Side Projects - <AUTHOR> http://avc.com/2016/03/side-projects/ <comment><USER2> There is a thriving community / ecosystem of people doing side projects. It is big enough to support conferences. I'm making my annual pilgrimmage tomorrow to Vegas to attend Microconf, where ~600 people selling software over the Internet are going to be shooting the breeze and talking conversion rates, email marketing, and Slack integrations.

As far as I'm aware, only one attendee has been acquired by Yahoo. HN is aware of _maybe_ 10 of them. The next 200? You don't know about them for the same reason you don't know about Petersen Underwriters or Shiodome Accounting. ( _Who?_ The most recent two businesses which have had their yearly revenue chart moved not-at-all when I cut them a $1k+ check.)

It has not gotten harder to do side projects. Back in 2006, over 25% of my launch budget was to send a fax internationally to send a paper contract to eSellerate (remember them?) for payment processing. These days Stripe exists, and it is better all around.

It has not gotten harder to do web development since 2004. Remember when your only options were shared hosting for $4 a month on servers which had two nines of uptime or buying a Dell and learning what colocation meant? These days you can get a reliably hosted VPS for ~$20.

Remember when your only option for interactive scripts on the Internet was teaching yourself perl and /cgi-bin/? Rails exists now. Rails is a much, much more productive environment.

Remember when shareware marketing consisted of paying $200 to magazines so you could get a little ad in the back of them and pray that 20+ people bought your think, such that 20 * $25 > $200? These days you do scalable online marketing approaches and sell products which have the same technical complexity as $25 shareware but, crucially, have LTVs in the mid-thousands or higher. (SaaS billing!)

<comment><USER3> I think comparing the "web 2.0" era (2006+) with magazine distribution is a bit too distant - but imho, things have really been getting too competitive as of late, and that explains a bit of a reduction on the number of side projects.

My personal experience: it got easier to build (although not that much since 2008 or so, to be honest), but my feeling is that there's just TOO MANY projects happening, and too few people actually looking at them at all. I feel people are just saturated, and that's a direct reflection of all that easiness (is that a word?) + the web and mobile converging to a handful of very addictive gatekeepers.

My first couple side-projects (launched in 2006 and 2008) turned into respectable revenue sources (at least for a long while) with very little effort - and a small user-base (both were ad supported). I launched other stuff ever since - a terribly designed mobile app in 2010, on a niche field (QR code reading!) netted thousands of downloads. Then it started to get crowded. My most recent toy apps barely got a download. Some web experiments got dozens to thousands of signups (after, say, a product hunt launch), but retention is just tending to zero. On the flipside of that (as an early adopter), I find myself signing up to more and more landing pages of things that either never launch or I just lose interest when they do. Dunno why.

It's just a point of data, of course. Maybe I ran out of good ideas or I'm just barking the wrong tree. Anyway, just my 2 grouchy cents.

<comment><USER4> I think in mobile apps there's no doubt it has gotten very crowded with people tripping over each other in a race to the bottom. Mostly free with some freemium/ad based/in-app pruchase based models now.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> > I suspect that some of that is the effort to build and launch something that > can reach broad adoption is harder.

No, it's just that getting attention is a lot harder. Side projects – by its very nature – are exactly that: Some stuff happening on the side and the trash can is an even more certain path than for most startups.

Without any visibility, side projects won't turn into companies. This doesn't mean that there are no side projects. There are probably more than ever, because everybody tries to get into the startup hamster wheel with their little idea.

<comment><USER6> If anything I think getting attention has become much easier compared to say 5 years ago. You used to have to go to Techcrunch and their friends to get covered or your project would never have any other means of getting significant attention for the launch. Nowadays sites like HN and Product Hunt provide pretty much democratized way of getting attention for your projects. On the other hand, getting meaningful adoption has indeed become harder, exactly because getting attention has become easier. There are too many projects and startups launching everyday that even if you place 1st on PH or HN today, tomorrow people are onto the next shiny thing.

<comment><USER7> Product Hunt is really only "democratized" if you know someone who can post to the Featured list. For the rest of us, it's either the obscurity of the "Newest" list, or basically the same exact process as getting covered by someone at TC.

<comment><USER6> Let's not battle with semantics. There are more venues to get exposure nowadays and the gatekeepers at these venues have much less power than the ones that came before, hence more democratized than 5 years ago.

<comment><USER8> It's not "semantics" if the end result is the same, which is that you need to beg certain gatekeepers to give your product exposure. The fact that there are more of those gatekeepers now doesn't mean the process is more "democratized."

<comment><USER6> Can't believe I keep feeding you guys stuff so I can get even more downvoted, but this almost feels like talking to a wall. This is my last comment on this thread because I know you'll probably say I'm wrong again, but I'll try my best to explain. 5 years ago if you built a cool project or startup you would pitch TechCrunch, Mashable, etc. (a handful of sites), and that was it. Most likely it would have been ignored. Then there's not much you can do. Nowadays there's room for creativity. You can even reach out to people on Twitter via @messages and get their attention. That didn't exist before. Also you guys make it sound like getting through the Product Hunt "gatekeepers" is some mission impossible but that only means you haven't tried, because if you tried you would know that they are also people just like you and want to share cool products. My point is, in the past, unless you spend lots of money you had little power over whether your project gets attention or not. Nowadays if you're on HN complaining about how it's same as back then, you're probably doing it wrong. There are tons of ways you can get exposure for your projects and you're not trying hard enough or not being creative enough if you're saying it's the same.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> Contrary to what this VC believes, it is NOT okay to expect someone to "work 60 hours a week at Facebook and then another 40 hours a week on your side project". Because starting a business should not be founded on giving up your personal life. Quitting your job to focus on your idea full-time is a perfectly reasonable expectation. Investors need to start doing their homework instead of pushing founders to the burnout limit.

<comment><USER10> If you won't do it, someone else will.

Life is all about tradeoffs. Just because someone else's is different than yours, doesn't make it bad/wrong/illegal.

<comment><USER11> > _If you won 't do it, someone else will._

This mentality can be used to justify far too many stupid things.

<comment><USER10> This is why it's important to have limits.

As a society, we have laws that make it illegal to cross certain boundaries.

As an individual, I'm free to set my own limits on what I'll do. For one, I don't work at facebook or other adtech companies because I think the world has enough advertising and I don't like how phone-addicted people are.

I just think it's incredibly naive to assume you can have whatever lifestyle you want and be commercially successful. Success is _costly_ ; you have to, almost by definition, be willing to do things other people aren't. I don't know where this idea that you somehow "deserve" to work "only 60 hours per week" comes from -- I just know that there are a lot of incredibly hard- working people in tech, and it's a high-stakes, high-money game, so you're going to get some outliers.

<comment><USER12> > I don't know where this idea that you somehow "deserve" to work "only 60 > hours per week" comes from

Perhaps you missed labor regulations over the last 200 years during the industrial revolution? That's where these ideas come from, that someone can have a solid quality of life without trading 60-100 hours a week of their life away.

<comment><USER10> Honest question: do you see modern tech workers as "labor" in the classic sense?

I don't but you seem to, I wonder why?

My rudimentary understanding of labor law suggests it's not really clear what we are right now.

<comment><USER12> > Honest question: do you see modern tech workers as "labor" in the classic > sense?

If they're owners, founders, or have significant equity? No. That's not the vast majority of tech workers though. They're (we? I'm a tech worker) just higher up in the caste system.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I do side projects for different reasons: they're a great way to express my creativity.

I can create my very own unique solution to a problem, rather than just being a cog in someone else's machine.

Edit: not that I mind being a cog if I get a paycheck, but it's not as awesome as creating something new

Edit2: and quitting my day job and raising capital would screw everything up for most projects.

<comment><USER14> This is exactly the same reason I value side projects. Coming up with an elegant, creative solution without being forced into time/system/professional constraints is pretty amazing.

I want to use the language, platform and philosophy of my choice when working on things for myself. It reminds me of why I got into this field in the first place.

<comment><USER15> exactly. I have a side project that is doing well and growing, and I feel pressure like I should hire people and try to make it hockey stick growth.. But I love that it is just my thing - more than making it as big as possible. I don't want to create a giant company - I just like making a great product and I don't want the pressure or have to deal with the other stuff.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> He raises a good point that the "barrier to entry" to creating even a side project is getting harder and harder for one person to attain in their spare time.

Nowadays an MVP needs to be fairly polished to be useful at all, and often needs to support multiple platforms. And, CRUCIALLY, if you're asking for people's money, there is an expectation of ongoing support. If the business is visibly a side project, clients will be unlikely to purchase from it over a competitor that has a dedicated team working on a similar product. How do your customers know that your side project will not disappear tomorrow?

I suspect there is a "chilling effect" that causes a sort of paralysis in developers who are not ready to release their side project unless it's "perfect," because they need to build the product well enough that it does not require constantly supporting customers, responding to help-desk tickets, etc. An MVP is not enough to get real customers on a side project, simply because the barebones nature of it will amplify the support costs, causing strain on the developer and taking time away from perfecting the product.

