Category: Development

Debian 13 Trixie Released: Saying Goodbye to 32-bit, Embracing RISC-V

2025-08-14
Debian 13 Trixie Released: Saying Goodbye to 32-bit, Embracing RISC-V

Debian 13, codenamed Trixie, has been released, bringing numerous improvements. The most significant change is dropping support for 32-bit x86 architecture in favor of RISC-V and upgrading to Linux kernel 6.12. Trixie also features updated programming languages (Python 3.13, PHP 8.4, etc.), an improved Apt package manager, enhanced security (supporting CET, PAC, BTI, etc.), and performance and UX boosts for GNOME and KDE desktops. While Go and Rust ecosystem security support is limited, Trixie is overall a stable, secure, and powerful distribution.

Development

Finite State Machines as Data Structures: Indexing Billions of URLs

2025-08-14

This article explores using finite state machines (FSMs) as data structures for representing ordered sets and maps, showcasing the efficiency of Rust's fst crate for building indexes. It delves into FSM construction, covering Trie and FSA construction, and demonstrates indexing over 1.6 billion URLs from the July 2015 Common Crawl Archive. Techniques like memory mapping, automaton intersection with regular expressions, fuzzy searching with Levenshtein distance, and streaming set operations are also discussed. The author builds and benchmarks FSTs against other compression schemes (gzip, xz) across multiple datasets of varying sizes and characteristics.

Development Indexing

Privacy Infrastructure for Smart Glasses: Building Apps Without the Privacy Headaches

2025-08-14
Privacy Infrastructure for Smart Glasses: Building Apps Without the Privacy Headaches

This project tackles the privacy challenges inherent in smart glasses applications. It introduces a real-time privacy filter that sits between the camera and the app, automatically ensuring compliance. The filter anonymizes faces, manages consent (detecting verbal consent like "I consent to be captured"), and processes video at 720p 30fps, all offline. Built using FFmpeg, OpenCV, Faster Whisper, and Phi-3.5 Mini, it offers easy camera integration, RTMP input/multiple output formats, and an HTTP API for control. Ideal for AI assistants, social apps, enterprise solutions, and content creation, this tool empowers developers to build privacy-conscious smart glasses applications.

Development smart glasses

The AI Revolution: A Coder and Writer's Existential Crisis

2025-08-14
The AI Revolution: A Coder and Writer's Existential Crisis

A seasoned programmer and author grapples with the existential threat posed by rapidly advancing AI. He prides himself on his ability to clearly explain complex technical concepts, a skill evidenced by the success of his books. However, the rise of AI threatens his livelihood, as AI is already proving effective at technical writing. While acknowledging AI's capabilities in explaining technical topics, he questions AI's ability to fully replace human authors, especially regarding style and nuance. He's planning a new book, leveraging AI for assistance, yet remains uncertain about his future role in an AI-dominated world, questioning his value and purpose.

Development Existential Crisis

Nyxt: The Emacs-Inspired Browser for Developers

2025-08-14

Nyxt is an unconventional web browser built on the philosophy of Emacs: highly customizable and keyboard-driven. Written in Common Lisp and licensed under the BSD 3-clause license, it prioritizes Linux users and empowers developers to extend its functionality. While inspired by Emacs, Nyxt runs independently and supports vi and CUA keybindings. The current 3.x series uses WebKitGTK, while the upcoming 4.0 will leverage Electron for improved performance and cross-platform support (macOS and Windows). Nyxt's minimalist interface and extensive customization options appeal to developers seeking ultimate efficiency, but its steep learning curve and limited community resources present a challenge.

Development

10 PRINT: A Single Line of Code, A Cultural Phenomenon

2025-08-14
10 PRINT: A Single Line of Code, A Cultural Phenomenon

10 PRINT, a book published in 2012, explores the creative computing phenomenon through a single line of Commodore 64 BASIC code. The authors treat this code as a text, examining its creation, purpose, and assumptions. The book delves into randomness and regularity in computing and art, the cultural significance of mazes, the popularity of BASIC, and the influence of the Commodore 64. Generated book covers, inspired by the code, are now used by the New York Public Library and Project Gutenberg.

Development creative computing

OCaml: A Surprisingly Relevant Language for the Modern Era

2025-08-14

This article makes a strong case for OCaml, highlighting its strengths as both a research language and a practical tool for industry. The author details OCaml's powerful features—including its static type system, multi-paradigm support, and evolving ecosystem—arguing that it's well-suited for diverse projects. Several common misconceptions about OCaml are addressed, and the author paints a picture of a vibrant and supportive community. The piece concludes with a compelling invitation to explore this often-overlooked language.

