TE
TechEcho
Home24h TopNewestBestAskShowJobs
GitHubTwitter
Home

TechEcho

A tech news platform built with Next.js, providing global tech news and discussions.

GitHubTwitter

Home

HomeNewestBestAskShowJobs

Resources

HackerNews APIOriginal HackerNewsNext.js

© 2025 TechEcho. All rights reserved.

Hints for Computer System Design (1983) [pdf]

81 pointsby RossBencinaover 6 years ago

4 comments

ncmncmover 6 years ago
I used to re-read this every couple of months, until I had memorized it. Despite its age, almost everything in it remains relevant and fresh.
dangover 6 years ago
Posted many times but without much discussion. This from 2017 contains a link to Lampson&#x27;s talk updating the paper: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=14154898" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=14154898</a>.
fanf2over 6 years ago
Lots of quotable quotes in here!<p>“generalizations are generally wrong” - Lampson<p>“We are faced with an insurmountable opportunity.” - W. Kelley<p>“Algol 60 was not only an improvement on its predecessors, but also on nearly all its successors.” (C. Hoare)<p>Etc. - I won’t go through the whole thing now :-)
pkayeover 6 years ago
&gt; Bob Morris suggested that a shared interactive system should have a large red button on each terminal. The user pushes the button if he is dissatisfied with the service, and the system must either improve the service or throw the user off; it makes an equitable choice over a sufficiently long period. The idea is to keep people from wasting their time in front of terminals that are not delivering a useful amount of service.<p>This is a great idea.