<comment><USER17> This is a good quote from [http://martinfowler.com/articles/web-security- basics.html](http://martinfowler.com/articles/web-security-basics.html)

The modern software developer has to be something of a swiss army knife. Of course, you need to write code that fulfills customer functional requirements. It needs to be fast. Further you are expected to write this code to be comprehensible and extensible: sufficiently flexible to allow for the evolutionary nature of IT demands, but stable and reliable. You need to be able to lay out a useable interface, optimize a database, and often set up and maintain a delivery pipeline. You need to be able to get these things done by yesterday. Somewhere, way down at the bottom of the list of requirements, behind, fast, cheap, and flexible is "secure".

\</comment></comment><comment>

I'd add to this list, if you are doing a side-project: marketing, SEO, customer acquisition, advertising, customer support, infrastructure support, ...

</comment><comment><USER18> Side projects also help diversify your perspective. As a founder, I don't want people who are 100% invested in one thing. It sounds good at first, but you run into burnout and narrow-mindedness very quickly.

How can you be expected to see your product, company, mission, etc. as part of a larger world if it is your entire world? Most people I meet in SV cannot, and a large part appears to be what percent of their life is wrapped up in their work.

<comment><USER19> I really enjoy my line of work, but sometimes the day-to-day work just isn't very creative so every few months I take some time to build a small project that has zero potential to be a "startup".

The latest is just a database of local parks that will be sortable by the various features (bbq grills, play grounds, etc). The official city website was terrible, I'll get to have the joy of using it because it was something I wanted, and I learned a few new things about WordPress which is what I work in for my primary job.

<comment><USER20> I love these and do them too. I built an app to search craigslist in 2007 across multiple neighborhoods and regions and plot the results on a map. This was roughly 6 or 7 years before Craigslist added these features I think. I found a great apartment with it, as did some friends. Fun, and learned some cool stuff. Another one was a Wordpress plugin for Facebook comments before Facebook released the official one and the existing ones were hard to use. People loved it, and again I learned a lot. Side projects rock!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER21> If you put your life on hold for a year, build that side project, then go pitching to VCs with your MVP and 100 users - you'll be negotiating same terms and seed as if you had never built it.

Skipping that garage weekends step makes good sense. Good for your health, good for the project. Only not so good for VCs...

<comment><USER22> To put it another way, the garage weekends step only makes sense if you're never planning on taking investment in the first place. Bootstrapping requires garage weekends (or enough of a nest-egg that engineer-you can work full-time for visionary-you.) The whole point of venture capital is to skip that part.

Importantly, a startup with enough sweat put into it that it's now _executing on a business model_ instead of _searching for a viable business model_ is no longer a startup; and if that's the only thing a VC is funding, then that person is not actually a VC, but rather a private-equity investor.

(And you could go further, and point out that the whole concept of "private equity" was just for the sake of startups with market risk; and that, having validated their market and eliminated such risk, companies should—according to the spirit of the law—immediately do their IPO. These "venture capitalists"—really just plain-old "capitalists" at this point—would then be forced to compete with every other schlub who wants a piece of the company.

</comment></comment><comment><USER23> Unfortunately many employment agreements prohibit side projects.

<comment><USER10> My experience (SF) is more like "don't ask, don't tell"

If you do something blatantly competitive, e.g. launch a product that competes with your employer's product, try to use employer's customer relationships, you'll get sued. If you do something outright illegal, like steal IP, you're probably going to jail.

But most managers I've worked for don't really care if it doesn't affect your day job, and in fact, might quietly encourage it as it lets you scout the new hotness and then bring it back to your day job, if it's good.

I suspect the norms around this depend highly on where you work, but I think this attitude is pretty common in SF tech.

<comment><USER24> Your _manager_ probably doesn't care as long as you don't rub it in his face. The _company_ only cares if you're becoming a direct competitor or try to get it to buy back IP that was created on company time anyway. However, potential _investors_ care a lot - this sort of thing shows up in due diligence, and it's negotiating leverage that can be used against you in any potential lawsuit or acquisition.

It's fine to _do_ side projects anytime you want - it's not like the company has the ability to restrict what you can do in your free time. But if it looks like the side project may turn into something more than a side project, it may be a good idea to quit your job, throw away the code, and rewrite everything from scratch.

<comment><USER25> > this sort of thing shows up in due diligence

Everyone throws around the phrase "due diligence", but what exactly does that mean? How is this kind of thing showing up in "due diligence", assuming a side project could be at any stage? Do they interview employees? Go through their social accounts? Github repositories? Lurk at IRC chat rooms?

<comment><USER24> My understanding of the process (I've never been through it myself, but my wife does it as part of her job) is that the acquirer or institutional investor will request a pile of documents, including: audited financials for the company; the cap table, and any investment documents; tax returns; company bank statements & other financials; all agreements that employees have signed with the company; all agreements with partners & customers; commit logs for the repository, and oftentimes samples of actual source code; etc. Then a team of people - usually including financiers, lawyers, accountants, and occasionally domain experts like programmers for a software startup or biologists for a biotech company - will go over that with a fine-toothed comb, looking for inconsistencies.

If the documentation is inconsistent or missing, you will be grilled on it. For things like missing partner or employee agreements, you will have to go back to those people and get them to sign the appropriate agreements. For audited financials, if there is an inconsistency you may have to restate earnings. If your commit logs show that some of your code was written by a person who was not an employee of the company at the time of the commit, you will be asked to produce a license or otherwise explain how you can legally use that code. If it turns out that they were an employee of _some other company_ at the time, with IP assignment to their employer, then you'll have to go to that company and get them to sign a release or license agreement to use that code, and if they won't do that, it may torpedo the deal.

<comment><USER26> I've done it recently as an employee of an acquired company. In addition, acquirers can (and do!) interview the developers as well. We got questions that approximated how one would take git and turn that into the running system. The acquirer also crawled through all our software license agreements; wee discovered we weren't licensed quite correctly for a commercial db, so had to rip it out in a real rush.

For each customer agreement, it has to be either assignable, or you will have to go to that customer and get them to agree to make it assignable. Each customer that doesn't so agree, or each customer that is slow to respond, will have to be individually negotiated with the acquirer in the period before the deal closes.

I'd imagine that one of the big risks acquirers of small companies care about is the company somehow fucked up and doesn't own, or there is a colorable claim they don't own, their source code. Having an overlap of git commits with your previous employer could cause you a lot of heartburn at minimum. And good luck getting a timely response from your previous employer that they don't own that code. Your previous employer, even if they have no intentions of being dicks, simply have no incentive to sign (and definitely no incentive to promptly sign) such an agreement.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER27> This is a great point - experimentation is _huge_ and a big part of my own growth as an entrepreneur. To me I feel better knowing my side project work isn't sucking up someone's money when it doesn't work out, and I'm building my programming skills. If a project will truly work, it will rise to the surface and be better than the others, all while building on the skills from my previous projects.

</comment><comment><USER28> Who is giving out 250k in seed money these days? Asking for a friend.

<comment><USER29> I'm giving out 2.5 and 25K pretty willy nilly if you give me a good vibe!

<comment><USER28> I should tell you about my side project(s)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> My co-founder and started Cronitor as a side project, now I usually call it a side business. I'd consider a seed round, and angel investors have told us we could raise money at a 7-figure valuation. I'm sure we could grow faster, but I also enjoy it for what it is: passive-ish income. We develop features because we want to, and we've built a stable service with few operational problems and minimal customer service demands. I say, let the side projects roll.

</comment><comment><USER31> I think the beauty of side projects is it's a low pressure way for people to put their idea out in the world and see what happens. Only difference between a hobby and side project is most side projects start off with a slightly more defined potential to monetize it.

And if the project pans out, great! If not, hopefully the side project was you doing something you love anyway so you still had fun and gained a lot of experience.

The fact it's now easier (cheaper startup costs for many types of work) to start side projects is a boon for the rest of us. It means every once in a while, someone who would never had considered starting a biz right away but would create something for fun may end up bringing a truly valuable product or service to the world.

I started my biz ([http://www.artofemails.com](http://www.artofemails.com)) as a side project. I think seeing it as a side project in the very beginning freed me from feeling I had to do market validation and the whole launch a biz laundry list to just put it (in my case sales email templates) out there. Once it was up and I got really positive feedback, that's when I committed to growing it as a fully fledged business.

</comment><comment><USER32> Flexport started as a side project. Nobody noticed us until we had enough traction to make it my full time job.

<comment><USER33> Interesting. If you don't mind me asking here, I've seen you're hiring for your HK office. I'm based in Shenzhen -- will you be hiring here in the future or would you be open to employees commuting to HK? Happy to email you if possible.

</comment></comment><comment><USER34> Why sucking crowd money through Kickstarter is acceptable but sucking seed money from a professional is not?

</comment><comment><USER35> I disagree wit article. Today there are way more entrepreneurs who turned their side project into business. But today its not about huge "scalable" startup, but more relaxed lifestyle business. And most projects are build within existing system (youtube channel, amazon seller...), so they hide under radar where every business is independent website.

</comment><comment><USER36> I have a feeling that the perceived lack of "product" side projects corellates to the rise of Github and "open-source contributions" as a requirement to get a tech interview? People spend all their hobby energy trying to build github portfolios that most of the time is just libraries or contributions to libraries.