Development

Convo-Lang: An AI-Native Language for Simplifying LLM Prompt Engineering

2025-08-14
Convo-Lang: An AI-Native Language for Simplifying LLM Prompt Engineering

Convo-Lang is an open-source AI-native programming language and ecosystem designed for building powerful, structured prompts and agent workflows for LLMs like GPT-4, Claude, and Llama. Instead of writing freeform English prompts, Convo-Lang lets you define multi-step conversations, add structure and variables, integrate external tools and knowledge bases (RAG), and switch between different LLMs. Its readable syntax simplifies complex AI application development, making it easier to manage logic, debugging, and maintainability.

Development AI-native language

ForgeFed: Decentralizing Code Collaboration

2025-08-14

ForgeFed is a federation protocol for software forges, aiming to break the dominance of large, centralized platforms. Built on ActivityPub, it enables interoperability between different code hosting sites, issue trackers, code review applications, and more. This means you can host your code anywhere and still interact with projects on other platforms without needing separate accounts. ForgeFed empowers users, creating a free, connected, and secure collaboration network, independent of single company policies or platform shutdowns.

Development

XR2000: A Sci-Fi Themed Programming Challenge

2025-08-14

The author released XR2000, a programming challenge embedded within a compelling science fiction narrative. Primarily focused on binary protocols and cryptography, the challenge draws inspiration from games and challenges like TIS-100, Space Traders, and Protohackers. Currently in its first chapter, XR2000 may expand with more low-level/assembly techniques depending on its reception. Participants can connect to the challenge via `nc clearsky.dev 29438`.

Development

YAMS: Persistent Memory for LLMs and Applications

2025-08-14
YAMS: Persistent Memory for LLMs and Applications

YAMS is a persistent memory system built on content-addressed storage, designed for efficient storage and retrieval in large language models (LLMs) and applications. It features deduplication, semantic search, full-text indexing, versioning, and crash recovery. YAMS uses SHA-256 hashing for data integrity and Zstandard/LZMA compression. A command-line interface (CLI) and an MCP server are provided for integration with clients like Claude Desktop. YAMS supports Linux and macOS, installable via Docker and Homebrew.

Development Persistent Storage

NGINX Now Natively Supports ACME: Streamlining SSL Certificate Management

2025-08-14

NGINX announces native support for the ACME protocol, introducing a new module (ngx_http_acme_module) for requesting, installing, and renewing certificates directly within the NGINX configuration. This eliminates the need for external tools like Certbot, simplifying SSL/TLS certificate management, reducing manual errors, and improving security by shrinking the attack surface. ACME's automated workflow is enhanced by NGINX's native integration, boosting efficiency and reliability for modern web infrastructures.

Development

Astral Launches Pyx: A Next-Gen Python Package Registry

2025-08-14
Astral Launches Pyx: A Next-Gen Python Package Registry

Astral has launched Pyx, a native Python package registry and the first component of its next-generation infrastructure for the Python ecosystem, the Astral platform. Pyx optimizes the uv package manager, serving not only as a package registry but also solving problems beyond the scope of traditional package registries, such as increased speed, enhanced security, and GPU support. Currently live with early partners including Ramp, Intercom, and fal, Pyx aims to deliver a next-generation Python experience for teams. Astral builds high-performance developer tools for the Python ecosystem, with the goal of making Python the most productive programming ecosystem on Earth.

Development Astral Platform

Linus Torvalds Rejects Late, Low-Quality RISC-V Patches

2025-08-13
Linus Torvalds Rejects Late, Low-Quality RISC-V Patches

Linus Torvalds, creator of the Linux kernel, warned developers of a chaotic upcoming merge window due to his busy August schedule. Despite this warning, Meta engineer Palmer Dabbelt submitted a late set of RISC-V patches containing what Torvalds deemed 'garbage' code. Specifically, Torvalds criticized a poorly written helper function and the addition of the code to generic header files, impacting the broader Linux community. While known for his fiery temper in the past, Torvalds, who has worked on improving his behavior, delivered a sharp but comparatively restrained rebuke. Dabbelt apologized for his mistakes and committed to improvement, meaning the RISC-V enhancements will have to wait for a future release.

