====== Link dump, December 2019 ======

This Christmas I’m reviewing my Fediverse bookmarks again and collecting the most interesting findings.

  * [[https://mastodon.social/@crc/103291104681246183|Charles Childers about his Forth implementation]]:

> While working on my Forth this week, I rewrote the assembler in assembly, letting me fit it into my kernel so that I no longer need to inline raw machine code in the standard library.
> 
> The rewrite is a lot more efficient, reducing the memory footprint from 661 memory locations to 109.

I admire projects like [[http://retroforth.org/|RETRO]]. RETRO is: - minimal (there’s a 250-line C implementation), - complete (its website is served from an HTTP server implemented in RETRO) and - a stack language, so it requires a different mindset from what we usually apply when writing code.

I always wanted to compile and run [[https://factorcode.org/|Factor]] on my FreeBSD, but BSDs are not supported and I’d given up a long time ago.

  * [[https://mastodon.social/@sailfishosnews/103333597254179078|Sailfish OS 3.2.1 released]]

The more-less secure (yet not exactly open-source) smartphone operating system Sailfish OS from Jolla has been released recently. I’m even considering a switch, but will first need to make sure Signal would run on it.

Complete release notes are available on [[https://together.jolla.com/question/217843/release-notes-321-nuuksio-released/|Jolla’s support forum]].

  * [[http://neural.it/2019/12/collapse-os-post-apocalypse-software/|Collapse OS, a post-apocalyptic software]]

Collapse OS is a very ambitious project. Its goal is to create a system that can run on “anything”:


> - Run on minimal and improvised machines.
> - Interface through improvised means (serial, keyboard, display).
> - Edit text files.
> - Compile assembler source files for a wide range of MCUs and CPUs.
> - Read and write from a wide range of storage devices.
> - Replicate itself.

See the [[https://collapseos.org/#status|status]] and see for yourself!

  * [[https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/products/js-api-arcgis/mapping/wurman-dots-bringing-back-the-60s/|Wurman Dots, a nice way to present data on a map]]
  * https:%%//%%www.filmsforaction.org/watch/the-art-of-effortless-living-a-taoist-documentary-2019/

This one came from Films For Action. I’m pleased to learn that people still find taoism interesting!

  * [[https://blog.josefsson.org/2014/08/26/the-case-for-short-openpgp-key-validity-periods/|The Case for Short OpenPGP Key Validity Periods]]

I haven’t read it yet, but I am going to. Perhaps I’ll update this comment when I do.

  * [[https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-inequality-inevitable/|Is Inequality Inevitable?]]. Wealth naturally trickles up in free-market economies, model suggests

It’s a great read and everybody should read it. It shows how capitalism and the free market that it relies on are //the// source of inequalities in wealth distribution.