AskHN Digest

1. Ask HN: Is HN having problem keeping up today?

Top comment by dang

It seems to be a side-effect of Facebook being down, attracting so much attention to HN that it might as well be a DDoS attack.

Sorry everyone—there are performance improvements in the works which I hope will make a big difference, but it's not something we can roll out today.

p.s. You can read HN in read-only mode if you log out. Should be way faster.

2. Ask HN: Why are relational DBs are the standard instead of graph-based DBs?

Top comment by geophile

This exact debate took place in the early 70s. There were three major database models: relational, network, and hierarchical. Network and hierarchical had quite a bit of success, technically and as businesses. IMS was (is?) an IBM product based on the hierarchical model.

Network databases, which seem quite similar to graph databases, were standardized (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CODASYL).

Both the hierarchical and network models had low-level query languages, in which you were navigating through the hierarchical or network structures.

Then the relational model was proposed in 1970, in Codd's famous paper. The genius of it was in proposing a mathematical model that was conceptually simple, conceivably practical, and it supported a high-level querying approach. (Actually two of them, relational algebra and relational calculus.) He left the little matter of implementation as an exercise to the reader, and so began many years of research into data structures and algorithms, query processing, query optimization, and transaction processing, to make the whole thing practical. And when these systems started showing practical promise (early 80s?), the network model withered away quickly.

Ignoring the fact that relational databases and SQL are permanently entrenched, an alternative database technology cannot succeed unless it also supports a high-level query language. The advantages of such a language are just overwhelming.

But another factor is that all of the hard database research and implementation problems have been solved in the context of relational database systems. You want to spring your new database technology on the world, because of its unique secret sauce? It isn't going anywhere until it has a high-level query language (including SQL support), query optimization, internationalization, ACID transactions, blob types, backup and recovery, replication, integration with all the major programming languages, scales with memory and CPUs, ...

(Source: cofounder of two startups creating databases with secret sauces.)

3. Ask HN: Non-tech professionals on HN?

Top comment by kcrx

I’m a manager at a smallish community bank. I ended up here because I was looking for a place to keep up with the world that wasn’t the google news main page, twitter, or facebook.

I got hooked on the condescending, presumptuous, all knowing commentary. I’m kidding!

I really got hooked on the many, many gems I’ve found (links & comments) about many of the various things I’m interested in: music, nutrition, leadership, psychology, even religion, etc, etc, etc. I’ve learned a lot here.

I’ve been lurking for a couple of years, but finally made an account the other day. This is my first comment!

4. Ask HN: People who cashed out early and stopped working: What is your life like?

Top comment by themdonuts

I'm far from retiring, but I always take a break between jobs. It used to be only 2 months, then last time it was 6 months. I'm very happy to be in tech because it allows us for that. I don't decide beforehand how much time I'm taking, instead I just reassess myself "am I still productive? Am I still enjoying doing nothing?" When the answer is no that's when I get back to work.

I love DIY so I've used that time to refurbish two apartments and catch up on gold rush. This time it's been 8 months and I'm just working on a side project.

By now I'm not enjoying that much anymore. It's been too long and I start to miss making part of the bunch. I'm also not fully using my time anymore, partially because in the end my wife is still working as well as my friends. I believe there's a limit to happiness when you do things on your own and don't share. At least I'm realizing that. I guess it's time to go back!

Also I wonder if I'll still be able to do this when I'm in my 40s or 50s. My parents always taught me it gets tougher to find a job as you get older. Obviously someone that's good will always find, but I wonder in general how aging will apply to tech.

Edit: As a follow up thought and this is what I've realized, the weekends are a pretty good picture of how we'd behave at retirement. If we are lazy on weekends, we'll be lazy afterwards. If we keep ourselves busy in the weekends with non work stuff, we'll probably be the same after retirement.

5. Ask HN: Practically accepting cryptocurrency for businesses without middlemen?

Top comment by q1w2

I don't have a recommendation - I just want to make you aware of a major issue other stores have...

> We do not intend to convert to traditional currency unless needed.

This is a big risk due to cash flows. Most stores operate on a margin on merchandise that is under 10%, with a turnover on goods averaging months.

If a currency fluctuates in value more than ~10% over several months, this can easily drive an otherwise healthy business into cash flow driven bankruptcy.

Selling 100% of your goods, and then not being able to replenish that stock because the crypto you held has dropped more than 10% over a 6 month period is a disaster waiting to happen.