Development

Solving the Equality Delete Problem in Apache Iceberg: RisingWave's Approach

2025-08-13
Solving the Equality Delete Problem in Apache Iceberg: RisingWave's Approach

Apache Iceberg has become a hot topic in data infrastructure, but real-time data streaming presents challenges. Mainstream systems don't natively support writing Change Data Capture (CDC) directly into Iceberg. This article delves into Iceberg's two delete mechanisms: position delete and equality delete. Equality delete is suitable for streaming CDC but impacts query performance, and many mainstream engines don't support it. RisingWave solves this with a hybrid delete strategy (position deletes for in-batch updates, equality deletes otherwise) and schedulable compaction, enabling an end-to-end streaming CDC-to-Iceberg pipeline successfully deployed at companies like Siemens, significantly improving data availability.

Development

Spellcheckers in the 1980s: A Memory War

2025-08-13

Creating a spellchecker for a new MS-DOS word processor in 1984 was a monumental challenge. Computers boasted meager memory (often just 256K), forcing programmers to employ ingenious compression techniques and algorithms to fit the dictionary and spellchecking functionality. This stands in stark contrast to today, where implementing a spellchecker is a trivial task, highlighting the enormous strides made in software engineering and computing power. The article eloquently portrays this evolution, from a months-long struggle with memory limitations to the simplicity of modern implementations.

Development

Blender's Epic Leap: Pro-Grade 3D Modeling Lands on iPad

2025-08-13
Blender's Epic Leap: Pro-Grade 3D Modeling Lands on iPad

After years of anticipation, the powerhouse free 3D software Blender is finally arriving on iPad! The full, professional Blender experience is being adapted for the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, revolutionizing how and where artists create. This isn't a watered-down version; it's the complete Blender, redesigned for touchscreens. The development team emphasizes accessibility, with a new interface built for intuitive touch and gesture control, while maintaining consistency with the desktop version. Android and other platforms are also on the roadmap. A tech demo at SIGGRAPH 2025 will offer a first look.

Development

The 'Let Me Know' Protocol: Anonymous Event Notifications

2025-08-13
The 'Let Me Know' Protocol: Anonymous Event Notifications

A proposed new protocol, "Let Me Know" (LMK), offers an anonymous way to be notified when a specific event occurs. Imagine wanting to know when part 3 of a blog series is published without subscribing or providing personal information. LMK uses a button to register a URL endpoint, which a background service periodically checks. Upon event occurrence, the endpoint returns information, triggering a notification (popup, email, push notification), then self-deleting. While simple, the protocol's anonymity and one-time nature may hinder widespread adoption by content creators.

Blender Now Natively Supports Windows 11 on Arm, Boasting Huge Performance Gains

2025-08-13
Blender Now Natively Supports Windows 11 on Arm, Boasting Huge Performance Gains

Thanks to a collaboration between Microsoft, Linaro, and Qualcomm, the Blender 3D creation suite now natively supports Windows 11 on Arm. Blender 4.5 LTS leverages a Vulkan graphics backend and the Adreno GPU in Snapdragon X chips, resulting in drastically improved viewport playback (up to 6x faster) and rendering performance (up to 4.5x faster). Future plans include hardware-accelerated ray tracing for Cycles on Snapdragon X by 2026.

Development

CSS Anchor Positioning: Responsive Menus Without JavaScript

2025-08-13
CSS Anchor Positioning: Responsive Menus Without JavaScript

This article explores CSS's new anchor positioning feature, enabling element placement based on other elements' positions. Create responsive menus and tooltips with minimal CSS, eliminating the need for JavaScript. The tutorial details `position-anchor`, `position-area`, `position-try`, and the `anchor()` function, comparing logical and physical property usage. A responsive menu example demonstrates adaptability across screen sizes.

Development Anchor Positioning

A Personalized Journaling System with Neovim

2025-08-13

This post details a personalized journaling system built using Neovim, coreutils, and dateutils, loosely based on Ryder Carroll's Bullet Journal method. The system organizes entries by year and month in a directory structure. Calendar generation uses the `cal` command. Tasks are marked with prefixes like `todo` and `done`, leveraging Neovim's abbreviation and sorting features for efficient task management and visualization. Syntax highlighting and habit tracking are incorporated, with an `awk` script calculating monthly expenses. Convenient scripts are provided to quickly open the current month's journal or entries from the preceding and following two months, streamlining the journaling process.

Development Journaling System

arXivLabs: Community-Driven Experiments on arXiv

2025-08-13
arXivLabs: Community-Driven Experiments on arXiv

arXivLabs is a framework enabling collaborators to develop and share new features directly on the arXiv website. Individuals and organizations involved uphold arXiv's values of openness, community, excellence, and user data privacy. arXiv is committed to these values and only partners with those who share them. Have an idea to enhance the arXiv community? Learn more about arXivLabs.