</comment><comment><USER37> On the other hand, you have paul graham's great post about the top idea in your mind. "It's hard to do a really good job on anything you don't think about in the shower.": [http://www.paulgraham.com/top.html](http://www.paulgraham.com/top.html)

<comment><USER6> > "It's hard to do a really good job on anything you don't think about in the > shower."

Just because it's a side project doesn't mean you don't think about it in the shower. I never think of dayjob work outside of office hours, rest of the time I'm always thinking about my project, including when I shower.

</comment></comment><comment><USER38> There is a notion that seed funding is very easy to find. Is this really true for normal people ? Does 'facebook' tag somehow magically attrach money these days? How does one begin this process ? Most of my friends are engineers and I know nobody in my friend circle who has raised a seed round.

<comment><USER24> A lot of people aren't actively seeking it. I'm not, and I have a number of former coworkers that have successfully built startups (either been acquired or running profitably) and only about half of them took seed funding.

If you're good enough and dedicated enough to execute on your ideas yourself, chances are you were paid pretty well in your past life and have decent savings. (If you weren't, it often makes sense to do a two-step path into a startup, where you write a side project that is impressive but not lucrative, use that as leverage to get a Google/Facebook/etc. job offer, save up a bunch of money, and then seed fund yourself.) And if you've got decent savings, it can often make more sense to avoid the dilution and investor-relations hassles that come with taking investment.

<comment><USER39> Are you doing a startup?

<comment><USER24> Yeah.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER40> Easy to quit and get seed funding, sure. But when it's time to raise an A round...

</comment><comment><USER41> People are building/running/coding side projects more than ever before! I run sideprojectors.com ([http://www.sideprojectors.com](http://www.sideprojectors.com)) - it's a place where people can sell/buy/show off side projects and we've been receiving increasing number of side projects over the last few years. To my surprise, a lot of projects are also getting sold. Whether they go on to become big companies or not, I'm not sure - but many are building stuff.

</comment><comment><USER42> I REALLY REALLY want to help people test out these ideas early on with their community and grow social proof with real capital from their networks. Check out [http://baqqer.com/](http://baqqer.com/) to help grow your side project and your community simultaneously.

<comment><USER43> Hey this is Nathan, co-founder of Baqqer. Just to echo what Dan just said, we built baqqer with the idea that individual creators/makers/developers/designers should be able to test out their ideas with minimum effort to see if they have legs. Unlike Kickstarter where users need to have their product costs down to the penny, we let users build community and long-term funding around their ideas(side-projects) until they prove the model. This allows for pivoting, product recognition, and idea validation. We see ourselves as a pre-kickstarter platform.

<comment><USER39> >Baqqer

This may be the first time I've liked a Web 2.0-style name like that :-) - since Web 2 started in 2006-odd.

I kid you not.

<comment><USER42> Thanks! Funny story: I pitched an early group of investors this idea, and they stopped me and asked me why I settled on this name. I replied, "Because the domain was available." and the entire room erupted in laughter. Pretty solid experience.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER44> My personal experience working full-time and working on side projects over several years in my early twenties has led me to a relatively pessimistic take on the idea, at least from the perspective of realistically building something serious and taking it to market. It wasn't until I actually quit (more precisely, got fired) and went out on my own that I was able to produce anything non-trivial, although I'm entirely bootstrapped and never took any investment.

Some of it might just be that I had demanding jobs. It's true that the network service provider arena is particularly 24/7\. However, I went through half a dozen jobs between 18 and 22, and some afforded me plenty of free time outside the 9-5. With the easy jobs, I was demoralised, frustrated and/or bored, which didn't lead to a lot of spiritual energy for pursuing side projects diligently. With the more intense jobs, I was so busy that I had to try to squeeze in my side projects in the after-10 PM bracket. This all presumed no social life to speak of, by the way; the moment life even vaguely threatened social engagements, it was all out the window. Worse yet, staying up till 5 AM working on my side projects and trying to make it in at 9 AM for my actual job wasn't sustainable. It was arguably the immediate reason that led to my firing from the last job I actually had. It's not just a time thing, of course; sitting in an office all day is draining, even if one's job isn't very demanding. Even with my bright-eyed, bushy-tailed energy at 20, I often came home exhausted and would often spend my side project time just looking at the screen without getting much done. And, as I said, this is _without_ factoring in any other concerns whatsoever -- social life, personal life, working out, errands, grocery shopping, etc.

Anyway, maybe some people can do it, but in my view, this is no way to build something serious. I didn't start really making progress until I could afford to go "all in" with my time and energy. Also, it's important to remember that one is competing with folks who _do_ have the luxury of working on their venture on a full time-ish basis. That's quadruply important if go-to-market time is a serious linchpin of the venture.

Of course, the problem of bootstrapping while having a relatively high personal expense base is that the inevitable consulting required to support it sucks up all of one's time in the same way the day job used to (but with much higher economic stress and cash flow volatility), so it's not that going into business for myself opened up unparalleled opportunities to build product, either. However, even so, it beat grinding myself to powder.

EDIT: In one of my less intense jobs, I tried the approach of crashing out as soon as I came home (e.g. 7 PM) and waking up at 2 AM to spend my "best hours" on development. The actual day job could have the sloppy seconds; it wasn't a development job and didn't ask much of me. That was all good and fine, as long as one is comfortable with exactly two modes of existence: sleeping or sitting at a computer.

</comment><comment><USER45> I think for every delicious side project that succeeds "in spite of itself" there are 10 side projects who don't fulfill their destiny of greatness -- because they're missing the dedication ingredient that most startups require.

<comment><USER46> I think you've nailed the toughest part about working on projects in general, not just side projects - determining whether the thing isn't working or just needs more commitment and time.

<comment><USER45> So true. Dedication isn't a guarantee; it's more like table stakes. Maybe the trick is to be dedicated to an outcome, not a particular idea.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER47> Maybe it's that more side-projects are being bootstrapped rather than VC funded? It doesn't seem Fred Wilson has thought about that.</comment>


Debian Handbook - <AUTHOR> http://debian-handbook.info/browse/stable/

<comment><USER2> I haven't read this one yet, but I've been noticing a big improvement on the quality of documentation around Squeeze. Maybe I'm just being subjective here, but I don't recall Lenny's being as well presented.

Extra info around the book can be found here: <http://debian-handbook.info/>

</comment><comment><USER3> It's out?! AWESOME! I've sponsored the translation (30euros) and plan to read/learn the entire thing. This is GREAT news for Debian and Linux in general.

</comment><comment><USER4> 10 minutes browsing through the handbook and I already found great info that I did not know:

The Debian package format is designed so that its content may be extracted on any Unix system that has the classic commands ar, tar, and gzip. This seemingly trivial property is important for portability and disaster recovery.

</comment><comment><USER5> Hoping it will approach the quality of the formidable FreeBSD handbook. That would be great!

One comprehensive quality source of administration information. Yes please!

<comment><USER6> Haven't read through it, but it definitely looks like it was inspired by the FreeBSD Handbook, and aspires to it.

I'm glad it's out, I'll need something like this when I eventually move from Ubuntu to Debian.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> I've been waiting for Linux distributions to pick up the idea behind FreeBSD's handbook (<http://freebsd.org/handbook>) which is an absolutely fantastic resource that has helped me even as a veteran FreeBSD user make sure I had all my ducks in a row before making modifications to my system.

<comment><USER8> After just superficially skimming through the FreeBSD handbook, it seems similar to Red Hat's Deployment Guide [0]. Red Hat has lots of other useful documentation on topics like storage and virtualization administration [1].

[0] [http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en- US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/6...](http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en- US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/6/html/Deployment_Guide/index.html)

[1] [http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en- US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/i...](http://docs.redhat.com/docs/en- US/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/index.html)

</comment></comment><comment><USER9> Has anyone had a chance to read this yet? I've heard many things ago it. Either way, this is a great thing for Debian.

<comment><USER10> Reading the PDF version now. So far my main criticisms are:

Pretty ugly font for a manual.

Translation is a little iffy, bad spelling, bad grammar and strange sentence structure.

Graphics and diagrams are quite lossy and low resolution.

It could definitely do with another proofread or three.

But If you can get past these things it seems pretty thorough and has plenty of good info in there. Hopefully none of it was lost in translation.

I also donated and am happy to finally see it out there especially under creative commons.

<comment><USER8> If you see potential improvements, you can make them!

      git clone git://anonscm.debian.org/debian-handbook/debian-handbook.git

<comment><USER10> Thanks! I don't know if I could fix all the grammar, but the spelling nazi in me wants to correct those mistakes for sure.

Maybe the PDF is designed for smaller screens . It looks better on an iPad or android tablet. I used the .mobi instead to wipe out the font anguish. ;-)

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> There used to be a handbook at debian.org, are they the same thing? As always, decent document is great for the project.

<comment><USER8> No, this is a translation of a non-free French language book that was funded via a kickstarter-like site.

<http://www.ulule.com/debian-handbook/>

</comment></comment><comment><USER12> It's unfortunate that the domain name is so spammy looking.

<comment><USER13> I am not sure I would say it's spammy-looking, but there is something I don't like about it.

