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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Are there any things in Linux that need to be started over from scratch? (lemmy.ca)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I'm curious how software can be created and evolve over time. I'm afraid that at some point, we'll realize there are issues with the software we're using that can only be remedied by massive changes or a complete rewrite.

Are there any instances of this happening? Where something is designed with a flaw that doesn't get realized until much later, necessitating scrapping the whole thing and starting from scratch?

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[–] [email protected] 40 points 7 months ago (4 children)

Maybe not exaclly Linux, sorry for that, but it was first thing that get to my mind.
Web browsers really should be rewritten, be more modular and easier to modify. Web was supposed to be bulletproof and work even if some features are not present, but all websites are now based on assumptions all browsers have 99% of Chromium features implemented and won't work in any browser written from scratch now.

[–] [email protected] 31 points 7 months ago (3 children)

The same guys who create Chrome have stuffed the web standards with needlessly bloated fluff that makes it nearly impossible for anyone else to implement it. If alternative browsers have to be a thing again, we need a new standard, or at least the current standard with significantly large portions removed.

[–] kuneho 10 points 7 months ago (1 children)

we need to just rebuild the web, built on a decentralized LoRa or such mesh network.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago

WWW ≠ Internet.
Internet has some things to be fixed too (https://secushare.org/broken-internet), but is not as doomed as the web.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

https://geminiprotocol.net/

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

That sounds like amp, no thanks.

Most of the standards themselves aren't the problem, we just shouldn't have to rely so badly on them that a site immediately is dead if a small item is not available

[–] [email protected] 13 points 7 months ago

So, it's Servo?

https://servo.org/

It's also written in Rust.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

Agreed. I mean, metadata should be protocol stuff, not document stuff. And rendering (font size etc) should be user side, not developer side. Browser should be modular, not a monolith. Creating a webpage should be easy again.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 7 months ago

If you want a browser truly written “from scratch”, you need to check-out Ladybird:

https://ladybird.dev/