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fermigier

3,195 karma · joined November 12, 2014

Free and open source software entrepreneur, former mathematician.

Founder of:

- Abilian (2012)

- Nuxeo (2000)

Co-founder of:

- EUCLIDIA, the European Cloud Industrial Alliance (2021)

- APELL, the European Open Source Business Association (2020)

- The PyData Paris / PyParis conference (2014)

- CNLL (2010), the French National Council of Free / Open Source Companies.

- GTLL (2007), the business and innovation cluster for open source in the Paris Region (part of the Systematic Paris Region cluster).

- The Open World Forum / Paris Open Source Summit (2008), yearly conference dedicated to open source and "open everything" in Paris.

- EuroLinux (2000), a federation of European open source associations, that was formed to fight software patents between 2000 and 2005.

- AFUL (1998), the french-speaking Linux and free software users association.

Member of the scientific committee of:

- EPITA (IT engineering school in Paris)

- FDL (Libre Endowment Fund)

submissionscomments
fermigier··on I prefer rST to Markdown
Typst has a cool syntax and is highly extensible.

I wish there was a way to use it to render HTML and not just PDF.

fermigier··on Show HN: Wat – Deep inspection of Python objects
These kinds of tools are useful.

Twenty years ago I wrote an object introspector for Zope ;)

Nowadays, I'm using devtools daily, and icecream and q occasionally. I'll give wat a try.

fermigier··on The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 8
IIUC, here's the timeline:

- Issue 8: 2024

- Issue 7: 2017

- Issue 6: 2004

- Issue 5: 1997

- Issue 4: 1992

- Issue 3: 1988

fermigier··on My daughter (7 years old) used HTML to make a website
I like it. This fondly, yet somewhat bitterly, recalls memories of my 25-year-old self creating his first HTML page in 1995, or even my 10-year-old self writing his first BASIC program in 1980.
fermigier··on Introduction to Calvin and Hobbes: Sunday Pages 1985-1995 (2001)
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/10/30/the-mysteries-...

I've read, many times (it's a very short read), M. Watterson's (and his friend's John Kascht) latest work, "The Mysteries", and I very much like it. It's a multifaceted fable that explores, among other things, the tension between curiosity and control, and the allure and danger of technological progress. "The Mysteries" takes a more somber and philosophical approach, and its graphical style is radically different from C&H's, but I think it still shares with C&H a deep appreciation for the mysteries of life and the power of imagination to enrich our understanding of the world.

fermigier··on Linus Torvalds: RISC-V Repeating the Mistakes of Its Predecessors [video]
Yes, sorry, I should have posted the full video, which has more information.
fermigier··on Embedded Python: MicroPython Is Amazing
Yes it is. Also, not only for embedded / IoT stuff. There are some use cases where the quick startup time and low overhead of MicroPython can be useful. Unfortunately, support from mainstream distros (e.g. Debian and derivatives) is perfectible.
fermigier··on Rye: A Hassle-Free Python Experience
I'm still using Poetry for dependency management, but that will most probably change someday (hopefully with automated conversion of the pyproject.tml files).

I'm OK with the pythons that are provided my the OS I'm using (including Deadsnakes) so this side of rye doesn't appeal to me. I've started using uv to create virtualenvs, though, so that's probably the gateway drug. We'll see.

fermigier··on I want to understand how do guys manage your cloud infra and deployments
I use Pyinfra.
fermigier··on Ask HN: What is the most challenging programming course you have taken?
A course on abstract interpretation [1], taught by Radhia [2] and Patrick [2] Cousot at ENS in 1989. To my shame, I must admit that I didn't appreciate it at the time.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abstract_interpretation

[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radhia_Cousot

[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Cousot

fermigier··on Gren 0.4: New Foundations
I had a hunch reading the home page that Gren and Elm were related. This is confirmed by this page:

https://gren-lang.org/book/appendix/faq/#what-are-the-differ...

IMHO it should be more prominent on the hope page or the elevator pitch.

fermigier··on Andrew S. Tanenbaum Receives ACM Software System Award
I read Operating Systems: Design and Implementation in 1988 or 1989, and it was an insightful and pleasing experience. I only wished, at the time, that there was some Unix-like OS that was "free" (for some intuitive value of the word "free", rather than the formal definition, which I hadn't heard of yet at the time). This could have been Minix.
fermigier··on Murena Launches Crowdfunding for Next Gen Privacy-Focused Tech
Murena is the creator of /e/OS a pro-privacy operating system for smartphones which consists of a fully "deGoogled" mobile operating system (i.e. AOSP minus the parts that connect to Google online services) and carefully selected applications, together forming a privacy-enabled internal environment for mobile phones.

Full disclosure: I'm a user of a Murena / Fairphone device, and an investor in the Company.

fermigier··on Patrick Breyer and Pirate Party Lose EU Parliament Seats
The post claims that "the Pirate Party has lost its representation in the legislative body".

However, I understand from a couple of posts that Markétka Gregorován(https://gregorova.eu/ / https://x.com/MarketkaG) has been reelected.