6. Ask HN: How should I back up data on devices if I'm not smart?

Top comment by ubermonkey

You don't have to be smart do to this.

You just have to find some tools and services that are "fire and forget."

This is what I do:

1. All my working files are in my Dropbox account (or my corporate Dropbox account). I did this initially to support working off two machines interchangeably, but the fact of the matter is that this creates an easy versioned backup of your "live" files. Nowadays, my Dropbox is fully mirrored on TWO backup computers here in my office (ie, a spare machine and an old machine).

Setup Effort: Minimal. Ongoing Effort: Almost zero.

2. Because I use a Mac, I have Time Machine. It's glorious and can save your butt. It's the ONLY of these mechanisms I've ever had to use at scale (after a break-in and a stolen laptop). It worked flawlessly. Use it if you can. Every year or so, I get a new TM drive and archive the old one.

Setup Effort: VERY Minimal. Ongoing Effort: Zero.

3. I also use Backblaze for offsite backup security. I happen to live on the gulf coast, so major storms are a concern, but there's probably some house-eating danger wherever YOU live.

Setup Effort: Moderate. Ongoing Effort: Minimal.

4. Finally -- and this is the only part that needs actual action -- periodically I take a full image backup of my main machine's drive and archive it.

Setup Effort: Moderate. Ongoing Effort: Moderate.

I keep my newest image and my last TM drive in someone else's house, too, but that MAY be paranoia.

7. Ask HN: What is your story of immigrating to another country?

Top comment by erdo

Moved from the UK to France after the Brexit vote (the last chance to easily move my family to another country and have my kids grow up as Europeans with the ability to work and live in the EU country of their choice, access low cost or free university education etc.)

I'm a contractor and felt reasonably sure I could find work as an android developer in most large cities - Paris is also close enough that if things really went sideways I could commute to London for work. That turned out to be true, although the rate for developers is a little lower in Paris (and now I work remotely from Paris for a UK company anyway).

Finding an apartment was one of the hardest things, in the end I had to pay someone to find us one. Dealing with all the admin was pretty tough, but visa wise it was straight forward (because it was still within the EU). I hired an accountant to set me up a small business and do the tax work (exactly the same as I had done in London). I also pay another accountant to handle the personal tax (it got complicated for a while because some of my income was UK based and the UK and French financial year is different)

I think I underestimated how much french language skills would help, but also underestimated how much my french would come back to me (I studied french at school as a kid) so it worked out.

It was tough at times but I don't regret it one bit, life is better here in so many ways.

Sitting by the Seine on a summer's evening with friends and a bottle of wine is amazing. Try to do the same in London, you'll be moved on a by a security guard because the Thames river side is all privately owned despite its appearances. That sums up the difference for me, France truly is a republic, and it feels like it.

8. Ask HN: What do engineers never talk to their bosses about, but should?

Top comment by josephorjoe

Depends on whether or not the boss can be trusted.

I've had bosses where the only thing they ever heard from me were optimistic status updates on work in flight.

I considered them completely untrustworthy -- one for lack of competency and one for being a clumsy power seeker.

But in general I would only talk to my boss about issues that (1) I'm OK with my boss telling other team members that I said what I said about it, (2) I'm OK with my boss having input on what course of action to take on the topic, and (3) I trust that the conversation is unlikely to be interpreted in some negative way for me.

9. Ask HN: Smoothness and performance of Qt based systems vs. native apps and OS

Top comment by tssge

I find Qt is on par with native apps. Didn't even know it wasn't considered native.

Electron apps on the other hand are very obvious from their resource usage, general laggyness and slow startup time. Say compare Discord (Electron) to Telegram (Qt) and it's like night and day.

10. Ask HN: Are people only smart until they talk about things you know more about?

Top comment by WesolyKubeczek

In my case, it just reaffirms the notion that being a smart fool is not really an oxymoron, and that people at large are fools, myself included.

We all sometimes have a tendency to talk about the things we know jack about while posing as experts because we read an article in the Guardian about it once, or an abstract from a paper. Some more than others.

In the world of show business and television, I’ve seen celebrities — singers, stand up comedians, those kinds of people — often being asked about their stance on complicated political issues or life advice as such — and they spoke bullshit with a mild air of authority instead of running away, which a sensible person should have done. The thing, though, is, that the fact they are celebrities means there are crowds of fans who will listen to whatever they say as if it was God’s own truth.

Hey, you can treat what I just wrote as uninformed bullshit, likely you even have reasons to, like data to contradict my statements. It’s ok. I’m likely a fool.