I bought debianhandbook.(com|net|org) (without hyphen) and filed a bug report against debian-handbook asking if they would like me to redirect the three domains or transfer them to the webmaster of debian-handbook.info.</comment></comment>


Ask HN: Why does kids in China do origami at school? - <AUTHOR> <comment><USER2> Why do kids in America color at school? [https://www.colorpsychology.org/10-benefits-of-coloring- page...](https://www.colorpsychology.org/10-benefits-of-coloring-pages-for- kids-psychology-and-development/)

Most of the reasons listed in that article can apply to origami. It's also just a culture thing.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Could be to learn grit?

</comment><comment><USER3> to learn geometry maybe?</comment>


Dell's Linux Ultrabook gets more pixels, European availability - <AUTHOR> http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/02/dells-linux-ultrabook-gets-more-pixels-european-availability/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+arstechnica%2Findex+%28Ars+Technica+-+All+content%29 <comment><USER2> I sit here in awe that they are selling a Developer Edition laptop without providing a single top view of the keyboard.

[https://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-13-linux/pd?refid=xps...](https://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-13-linux/pd?refid=xps-13-linux&baynote_bnrank=0&baynote_irrank=0&~ck=baynoteSearch&isredir=true)

Maybe I'm being way too picky, but the layout and feel of the keyboard is, aside from the screen, the other massively important thing that you don't get to change on a laptop.

I mean we are typists before we are programmers. Isn't it worth letting me see how the ins/del/home/end cluster is laid out?!

<comment>

edit: It looks to be agreeable. Ctrl occupies the bottom-left and Del occupies the top right, which I've found very reasonable in the past (easy to find quickly when hopping onto a new device)

The Home/End/PageUp/PageDown are loacted on the arrow keys, which actually seems pretty reasonable:

[http://www.cdn2.loopygadgets.com/wp- content/uploads/2013/02/...](http://www.cdn2.loopygadgets.com/wp- content/uploads/2013/02/Dell-XPS-13.jpg)

Note that the Thinkpad X1 does _not_ have Ctrl in the bottom left, instead its the Fn key. On the plus side, the X1 kept Home and End keys up top, with dedicated PageUp/PageDown near the arrow keys.

[http://blog.laptopmag.com/wpress/wp- content/uploads/2012/08/...](http://blog.laptopmag.com/wpress/wp- content/uploads/2012/08/Lenovo_ThinkPad_X1_Carbon_G16.jpg)

<comment><USER3> > Note that the Thinkpad X1 does not have Ctrl in the bottom left, instead its > the Fn key. On the plus side, the X1 kept Home and End keys up top, with > dedicated PageUp/PageDown near the arrow keys.

For the most part, Lenovo's Thinkpads have a BIOS setting that allows you to switch the Fn and Ctrl keys. This has been around for a while now and is still an option on newer Thinkpads (although, I can't confirm that this option exists in the X1).

<comment><USER4> > For the most part, Lenovo's Thinkpads have a BIOS setting that allows you to > switch the Fn and Ctrl keys. This has been around for a while now and is > still an option on newer Thinkpads (although, I can't confirm that this > option exists in the X1).

I have both a Dell and a Thinkpad, and it's definitely much more convenient to have Ctl readily accessible with the left pinky than Fn, which you get on the Thinkpad.

<comment><USER5> I also own a Thinkpad and while the Fn/Ctrl position is annoying I haven't been using the default left Ctrl key in a while anyway, simply because I map Caps-Lock as a Ctrl key.

The Ctrl key is so often used by developers, especially when one uses Emacs shortcuts (not only in Emacs itself, but also in Readline-enabled shells or other software), that you can easily get RSI. Remaping Caps-Lock as a Ctrl is a necessity and once you use it you'll never want to go back to the default left Ctrl.

<comment><USER4> I've adapted my environment to my preferences: most of the stuff I use has vim shortcuts (+ Windows key modifier for XMonad). Besides, you don't have many things you need to access in a hurry with Fn anyway (since you have proper home/end/etc. keys).

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I have a new Dell E6330 which is certified to run with Ubuntu, and came with it pre-installed: <http://www.ubuntu.com/certification//hardware/201202-10559/>

I immediately wiped it to install Debian (I'm not accepting a Dell EULA to run Linux) and found that the touchpad wasn't detected as such. Some digging revealed that there was a third party patch to linux reverse engineered from the Windows driver, not one contributed by Dell.

So it seems that their efforts to upstream code required to run their hardware on other distros than the OEM image are non-existant. The Ubuntu image that comes with them also possibly contains binarf blobs (didn't check since I didn't install it, but the Ubuntu page mentions than only the OEM image is certified, not stock Ubuntu).

<comment><USER7> from the article: _Code for the Cypress trackpad, one of the most fiddly bits, has even been made available upstream._

[http://lkml.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1212.1/00834....](http://lkml.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1212.1/00834.html)

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> I currently have a previous-generation MBP 15" (the last one before the retina), as far as I can tell pretty max'ed out on the specs. I really don't like OSX and want to run Linux instead, and running Linux with poor hardware support on the MBP is not really appealing (This is my primary work machine, I don't have time or patience to fiddle with things, I particularly don't have time to deal with something acting up in a meeting -- works out of the box is a deal breaker, this is why this offering is appealing).

What am I going to miss if I get the XPS 13 with the 1080p screen?

<comment><USER9> Without seeing the XPS 13 dev edition, Dells in general have significantly worse trackpads and keyboards than MacBooks. If you don't use them often, not such a deal breaker.

However, Linus himself uses Linux on a MacBook so the support mustn't be too awful now. I'd recommend giving it a try inside Bootcamp first.

<comment><USER10> > Dells in general have significantly worse trackpads and keyboards than > MacBooks

I would agree with the trackpad, however I don't use it (I prefer trackpoint). But significantly worse keyboard? No way. I assume we talk about "business" notebooks when comparing to apple, not some plastic media books with glossy screen.

<comment><USER9> That's a fair comment, I have used a number of the Dell business level laptops and found that _for my tastes_ the keyboards have been significantly worse. I really like the Macbook keyboards, I find they've got just the right amount of travel to resistance and clickyness for me.

Keyboards are possibly the hardware equal of text editors.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> Reading the comments in this thread one can only wonder why more manufacturers aren't targeting the Linux user market. They're missing out on so many cleverly snarky comments and discerning I-actually-prefer-ctrl-in-light-grey users that must be such a joy to work with.

<comment><USER12> It's quite funny really, the first time round the comments were all about screen resolution, now it's about "Well I like my keys.."

<comment><USER13> Proof that the road to perfection is never-ending ... at least if you're trying to sell something to developers!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Why are these Linux machines that appear on HN always sold at MBP price ranges? This one has a good reason -- the high-def screen, but OEMs like system76 stump me with their over-the-top prices.

I actually got an Ubuntu-certified Dell Inspiron N5050 from Dubai for about $450 (AED 1650 for the laptop + AED 50 for a RAM upgrade to be exact.) Its specs are; 8GB RAM, 320G HDD, 15" screen, Core i3-2370M 2.4GHz. It's really not that bad _for the price_. I should have gotten an i5 17-inch (Inspiron 17R), in retrospect, but oh well - this is still great.

Forgot to mention, the Linux support on the Ubuntu-certified Dell _rocks_. Every little thing from the integrated webcam to the wifi/bluetooth drivers all work; which is really the main thing I was after in a laptop.

<comment><USER15> The System76 Gazelle is $875 with a 1080p screen and Ivy Bridge 4-core i7. They offer a screen upgrade with wider color gamut for $50. Upgrade to 8GB RAM is $45. It's not that over-the-top, especially for a small OEM. But an ultrabook, it's not.

<comment><USER14> You're right, this is quite good!

I might consider buying this... The screen upgrade is $80 b.t.w. (not that big of a difference.)

A lot of my work involves compiling AOSP code, which takes way too long (and AOSP's one shot makefile doesn't work for me for some reason); so even a faster processor would def make a difference in my productivity when building locally on my laptop...

> But an ultrabook, it's not.

It is indeed quite thick, and not per-se that visually appealing (they could do with some better design). I do want to check though, if there are any vents on the underside/bottom of the laptop. Some laptop designers stupidly put vents on the bottom breaking the very designation of "laptop" :-|

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Very nice. My only wish now would be to include a full keyboard (with pgup, pgdown, home, del in their own row). That's what's stopping me from buying it, and the X1 Carbon too. I've said it before and I'll say it again, for a laptop aimed at developers it's really surprising they decided to copy Apple and ditch those super-important keys.

It's extra surprising when you note that laptops like the Lenovo Yoga 13, which is aimed at consumers and not developers, managed to fit a full keyboard in the same (slightly smaller?!) form factor.

I'd pay a fortune for a 14 inch, IPS laptop with a full keyboard. Seriously, a fortune. I spend so much time at my laptop that I'm more than willing to invest in quality.

<comment> T-R > _My only wish now would be to include a full keyboard (with pgup, pgdown, > home, del in their own row)_

Curious, why do you prefer them in their own row? I look explicitly for keyboards with them overlaid onto the arrow keys, so I don't need to move my hands (just use the fn key) to navigate text.

<comment><USER16> I do a lot of navigation and reading via keyboard, and being able to drift my right hand over and press pgup, pgdown, home, end to navigate documents is much more convenient than trying to contort my already-achy left pinky to find the fn key (and maybe miss it for ctrl or super), or worse, having to move my left hand away from home to press fn with my index finger.