Development

The Challenges and Solutions of Single-File Fennel Libraries

2025-08-13
The Challenges and Solutions of Single-File Fennel Libraries

This article delves into the challenges of building single-file libraries in Fennel, a Lisp dialect embedded in Lua, particularly the complexities of handling macros and functions together. The author meticulously dissects Lua's module system, including the mechanics of `package.loaded`, `package.preload`, and `package.searchers`, explaining how Fennel leverages them for compiling and loading modules. The core of the article focuses on resolving limitations of Fennel macros, such as the inability to directly export macros and the interdependence between macros. A clever solution is presented, utilizing `eval-compiler` and `relative-require` to package macros and functions within a single file, and addressing macro loading by manually setting the `fennel.macro-loaded` table during compilation. Finally, the author outlines future improvements for Fennel's macro system, proposing the removal of macro modules, direct loading of entire modules during compilation, and adopting Clojure's approach to resolve macro dependencies.

Development

Omnara: Mission Control for Your AI Agents

2025-08-12
Omnara: Mission Control for Your AI Agents

Omnara is a mobile-first platform for monitoring and controlling your AI agents (Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and more). It offers real-time monitoring, interactive Q&A, and smart notifications, allowing you to track your AI agents' progress and provide guidance from anywhere. Say goodbye to wasted time due to stalled AI agents; Omnara empowers you to efficiently manage your AI workflow and boost productivity.

Development

OpenSecret Ditches Neon for PlanetScale: A Database Migration Story

2025-08-12
OpenSecret Ditches Neon for PlanetScale: A Database Migration Story

OpenSecret, building a confidential computing platform powered by AWS Nitro Enclaves, migrated from Neon to PlanetScale after experiencing multiple outages. Neon's 'serverless' databases suffered hours of downtime during a critical week, severely impacting their core application, Maple AI. PlanetScale won OpenSecret over with its superior reliability, predictable pricing, and powerful observability tools (including p99 latency and query-level insights). The migration was smooth and zero-downtime, resulting in significant performance improvements and cost reductions. PlanetScale's expert support and laser focus on database excellence freed OpenSecret to concentrate on its core mission: building the best confidential computing platform possible.

Radicle 1.3.0 Released: Enhanced Collaboration and Windows Support

2025-08-12
Radicle 1.3.0 Released: Enhanced Collaboration and Windows Support

Radicle 1.3.0 is here, boasting a range of improvements. Key updates include: canonical reference rules for enhanced collaboration security; the introduction of the radicle-protocol crate for streamlined protocol implementation; initial Windows support, enabling rad CLI usage; improved log rotation; and enhanced node ID display. This release boosts Radicle's stability and usability, providing developers with a smoother collaborative experience.

Development P2P Collaboration

Depot Hiring: Community & Events Manager - Own the Developer Experience

2025-08-12
Depot Hiring: Community & Events Manager - Own the Developer Experience

Fast-growing build acceleration platform Depot is hiring a Community & Events Manager. This isn't your typical marketing role; you'll be hands-on, planning everything from small developer meetups to major trade shows, creating moments that matter for developers. You'll own Depot's offline presence, building lasting relationships with the community. Requires strong experience running developer events, independent work style, and thriving in a fast-paced environment. Depot is a remote-first, data-driven company focused on developer productivity and accelerating software development.

Development

Qodo Command Achieves Stunning 71.2% on SWE-bench Verified

2025-08-12
Qodo Command Achieves Stunning 71.2% on SWE-bench Verified

Qodo Command, a command-line AI coding agent, achieved an impressive 71.2% score on the SWE-bench Verified benchmark, a leading test for evaluating AI agents on real-world software engineering tasks. This score was achieved using the production version of Qodo Command without fine-tuning or benchmark-specific adjustments. Its success stems from features like context summarization, execution planning, retry and fallback mechanisms, and the LangGraph framework. Built to support multiple LLMs, Qodo Command currently partners with Anthropic's Claude 4 to create adaptive and learning-oriented coding agents.

Development

Sleeping Like a Sailor to Maximize Claude Pro Usage

2025-08-12

To maximize the five-hour usage limit of his Claude Pro subscription, the author adopted a sailor-like sleep schedule, taking 2-3 hour naps to maintain peak coding efficiency. This strategy has resulted in a 10x increase in productivity on his B2B SaaS project. While acknowledging the sacrifice in sleep quality, the author finds this approach highly effective and plans to continue using it even after potential Claude Pro usage restrictions tighten.

Development sleep strategy
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