CormasNov 8, 2023

An inspiring talk by @khinsen at The First Workshop on Reproducible Software Environments for Research and High-Performance Computing

- "We shape our tools and then our tools shape us"

- "Convivial tools empower their users. Radical monopolies make users dependent on a technological elite"

- "We should come back to the goal of having scientific computing environments that normal scientists can manipulate without the help of expert programmers"

#guix #reproducibility

CormasNov 8, 2023
Show threadLudovic Courtès

@cormas @khinsen Lots of food for thought in this talk, indeed.

Another quote off the top of my head, speaking of how we develop software: “We should shift from the industrial mindset (growth, efficiency, competition) to the ecological mindset (sustainability, resilience, coopetition).”

Nov 8, 2023 at 1:44pmWeb
Show threadClaire RodriguezNov 8, 2023
@civodul @cormas @khinsen Is this talk archived anywhere? I would love to use it as a reference in future papers.
Show threadLudovic CourtèsNov 8, 2023

@yewscion @khinsen @cormas Talks are live-streamed right now: https://hpc.guix.info/events/2023/workshop/program

Slides will be on-line soon, videos will come a bit later.

Guix-HPC — Program

Show threadKonrad HinsenNov 11, 2023

@civodul @cormas

I just saw a nice example of such a change in attitude:

https://drewdevault.com/2023/11/09/Can-I-be-on-your-podcast.html

and linked therein:

https://harelang.org/evangelism/

Can I be on your podcast?

Show threadLudovic CourtèsNov 11, 2023

@khinsen @cormas I like that! (I think we’ve been effectively working along the same lines in Guix.)

Side note: I wish people would stop calling publicity “evangelism”, a word I see as historically synonymous with alienation and subjugation through religion.

Show threadKonrad HinsenNov 11, 2023

@civodul Yes, Guix respects those guidelines in practice, as do other projects I happen to like, e.g. @pharoproject. But this is the first time I have seen it stated explicitly.

And I agree about evangelism. It suggests the contrary of what is intended: forced "liberation".

@cormas

Show threadApostolisNov 11, 2023

@khinsen @civodul

"evangelism" from "ευαγγελισμος" : the bearer/messenger of good news.

Show threadKonrad HinsenNov 11, 2023

@apostolis That's what it meant before militant Christians decided that their beliefs were such good news that everybody on the planet should be made to believe it as well.

@civodul

Show threadApostolisNov 11, 2023

@khinsen @civodul I personally love to find the different meanings of words. Especially when they express meanings that are difficult to compress. They are like your symbols in Leibniz.

They are beautiful and to be kept.

Show threadApostolisNov 11, 2023
@khinsen @civodul In the context though that this word was used, it did express the meaning posed by Christianity, i think. Which I do not like.