In general I think a lot of programmers including myself map their keyboards in unique and complicated ways. There's no reason to have fewer keys when you can have more, especially considering how others like the Lenovo Yoga have managed to fit more keys in the same space and still maintain the island layout.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER17> 1080p still isn't all that impressive though. It's a decent density for a display of that size but right now it seems only Apple is pushing laptops beyond the HDTV standard.

Desktop monitors over 1080p are really overpriced as well. I don't understand why a TV standard should set the norm for computers but if that's what it takes I'm hopping that 4K TV gets some traction.

<comment><USER18> Well, the size of the screen matters as well. The Nexus 10 would be a better example in my opinion.

<comment><USER17> A common argument is that it's easier to manufacture High-DPI displays for tablets and smart phones because you get fewer defects over a small surface.

But we're talking about a 13″ 1920×1080 laptop display here. The screen is not that big compared to the 10″ Nexus at 2560x1600.

Laptops really have to catch on.

<comment><USER12> Before laptops will catch on, Windows will have to - Windows on a small screen at a very high resolution really doesn't work well.

It might be ok if you got up to a multiple of 1366 x 768 pixels, so you could scale icons up to 2x size, but lots of Windows applications simply don't cope with very high resolution screens, so icons, buttons, etc, are rendered far too small.

<comment><USER19> That's why we have keyboard shortcuts..... Harrrr.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> Buying tip: instead of buying the "Developer Edition" for $1550, you can get the "Windows version" with a slightly slower processor for $1400: see the 3rd configuration from the left here: <http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-13-l321x-mlk/pd?~ck=mn>

The only diff between the 2 processors is that the i7-3537U runs at 2GHz and has 4MB cache, whereas the i5-3337U runs at 1.8GHz and has 3MB cache.

If Dell offered the "Developer Edition" with the i5-3337U, they would be able to shave off another $50 from the Windows licensing fees and sell it at $1350.

<comment><USER21> The only thing I don't like about that is that I wish there was a box I could check that says "I'm buying a Windows laptop, but I'm really planning to run Linux on it. Please keep investing in Linux hardware support for this line of laptops."

Actually, the world might be better if all manufacturers had that checkbox.

<comment><USER22> The manufacturers can't hear what you're saying over the sound of the ringing cash register. You've already bought the Windows laptop, proving that Linux support from their part wasn't _that_ important after all.

The only way I'd see this working is if you could use the magical checkbox to say "I'm preordering this laptop only after you get _all hardware_ properly working in Linux". Get enough Linux preorders like that and they might even task someone with prodding the component manufacturers to come up with proper drivers.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> I have one of the current Dell Ubuntu laptops, the XPS 13. I really like it! Except.

Except the thing literally freezes - completely locks up - several times a day. I've upgraded the BIOS and I've updated the kernel from the Sputnik repositories. No luck. (Has anyone else had this experience? Or suggestions?)

It is very frustrating, for what is otherwise a pretty decent, durable, nice to use laptop where the hardware Just Works. But my current experience leaves me very wary of wanting to purchase another one of these!

<comment><USER24> I have been using the current-generation XPS-13 (bought with Ubuntu pre- installed) and have not had hard lockups. I did have one kind of bug that seemed to make X completely lose its mind, but the virtual terminals still worked.

I have upgraded to Quantal.

I'd ask Dell for a swap.

<comment><USER25> More likely it's a software issue.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER26> Wow, I am really close on getting this one. I have been looking for a new laptop to run Mint on for a while. The display is a huge plus on this, but the lackluster i7-3537U, the second slowest of the i7's, makes it hard to justify the price.

The price is the biggest sticking point for me, it's basically the same cost as a 13" MBP Retina. It is very clear that Dell is purposefully positioning it in that exact market. For me, one advantage of using Linux is usually I get to spend less on my computers. This laptop seems overpriced to me, I think I will wait for something better.

</comment><comment><USER27> Very tempting... I've been considering a Lenovo Carbon X1 for a while, but the 1080P panel is proving hard to resist. Anyone have any honest feedback regarding the older version? Price seems a bit steep for the hardware included.

<comment><USER28> I've used the XPS 13 (the Windows 8 version, with a 1440x900 screen) as well as the X1 Carbon (touch and non-touch). The X1 is a better machine overall, though most users find the XPS to be better looking.

My biggest complaints with the XPS 13 are the screen (terrible viewing angles) which won't be the same in this developer edition, and the trackpad, which has abysmal palm rejection and multi-touch gestures.

In a never-ending quest to find the MacBook Air equivalent for users who refuse to use a Mac, the X1 Carbon is the closest I've found.

<comment><USER29> Can you elaborate on why you refuse the MacBook Air?

<comment><USER30> Personally I HATE using the operating system. Mac OSX seems so backwards to me.

<comment><USER31> What stops you from installing [your favorite OS here] on it?

<comment><USER32> There are a few reasons I prefer my T430s to my MBP, and would probably also prefer an X1 Carbon to a MBA:

* Trackpoint!

* Keyboard feel. Even the chiclet ThinkPad keypads still have "IT" for me.

* No more fn-key chording needed for Home, End, Delete, Page Up, Page Down.

Plus a non-technical, possibly silly, reason of "it's not what everyone else and their mum has." I also like the looks more (black is the new black!), though on that I realize I'm in a minority (I did love the rounded original MBAs, however).

On the other hand, my MBP's screen has much better colors than the T430s's. :(

<comment> old-gregg BTW I have moved from t420 to x220 (smaller display, but IPS) and, having quickly adapted to a bit less real estate, could not be happier. x220 IPS screen blows away everything save for retina.

And yes, no proper laptop should ever be sold without a trackpoint and a proper keyboard! :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER33> So, for the price of a MacBook Air you get a Dell...

Not to say I don't like them - I have a couple Dell boxes around - but they are not really on the same level here. And, with the Mac, I still have the option to run Linux. A Dell can't run OSX.

unless there is a compelling price difference, this doesn't look like a great deal.

<comment><USER34> Actually, it costs more than a MBP 13 w/ Retina

</comment></comment><comment><USER35> Buy now before Microsoft kills the project.

</comment><comment><USER36> Great. Now, when can I get one with a screen taller/squarer than 16:9? I really dislike TV aspect ratios for code.

<comment><USER10> Everyone does. But due to users being told to love wide displays (and they are good for movies) these are the only one in production. If they were to put 4:3 in it, it would probably get really expensive.

PS: wide is not a problem on big screens, but for 13", 14" or even 15" it just doesn't make much sense (except for watching movies).

<comment><USER36> I'm inclined to think that this is more a matter of commodity PC manufacturers lacking the courage to do anything different. I'm sure if Dell wanted a large number of good-quality high-resolution 4:3 IPS panels, they could get a reasonable price. Yes, they'd be more expensive than 16:9. Even if the quantity was high, 4:3 is inherently a little more because it's more area for the same diagonal measurement. Everyone's strategy for the past few years seems to be "watch what Apple does and try to make a cheaper version of it".

There actually are two current production laptops I know of with 4:3 screens: the OLPC XO, and the Panasonic Toughbook 31.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER37> System76 and you're there.

(Very impressed with a new system76 laptop so far.)

<comment><USER38> I've looked into them, and they make pretty good products, but I'm just too hooked onto Thinkpads' timeless design, and of course, the TrackPoint, to switch.

<comment><USER4> Yes, the TrackPoint is a serious problem. Once you're addicted, there is no going back to a lesser solution.

<comment><USER38> Agreed. I tried the Retina MBP at the Apple Store when I was getting my iPhone fixed and kept hitting the G and H keys out of habit. I tried to get used to the multi-touch trackpad; after all Apple does make the best in the business, but it just didn't suit me. I just don't see how repeatedly swiping your finger several times to move across the screen is more efficient than a simple shift of weight across a red dot.

It's like the convenience of a mouse and the versatility of a trackball, just better. I got so addicted to it that I had to buy one of these ([http://shop.lenovo.com/us/itemdetails/55Y9003/460/60AC6A0372...](http://shop.lenovo.com/us/itemdetails/55Y9003/460/60AC6A0372B14F5BA7B12F1FF88E33C7)) for my desktop.

<comment><USER4> Why, this looks like the very same keyboard I'm typing on :) Except I bought it before the laptop out of curiosity.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER39> This is on my list next time I do a laptop refresh, though that's a little ways away. Traded in a 13" MBP for an Alienware m14xr2 about 9 months ago, still very happy with the Alienware. Bit gaudy, but it is a solid case, two hard drives, and very snappy.

</comment><comment><USER40> Has anyone tried the touchpad ? I have two Dells with a plastic touchpad - almost unusable when I need to scroll. I hate to carry a mouse with me when I have a portable laptop.

</comment><comment><USER41> I support the idea of a laptop for developers and congratulate Dell for this bold step in the right direction. However I personally would not consider buying this machine because it lacks a Trackpoint.

Waiting for the successor of Thinkpad X1 Carbon in the hope that it will have higher screen resolution and maybe more vertical screen space.

</comment><comment><USER42> I'd really rather something in the 11 inch range.

Still trucking on an eee PC 1000h, but I'm leaning towards the MBA 11 inch over this.

<comment><USER43> How can you do any real work on a 11" screen? I'd get a tablet if I need something that small.

