YHK - yet another hacker news clone

No AI, 52 min. Build all Linux Files utils in C by Hand [video]

39 points surprisetalk 2 days ago 23 comments

ReDress 1 hour ago | parent

I just looked at the first example / utility he implemented; which was 'touch'

Will this actually update the 'last modified' date for an already existing file?

Also, there's a standard way of processing command line arguments on Linux/Unix, which is not being followed here.

lycos 1 hour ago | parent

to be fair the title didn't promise it would be done well

ReDress 1 hour ago | parent

well, if we go by the title then I would expect that he's writing the code on a piece of paper and not typing into a computer - heh

But, okay, that could make a valid excuse.

But, what you cannot excuse yourself for, is that you don't really add any functionality. In fact, you don't reproduce all the functionality let alone adding more.

danielbln 1 hour ago | parent

But it's no AI, it's organic, hand woven, the toil and pain of really putting it down by hand... or something of the sort.

agumonkey 1 hour ago | parent

True slop ?

danielbln 54 minutes ago | parent

The true ultimate expression of the human condition.

piekvorst 54 minutes ago | parent

Primitive technology, modern look

_ache_ 1 hour ago | parent

No it will *replace* or create the files "touched" by an empty file.

Major bug in the first command.

Technically, yes, it updates the last modified date, by actually emptying the file. He should have use "w+" or "a" instead of "w".

PS: I like this guy.

geocar 36 minutes ago | parent

w+ truncates

taspeotis 35 minutes ago | parent

Should have used AI

suddenlybananas 15 minutes ago | parent

Well, if the point is to have something that works well and follows the standard, he shouldn't have done anything at all and just use what was already made.

el_psy_congroo 51 minutes ago | parent

sometimes, I really miss coding by hand

dolmen 40 minutes ago | parent

What is stopping you?

KingOfCoders 39 minutes ago | parent

Probably "I miss coding by hand and being paid for that".

Might be a 9-5 coder.

sevenzero 24 minutes ago | parent

What's wrong with being a 9-5 coder?

ReDress 19 minutes ago | parent

It's when I wrote some code at work. I couldn't easily complete the task. Each day I go to work and write even more code. The task is far from complete. I have written hundreds of thousands of code so far.

I seem to be closing in the completing the task nowadays, though.

It has been 5 years so far.

jcfrei 31 minutes ago | parent

I kind of expected this to happen: Coding will become an "artisanal craft" - much like woodworking for example. Sure for most of your furniture you can just go to ikea but every now and then you might get joy from making something with your own hands.

ryandetzel 14 minutes ago | parent

While I like the analogy, I'm not sure it holds how I think of AI. I'd do woodworking because I want better quality for less money, and that's why I use AI now. "Hand crafting" code might be fun but it doesn't get you it cheaper or better anymore IMHO

whatthejesus 6 minutes ago | parent

Better quality for less money? No. You do woodworking (if in fact you do) because you enjoy it. The time spent making a decent piece of furniture you could work at McDonald’s and buy a nicer piece in less time it takes to master woodworking.

So, don’t kid yourself! You enjoy it, and if you’ve mastered the skill then naturally you can save money over time. But I’d wager you spend more in hours mastering the skill than if you were to buy a couple pieces of furniture. ;)

JdeBP 12 minutes ago | parent

I'm not sure that societal trends can be extrapolated from YouTube videos, certainly not from one YouTube video, or channel. There's a lot of oddball stuff on YouTube that, if taken to be definitive would have you, for example, believing that the human race is becoming MMORPG players from New Zealand.

What it might illustrate is that "No AI" and long-format are currently seen as ways of attracting attention.

YetAnotherNick 5 minutes ago | parent

Having purchased furniture recently, it is not easy to get what you exactly have in mind or get matching things for a room. So there is value in building furniture by hand.

Not sure about coding though. There could be some thing which humans will do better. Maybe humans will always be better at understanding intent of other humans as they share same biology.

assumed_throwaw 21 minutes ago | parent

I discovered his videos a few days ago. I imagine the "algorithm" pushed those into a lot of HN users' feeds.

Just this morning, I was wondering if it would make sense to share it on HN. And here it it on the front page. What a small world.