that all use AI code generation and Rust. And frankly that's probably the only way I'm going to use Rust myself.

Very few Android phones have home buttons these days. Usually they just have the power button and volume buttons. Home is either a swipe or a soft, on-screen button.

Not CodeWeave either.

Can't remember the last time I saw a reference to Earth Final Conflict on slashdot. Well done.

Just the other day I was thinking that at this point I'd probably welcome the Taelons with their disruptive technology (free energy, transportation, etc), even with their ambiguous and dark motives. Can't be much worse than what the people who've seized power in the three rival empires want to do to us all. Plus all the regional warlords (soon to be anyway) jockying for scraps of power. Eliminate the need for oil as an energy source would really take down their power and pride.

Thought-provoking fiction anyway. Which was what Roddenberry was always about.

At first I was concerned when I thought that CodeWeavers was in trouble. They are a plucky company that's the driving force behind much of the current Wine project development. They do a great job and we all benefit from their work.

Then I realized it was "CodeWeave" whoever they are. Some Cloud/AI company I guess. The only thing that's concerning is that the people who lose their shirts when companies like this one go under are often middle class people like you and me with their retirement money in managed funds. Rich people as a rule never do anything with their own money. They always use and lose other people's money. Especially in the US, the wealthiest and most powerful people always get someone else to pay for things they play with and even pay to work for them.

Ahh, yes the UID checks out. Most slashdotters these days probably don't even know who Bill Gates was.

Yes there's a cost to continue doing business with companies that are increasingly greedy based in a country that is increasingly hostile and an existential threat. I have never on my life seen such brash and naked lust coming from a country that was previously a beacon, a country that built alliances that benefitted more than just themselves. Sad that this has all been destroyed. Hard times ahead for everyone. Sad also because it's so senseless.

Do you ask to AI agent thoroughly document the architecture, APIs, protocols, and data flow as you go? Do you use planning mode in the coding agents?

Personally I have good success with coding agents when I spent significant time with the agent building out a precise specification document that describes in detail what I want to do, how it should do it, how the data is formatted, protocols to use, etc. And then I ask it to establish concrete step-by-step development plans. I'm only working on these projects in my spare time but I might spend 20 hours or more on this. Then after both I and the agent reviewer are satisfied do I start it generating code. Usually code generation is a tiny fraction of the planning time. The more precise the specification is, the faster and more accurate the agent can generate code to fulfill that specification. I review every code change the agent makes and I never let it commit to git without my authorization. Often I'll push back on a coding choice the agent selected and ask it for a detailed explanation, and often I'll tell it to do it a different way (it always apologizes for what it did tells me I'm brilliant for my suggested change when I do that but whatever).

This process may not generate code as fast as vibe coders crank it out, but it's more than twice as fast as I could do it, even with the long planning sessions.

There are some interesting youtube videos by "No Place Like Localhost" on this type of spec-diven agent coding.

Yes very much so. On some ways modern AI coding agents are a bit like the VB6 of our modern era. While they are much maligned by people who think they can code better than them, these agents have really empowered a lot of people with little to no coding experience to build all kinds of vertical applications for their businesses that integrate data from a variety of sources (silos really). If they have an idea for an app that would benefit their business, after some trial and error Claude is able to deliver it to them for a fraction of the cost of hiring a professional contractor. Something that would take me months or years they can do themselves in a matter of weeks in their spare time. Is the code quality good? Possibly not. Security problems? Yes. Does that matter for these vertical apps? Sometimes not. Often this is a huge concern.

Those that pan AI coding should really talk to some of their small business-owning neighbors and see what they are doing with it.

Should agents completely replace human export developers? No of course not. There's plenty of room for human experts to shepherd agents on behalf of these smaller mom and pop businesses and help them develop secure and high-quality bespoke applications.In fact I see it as a real opportunity for many freelance developers.

Not necessarily. I suck at writing UI code, but I certainly can evaluate and test it just fine. I also suck at writing documentation but I can certainly evaluate the AI generated documentation for accuracy and clarity. Those are two areas Claude has just really helped me.

The RAV4 hybrid is way more fuel efficient though, easily breaking even vs the non-hybrid engine and transmission. The hybrid is a way simpler transmission. Toyota has been doing this for decades and it works great and customers actually want it.