<comment><USER44> For myself, I find I can do almost all my work on my ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, a 10" Android tablet with keyboard dock; so much so that it's become my primary machine for most things (which I certainly didn't expect when I got it—I picked it up second hand at around a third of the regular retail price; I never would have paid full for it with my expectations of it at the time). It's got a decent keyboard and marvellous battery life.

Most of my work is done in Ubuntu, installed inside Android via Debian Kit (<http://sven-ola.dyndns.org/repo/debian-kit-en.html>). From a terminal emulator, I can then run proper versions of Vim, Python, Mercurial, etc. as required, and have it all just work marvellously. (Before going with Debian Kit, I'd had clumsy parboiled editions of Vim, Python and Mercurial.) It's great for web development. Not a particularly speedy machine (the TF700 or even the TF300 would be considerably better than the TF101), but quite sufficient for most things.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER45> One of the benefits of the Lenovo X1 over the Dell is the inclusion of a WWAN card on the higher end machines. With an embedded SIM card, you never have to worry about tethering again! It's rather surreal to have access to the Internet as soon as you boot-up in a remote location.

</comment><comment><USER46> As usual, they're selling in Europe, for small values of the term. Does anyone know if it can be bought in non-listed European countries?

<comment><USER13> Hi,

Dell will be enabling online purchases for European countries in the next couple of weeks. There's a blog post from them here: [http://bartongeorge.net/2013/02/18/spuntik-2-is-here- xps-13-...](http://bartongeorge.net/2013/02/18/spuntik-2-is-here- xps-13-developer-edition-goes-1080p-and-launches-in-emea/)

Short version is that the following countries will be added:

France, Germany, UK, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland

You'll be able to buy through a sales person for these countries:

Israel, Luxembourg, Morocco, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UAE

<comment><USER46> Hi, thanks for the reply, but my problem is that I live in Portugal, which isn't listed. Despite the news, some of us can still afford the odd laptop :)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER47> Damn it, couldn't they have waited for Haswell?

<comment><USER48> Wouldn't that mean a 3+ month wait?

<comment><USER49> Maybe they'll pop out another version in a couple months?

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER50> If it uses a Synaptics touchpad, I'm not interested.

<comment><USER51> It's Cypress. It says this in the article.

</comment></comment><comment><USER52> Yet it still looks like it has a glossy screen...

</comment><comment><USER18> I was so ready to snap one of these up, but it turns out Ubuntu 13.04 runs so well on my MBA that I have no need to switch hardware to stick with my Linux setup. That having been said, the Dell now represents a step-up for screen resolution.

Now if only this Dell or the X1 Carbon would rip off MagSafe, my decisions would be easier.

<comment><USER53> When you say "runs so well" do you mean a straight Ubuntu install, or did you need to start playing around in the terminal and generally faffing about to get it going? (Nothing against the terminal, but a straight install is likely to be more reliable, long term...)

<comment><USER18> The only thing I ran in the terminal after install was my script that apt-gets all the software I like. No drivers, no macfanctl, just a straight install. Media keys work, etc.

<comment><USER54> Is it retina? I'm worried about how tiny everything will be... I haven't found anything concrete about how Unity handles high dpi

Edit: you said MBA, I read MBP... Nevermind, no retina :)</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Nginx-1.4.0 stable version has been released - <AUTHOR> http://nginx.org/#2013-04-24 <comment><USER2> As a tip to anyone using nginx to proxy websockets: make sure you increase the proxy read timeout for that connection. Otherwise, nginx will drop the (active) connection much sooner than you'd otherwise expect.

<comment><USER3> The default proxy_send_timeout is 60s. If you rely on the information about connected clients (chat anyone?), it's way nicer to ping the server every 30s, than to set huge timeouts. If internet connection of the client breaks (mobile anyone?) and the client has no possibility to close the websocket connection, nginx keeps the connection open and you server thinks that there are some clients to talk to. Nice side effect: Your client knows about the disconnect, because the ping fails.

EDIT: it's the proxy_send_timeout directive.

<comment><USER4> EDIT: the parent originally said "proxy_read_timeout", and this comment was in response to that.

proxy_read_timeout times out reads _from the upstream_. It will trigger when a backend server goes AWOL, not when a client falls off the net.

If you want to detect client-side disconnection, you want proxy_send_timeout.

You can emulate this by having server sent heartbeats with a proxy_read_timeout with the client required to _respond_ to them before the server will send any more, thus going read-silent whenever the client fails to respond, but why not just have the client do the pinging? Then the server doesn't have to say anything in response most of the time.

<comment><USER3> > but why not just have the client do the pinging?

That's exactly what i meant. Sorry if it was unclear. I accidentally switched proxy_send_timeout and proxy_read_timeout.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> If you use the famous upload module: <http://www.grid.net.ru/nginx/upload.en.html>, it no longer works since Nginx 1.3.9.

See: <https://github.com/vkholodkov/nginx-upload-module/issues/41>

</comment><comment><USER6> Does anyone have a solution to this problem with nginx I have had few times over the years?

[http://www.howtoforge.com/forums/showthread.php?p=296263#pos...](http://www.howtoforge.com/forums/showthread.php?p=296263#post296263)

Please note that I am not 100% sure if its nginx related.

<comment><USER7> I see you're running FPM -- I had the same problem, and it turned out to be FPM's worker auto-spawning system. I set it to pm = static and set the number of workers to 50, which is the most I ever need, plus some headroom. Give that a go.

<comment><USER6> Just wanted to update you on this. I switched to another hosting provider (for other reasons) so I ended up working on the server from scratch. The pm is still dynamic because I want to see if I can reproduce the problem again, and if it does I can always try static.

Thanks.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Finally! I have really been looking forward to the SPDY support in stable.

<comment><USER9> Me too, I just updated on Arch but activating SPDY isn't working so far:

      nginx[20116]: nginx: [emerg] the "spdy" parameter requires ngx_http_spdy_module in /etc/nginx/nginx.conf:26

Seems the Arch package was built without SPDY support?

<comment><USER3> Add --with-http_spdy_module to the configure flags in your PKGBUILD. But expect problems with parallel XHR file uploads in all major browsers.

<comment><USER9> Thanks but I'm not going to build it myself, I think it's better for me if I leave that up to the package maintainers ^^

<comment><USER10> The Arch package maintainers' job mostly boils down to managing the PKGBUILD. If you get comfortable using ABS your experience with Arch will improve dramatically.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER11> One feature I miss the most in nginx is a dynamic loading of modules. I wonder if this is anywhere on a roadmap, or is there some deeper reason for such limitation?

<comment><USER12> Just recompile, and live switch to the new version. It's comparable hassle to editing the apache config file and sighupping it.

<comment><USER13> Except that you don't need to touch your config file every time there is a security upgrade.

<comment><USER12> Only if your distro handles that for you; but point taken.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Using the official YUM repo <http://nginx.org/packages/centos/6/$basearch/> they don't build with the `ngx_http_spdy_module` enabled. Is there a way to get it, without doing a custom compile? I'd like to continue to use the YUM package manager.

<comment><USER15> From <http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_spdy_module.html> :

"This module is not built by default, it should be enabled with the --with- http_spdy_module configuration parameter."

So unless you go with an unofficial binary, you'll have to compile it in yourself.

</comment></comment><comment><USER16> I've always used Apache but I really want to use nginx for my next project (it's a Node/express app). How should I start? It'll be running on my Ubuntu VPS. Any tips, suggestions, common pitfalls?

<comment><USER17> The only pitfall that I've run into is converting Apache rewrite rules (htaccess) files and getting that into the nginx configuration file.

For sure, the configuration file format is different, but it's not terribly complicated.

<comment><USER18> Once you get used to it, it's a lot nicer to work with, too.

<comment><USER19> I whole heartedly agree - htaccess and virtual host rules were such a pain in Apache, I've really come to appreciate how easy it was to get nginx setup in comparison.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> the websocket support is very interesting and useful for node.js projects: <http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/websocket.html>

</comment><comment><USER21> When will the Ubuntu PPA will be updated?

<comment><USER22> You could use the Ubuntu apt repository[0] managed by nginx. I've been using that repository for years, always worked great. New releases get pushed (almost?) instantly.

[0]: <http://nginx.org/en/linux_packages.html#distributions>

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> This page: <http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_spdy_module.html> says that the module is experimental. Is that accurate, or have they just not updated it once nginx stable was released?

</comment><comment><USER23> Is this .htaccess to nginx config convertor reliable? <http://winginx.com/htaccess> Seems like the biggest hurdle to adopting nginx is getting the config in order.

</comment><comment><USER21> I'm getting a 504 on <http://wiki.nginx.org/>

</comment><comment><USER24> "So i'm still an apache httpd guy , can you sell me nginx in 3 simple points ?" (actually i'm using it already , i need to sell it to my boss).

<comment><USER25> Apache was designed in an era where the webserver did everything, and most of what it was doing was serving static content. And the fundamental design of apache as well as the design of its configuration system is optimized for that. And though it's been modified extensively to do everything a modern web server needs to do in many ways it's still held back by that heritage. Also, apache is fairly monolithic. The way to add functionality to apache is generally with modules, for example, and generally a random apache installation is going to have vastly more features active than you may actually need, or want. All of which affects performance.

Nginx was written from the ground up in the modern web era, when we had already learned about the common ways that real websites worked (dynamic, high throughput, tied into other technology like php or rails, possibly living on multiple servers, etc.) Nginx is designed for efficiency and low overhead. It's also designed to live within an ecosystem rather than live as the container of an ecosystem, at its heart it's not a web-server it's a proxy. And all of this makes nginx easier to set up, easier to configure, and generally more efficient with superior performance compared to apache.

Here's an example. I have a server set up with a couple different sites, some of them are fronted by varnish (for caching), several run on php, and another runs on rails. With nginx this is all fairly easy to do. Instead of installing modules as you would tend to do with apache you set up php and rails as standalone socket-based servers (e.g. php-fpm and unicorn) and then in your nginx configuration you simply tell the web server where those are and how to use them.

Nginx also funnels you into a pattern which makes it easier to scale. Because nginx is just part of an ecosystem and not the container of an ecosystem you can easily migrate components to other servers as necessary. In my example I could push varnish off to another server, push each php app off onto its own server, push rails off onto separate servers, etc. The configuration changes would be fairly minimal and it would all still just work.

<comment><USER26> I'd argue a little with the "Apache is monolithic". If you know your elbow from your butt, you can make a decent Apache setup as any decent sysadmin should do. The thing that I hate the most in nginx is the lack of DSO modules. When I need a new module, I need a new nginx build. nginx itself has more than you ask for in a standard build. As example, I counted the "with" and "without" flags from out nginx package build script. It has 3 "with" flags (SSL, gzip static, PCRE JIT) vs 14 "without" flags. And we can part with gzip static since most of the static objects are pushed by CDN's now.

Apache is catching up with its evented MPM and proxy support, but I still wouldn't go back to Apache though. The main selling point that the OP should get is the fact that evented servers have much better memory usage under the same load as the threaded servers or (cough) process based servers.</comment></comment></comment>


Introducing WhatTF - <AUTHOR> http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-wtf/2014Dec/0003.html

<comment><AUTHOR> I will leave the comment about the name (or the public mailing list public- firstname.lastname@example.com) to someone else...

but I really hope for Element Queries in CSS! Anyone knows if this is in plan for this TF?</comment>


Ask HN: What percent of PRs on your project has "fix" in the title? - <AUTHOR> I'm working on a project for a few years and we just noticed that 15% of our pull requests have "fix" in the title. That made me wonder, what's the number on other project. Would you mind checking? You can find pull requests with "fix" in the title on GitHub with "is:pr is:closed fix in:title". <comment><USER2> We don't use PRs, but of the 22k commits to Master that we have (we don't have the best Git process), we have 5500 commits with "fix" in the title. So just about 25%.

</comment><comment><USER3> 29 of 309 = 10% [https://github.com/openstreetmap/Nominatim/](https://github.com/openstreetmap/Nominatim/)

</comment><comment><USER4> For our server code: 5/95 (5.3%)

For our frontend code: 2/63 (3.2%)

Together: 7/158 (4.4%)

Based on the other comments, I had expected the percentage to be higher.

</comment><comment><USER5> tldr: ~7%

Below are a handful of our largest repos. The first number is the PRs which match your search string `is:pr is:closed fix in:title`. The second number is the total number of PRs in that repo. I removed 2 outliers, repos that had 1/70ish and 1/80ish hits, which with those factored in our percentage drops to ~6.5%.

matches/total PRs

15/160

10/215

21/400

36/379

\</comment><comment>

82/1154

\</comment><comment>-

~ 7%

EDIT: fixed formatting.

</comment><comment><USER6> 73 out of 536.

</comment><comment><USER7> 13.7%</comment>


State.of.dev – Explore the current state of development - <AUTHOR> https://stateofdev.com/home/ <comment><USER2> Your SEO chart pretty much confirms my strategies. It's all about the incoming links and disavow links. Looks like really useful info overall, thanks.</comment>


Who is firing? (February 2017) - <AUTHOR> Post any companies that are having layoffs, mass firings, unusual churn, etc. If possible, please identify the company or as much specifics so you can help others in the community.<p>Inspired by: "So, I figure if we're allowed to talk about who is hiring, why not the other way around? At the very least, we can get a pulse on those companies which smells like roses on the outside, and reek of something more earthy on the inside." (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12851987) <comment><USER2> Can I suggest a grammar fix for the next time this is posted please (subject- verb agreement)[1]:

"At the very least, we can get a pulse on those companies that smell like roses on the outside, and reek of something more earthy on the inside."

[1] [https://webapps.towson.edu/ows/moduleSVAGR.htm](https://webapps.towson.edu/ows/moduleSVAGR.htm)

</comment><comment><USER3> Shutterfly: [http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/01/shutterfly-tanks-after- layoff...](http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/01/shutterfly-tanks-after-layoff- announcement-earnings-miss.html)

</comment><comment><USER4> We didn't had this thread for December, didn't we?

TomTom: [http://investors.tomtom.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=1002...](http://investors.tomtom.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=1002445)

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> The following companies had layoffs receiving press in January:

* Fitbit: [http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/30/14439028/fibit-layoffs-q4-...](http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/30/14439028/fibit-layoffs-q4-earnings-report-weak-holiday-sales)

* Medium: [https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/04/medium-lays-off-50-employe...](https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/04/medium-lays-off-50-employees-shuts-down-new-york-and-d-c-offices/)

* Microsoft: [http://www.businessinsider.com/about-700-microsoft-employees...](http://www.businessinsider.com/about-700-microsoft-employees-to-be-laid-off-sources-say-2017-1)

* Oracle: [http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/20/oracle-lays-off-450-em...](http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/01/20/oracle-lays-off-450-employees/)

* Zesty: [http://sf.eater.com/2017/1/9/14214764/zesty-layoffs-tech-foo...](http://sf.eater.com/2017/1/9/14214764/zesty-layoffs-tech-food-news)

* Munchery: [http://fortune.com/2017/01/12/munchery-layoffs-goodbye-found...](http://fortune.com/2017/01/12/munchery-layoffs-goodbye-founders/)

* Boeing: [http://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/boeing...](http://www.seattletimes.com/business/boeing-aerospace/boeing-plans-buyouts-layoffs-for-engineers-in-first-of-three-cuts-for-2017/)

* National Instruments: [http://www.512tech.com/technology/national-instruments-plans...](http://www.512tech.com/technology/national-instruments-plans-headcount-reduction-will-lose-some-positions-through-attrition/DkKseXmD45rNCqjJaC7HXJ/)

* Walmart: [http://fortune.com/2017/01/26/walmart-layoffs-ecommerce/](http://fortune.com/2017/01/26/walmart-layoffs-ecommerce/)

* Pandora: [http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/pandora-layoffs-1201959...](http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/pandora-layoffs-1201959561/)

* DoubleDutch: [https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/10/events-app-maker-doubledut...](https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/10/events-app-maker-doubledutch-downsizes-again-lays-off-40-percent-of-staff/)

* Theranos: [http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/06/technology/theranos-layoffs-...](http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/06/technology/theranos-layoffs-41-percent/index.html)

* Verizon: [http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/verizon-go90-layoffs-12...](http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/verizon-go90-layoffs-1201967433/)

* Parrot: [https://www.recode.net/2017/1/9/14182200/parrot-drone-layoff...](https://www.recode.net/2017/1/9/14182200/parrot-drone-layoffs-dji-3dr-commerical)

<comment><USER5> Thanks! Not to nitpick, but are these in any particular order? If not, may I suggest lexical?</comment></comment>


Skype security breached - <AUTHOR>

I have started receiving some spoofed messages yesterday from my friends and peers on Skype leading to some doggy urls. It seems I am not the only one: http://community.skype.com/t5/Security-Privacy-Trust-and/Spoofed-message-from-contact/td-p/4026578
Some people blame new web api:
http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/93305/insert-hidden-link-in-skype
Apparently there is no official Microsoft statement about the issue yet, apart from the quick note from a community moderator:
"We can confirm continued reports from some Skype users about their accounts being used to send spam and we continue to investigating the cause.
Should your account be affected please ensure to change all your passwords. E.g. if you have a Skype account and a linked Microsoft account you need to change the password for both.
We'll provide another update tomorrow." <comment><USER2> Yup, I've had that problem a couple of times recently too. Definitely a current issue.

</comment><comment><USER3> This is interesting ...

</comment><comment><USER4> i've had that problem too. All my contacts received a spoofed message yesterday.</comment>


Oracle v. Google: Judge leaves Oracle reeling on viability of its damages claims - <AUTHOR> http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20120119214029378

<comment><AUTHOR> A few thoughts:

1\. Oracle has stepped into a bear-trap in this case and is trying to extricate itself. This does not mean that it has a losing case on the merits. That is a matter yet to be decided and it will get as fair a trial in this court as it would anywhere else. Given the nature of its claims, and the murky standards associated with its patent and copyright claims, it likely will get some damage award. But Oracle does not want just _some_ damage award. It wants to hold the prospect of a potentially _devastating_ damage award over the corporate head of Google and to use that as leverage to gain a lasting foothold in the dollar flow of the mobile space via a settlement with Google on potentially brutal terms.

2\. Judge Alsup is as fair-minded and talented judge as one could want but he also is a tough judge in terms of managing what he allows to come before his court. And he is not buying the outrageously phony damage claims that Oracle is trying to foist upon this trial via its designated expert. Because the law permits him to do so, he is effectively pre-screening what can come before a jury in the case and he has declared that he will put a tight limit on what is permissible. This means that Oracle will not be able to take its crap-shoot before the jury in hopes of gaining _in terrorem_ settlement leverage over Google through the possibility that a crazy jury might be inclined to try to slam Google with a monstrously large damage award.

3\. Just last year, Judge Phyllis Hamilton, a colleague of Judge Alsup's, reversed a $1.3 billion award in favor of Oracle against SAP. That case involved blatant theft of Oracle's software by TomorrowNow, an SAP subsidiary, and was so bad that SAP admitted liability up front such that the only issue to be tried was the amount of the damages suffered by Oracle. In that case, Oracle put Larry Ellison on the stand and had him speculate that Oracle must have lost $4 billion in software sales as a result of the admitted infringements. There was no factual basis for this claim - just the opinion of the company CEO. Yet that sort of evidence was allowed to go before a jury and the jury bought it. In rethinking the issue (for she had been the judge who had initially allowed it), Judge Hamilton held that this was improper and, in doing so, reduced the verdict to less than a fourth of what the jury had entered. (see, e.g., this report on the case: [http://www.crn.com/news/applications-os/231600674/judge- redu...](http://www.crn.com/news/applications-os/231600674/judge-reduces- damages-in-oracle-vs-sap- lawsuit.htm;jsessionid=W8LCqI66SPKgQK6-YnhVJA**.ecappj03)) This was a correct ruling and Oracle's prospects of getting it reversed are about zero.

4\. What Judge Alsup is doing here is acting as gate-keeper to make sure that such junk does not enter into this trial either. In theory, Oracle should not mind this. If all they want is a fair trial, there is nothing wrong with excluding unsupportable expert testimony from that trial. But that is not what Oracle wants. It wants, above all, to be able to hold a huge threat over Google to pressure it into settling on very bad terms.

5\. In that light, let me translate a few of the items in this order and in the surrounding procedural context: (a) Oracle asked to be able to dismiss its patent infringement claims without prejudice (in effect, asking the court for permission to drop those claims for the moment so that it can reassert them pretty much any time it wants to at a later date, thus keeping a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the Android platform) - the judge said no - translation: "I am not about to let you play games with the judicial system for ulterior motives: you will get your trial and you will get it here, just as you asked for it in causing Google, the court, and a lot of others to devote huge resources to the handling of the issues you raised;" (b) Oracle asked that the judge bifurcate its claims such that the copyright claims would be tried first and the patent claims tried in a separate phase of the trial many months down the road - the judge said no - translation: "You will put on your entire case in one place and not be allowed to play the courts opportunistically by going for multiple bites at the apple;" (c) the judge took the unusual step of allowing Oracle yet a third try at amending its expert's damages claims even though he had ample discretion to say "enough is enough" at this point and to toss them altogether - the judge was not being "nice" in doing this - translation: "Unless you truly come in with something credible, I am going to slam your expert's claims once and for all and I am creating a solid record of giving you a full and final opportunity to fix the problems after fair warning that this was coming and in that way no appellate court will ever reverse that ruling."

6\. This is a complex case that could take a variety of directions but one thing is certain: it is in the hands of a very able judge and, if Oracle will ultimately prevail with a big outcome, it will only do so because it deserves this under the law and not because it will get away with gaming the system (as it did, for example, in the TomorrowNow case). And that is why Oracle is reeling concerning its claimed damages in light of this ruling. It is getting trapped (as it should be for these sorts of shenanigans) and it knows it.

<comment><USER2> _Yet that sort of evidence was allowed to go before a jury and the jury bought it._

It might be good to have a term for that, if there isn't one already. Say, _damages theatre_ \- pushing inflated "estimates" of damages to journalists and juries.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> >suing Google has a severely steep climb up a very tall mountain. Google hires the best lawyers and they fight like bulldogs. Polite bulldogs. But they don't just roll over, and Google's track record is very, very impressive.

Can't we at least pretend that what happens in court is a matter of Justice and Right or Wrong? I'm personally happy that Oracle isn't winning this case, since I wish more people will have the right to implement their own Java in their products. It just pains me that you have to be a mega-corporation with the strongest legal department in the world, in order to do this.

<comment><USER4> > Can't we at least pretend that what happens in court is a matter of Justice > and Right or Wrong?

It is. Oracle gets a chance to present its case, so does Google. The better the lawyers, the more compelling case they can make, but, in the end, all has to be based on facts, not empty rhetoric, and based on those, the jury will decide what the most appropriate measure to take.

<comment><USER5> I'm curious - heve you ever been a juror? I've only done it once, but for that trial any correlation between justice and what the jury decided was purely coincidental.

<comment><USER4> Yes, but in Brazil only crimes against human life (murders and attempts) are decided by juries. What you describe is a good reason for judges to be cautious about what they admit the jury to see.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> "Google hires the best lawyers and they fight like bulldogs. Polite bulldogs. But they don't just roll over..."

That statement struck me. It's interesting how often people confuse being polite with being a push over.

<comment><USER7> Anyone who makes that mistake should read _The Godfather_. Very polite. No explicit threats at all. But pretty much the opposite of a pushover.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> > Do you remember in the beginning, when this case was new, and a self- > described "expert" in the media was pushing the idea that Oracle would win > billions and billions in damages?

 _cough_ Florian Mueller _cough_

<comment><USER9> I've often seen it insinuated that Florian Mueller is paid shill for MS and/or Oracle. I read this in the same forums and circles that once suggested Maureen O'Gara was a paid shill for SCO. Well it turned out they were right about O'Gara:

"And why does SCO owe money to the creditors Maureen O'Gara, Alok Mohan, and a private detective?" <http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20090913224436712>

My question is, has anyone found a link between Florian Mueller and MS or Oracle?

<comment><USER10> MS paid Mueller for (at least) one study:

 _Microsoft has commissioned this study._

[http://fosspatents.blogspot.com/2011/10/study-on- worldwide-u...](http://fosspatents.blogspot.com/2011/10/study-on-worldwide- use-of-frand.html)</comment></comment></comment>


Nassim Taleb on Trump - <AUTHOR> http://www.thehindu.com/books/'Trump-makes-sense-to-a-grocery-store-owner'/article17109351.ece <comment><USER2> > We just need someone at the top who doesn't mess the system up.

How does this stack up against the current white house administration? I personally fear that if we have a repeat of the 2008 crisis, the 'alt-right' forces in the administration will actively fan the flames in order to bring the system/establisment down.</comment>


JavaScript for-loops are complicated – HTTP203 - <AUTHOR> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzokr6Boeaw <comment><USER2> I am so glad I don't work on browser internals.</comment>


Google Tech Talk: "All Questions Answered" by Donald Knuth - <AUTHOR> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLBvCB2kr4Q&feature=feedu

<comment><USER2> I saw Knuth's version of this talk in London - what a legend! The poor guy had an awful cough but soldiered on, insisting he was fine.</comment>


Ask HN: I found a security issue with my bank and they don't care - <AUTHOR> I found out that when answering my banks security question they allow it to be incorrect by one character.
Example: If the answer is: washington I could type something like: woshington
and it works.
I contacted my bank and was told that it was a "feature" in case users are typing fast and just fat finger a key.
To me this is an issue. None of my other banks and websites allow this "feature".
Can I get thoughts from others? Let it go? Is it not really an issue as far as other people are concerned? <comment><USER2> If you're relying the extra protection of an exact match over a match with a Levenshtein distance of 1, your security question isn't secure to begin with.

Proper management of security questions is pretty straightforward: Set them to a long random string and keep track of them as if they were another password.

If you do that, the fuzzy matching shouldn't be a problem at all. If you're using real answers that are easy to obtain from knowing anything about you, exact matching isn't helping.

<comment><AUTHOR> This is a good idea. I'll try this approach.

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> I'm going to guess it cut down on their customer service tickets, thats kinda a weird one though. I could see allowing case insensitivity, but maybe not spelling...</comment>


A/B Testing – You're doing it wrong - <AUTHOR> https://hackernoon.com/a-b-testing-youre-doing-it-wrong-77d628ac9518 <comment><USER2> At my company we're pretty sure our website is very important to customer sales. However our products have long lead times and customers rarely communicate with us directly during presales. Most but through one of our dealers and even then most of our dealers disclose as little info as possible. Also our product is expansive and has physical components.

One of the things we struggle with is "what is a conversion" on our website. So how do we measure an A/B test?</comment>


Breast Cancer Marker Awarded Amsterdam's Most Innovative Idea - <AUTHOR> http://www.united-academics.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=53198&action=edit <comment><USER2> The link appears to be the login to a Wordpress admin panel. I think the article is here: [http://www.united-academics.org/design-technology/breast- can...](http://www.united-academics.org/design-technology/breast-cancer- marker-awarded-amsterdams-most-innovative-idea/)</comment>


.NET Core 1.0 releases at Red Hat DevNation - <AUTHOR> https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Linux/DevNation-2016 <comment><USER2> .NET Core home page: [https://dotnet.github.io/](https://dotnet.github.io/)</comment>