Marcel Kolaja, OTOH, hasn't. Here's a translation of his latest tweets:

> I find the election result hugely disappointing. As the leader of the candidate, I take responsibility for it.

> In the campaign, we failed to sell our work and explain the solutions we offer. I see it as a failure for us and other pro-European parties that the far right has grown so much in the Czech Republic.

> Secondly, I am also quitting as an MEP. It has been an honour to represent you in the European Parliament for five years. My sincere congratulations to @MarketkaG on winning her mandate and my fingers are crossed.

> She needs to work three times harder now in promoting pirate values. But I believe she can do it.

From this tweet, and from https://eurovolby.pirati.cz/ (and a fair amount of automated translation), I understand that Marcel was the leader but he is leaving his seat to Marketa, and that she is the last representative of the PP in the EP, right?

Marcel did great work for open source in the EP over the last 2 legislatures. Many thanks to him.

fermigier··on Ask HN: Is Google Dead?
"Discuss" or "Discourse" ?
fermigier··on Rete algorithm
My best bet would be CLIPS: https://www.clipsrules.net/ (which has a Python integration, among others).
fermigier··on Rete algorithm
Here a small collection:

- https://github.com/nemonik/Intellect (Dead - 2017)

- https://github.com/jruizgit/rules (dead)

- https://github.com/cmaclell/py_rete (dead)

- https://github.com/nilp0inter/experta (dead)

- https://github.com/GNaive/naive-rete (dead)

(All of them are rule engine - I guess they implement the Rete algo or some variant but no time to check ATM).

Also: "production" is probably false since all of them are dead (or were, last time I checked - I'd be happy to be proven wrong).

fermigier··on /e/OS Is Better Than Android. You Should Try It
I've been using it for some time. I had a Mozilla Phone (with FirefoxOS) when it was still a thing, so I was prepared for the worst, but it's actually a quite vanilla Android experience (except without the Google apps) + many privacy enhancements + you can install some Google apps (e.g. Youtube) at your own convenience, in a controlled fashion (obviously, when you do that, you lose some of the benefits wrt enhanced privacy).
fermigier··on Adobe Photoshop Source Code (2013)
https://www.softwareheritage.org/

"We collect and preserve software in source code form, because software embodies our technical and scientific knowledge and humanity cannot afford the risk of losing it.

Software is a precious part of our cultural heritage. We curate and make accessible all the software we collect, because only by sharing it we can guarantee its preservation in the very long term."

(Founded by a friend, Roberto Di Cosmo).

fermigier··on Homoiconic Python
Indeed. Using Joblib for instance (https://joblib.readthedocs.io/).
fermigier··on A book Stanley Kubrick didn’t want anyone to read is being published
Kubrick’s film simplified the psychological depth and literary nuances of Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 novel, adapting its themes and character dynamics to fit both the cinematic form and the censorship norms of its time. Constrained by the Hays Code and societal taboos of the 1960s, it toned down the explicitness of the sexual elements of the story. The was more overt humor and satire in the film, partly as a way to address the censorship regulations of the time. This approach changes the tone from the intensely personal and tragic to something lighter and more accessible, though still deeply disturbing.

Note that Nabokov was credited as the screenplay writer for the movie (Kubrick is uncredited). https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056193/fullcredits/

fermigier··on Tour of CLIPS (2022)
I have found 6 open source rule engines written in Python, all of them dead (in terms of recent commits), except maybe one:

https://lab.abilian.com/Tech/Programming%20Techniques/Rule-b...

fermigier··on Pyinfra: Automate Infrastructure Using Python
It's similar to Ansible, but uses Python as a declation language rather than YAML.

It can also run one-off commands across the infrastructure (like Tentakel: https://pypi.org/project/tentakel/ ).

I've been using Pyinfra for some time. It's good enough for me.

fermigier··on Open Source Community Unites to Build EU CRA-Compliant Cybersecurity Processes
"USB-C" -> Good for consumer, I believe.

"cookie banners for everyone" -> cookie banners only if your website is using cookies in a way that needs a cookie banner. There are plenty of sites or web analytics technologies that don't mandate the use of a cookie banner.

"GDPR nightmare for everyone" -> only for companies that intend touse personal data in non-ethical ways (cf. for instance: https://www.iccl.ie/digital-data/europes-hidden-security-cri... ).

"now this new government rule on opensource contributors to software being held liable for security breaches." -> Indeed, that's problematic, specially the way this was (not) discussed with the open source sector. Cf. https://cnll.fr/news/la-france-doit-prot%C3%A9ger-sa-fili%C3... and https://cnll.fr/news/declaration-cra-cyber-resilience-act/ (two texts that I wrote, in French, last year).

fermigier··on The Making of Dune II
The game is actually playable in the browser: https://archive.org/details/msdos_Dune_2_-_The_Building_of_a...

(I happen to have shown it to my 13yo son a few days ago. He wasn't impressed.)

fermigier··on Dark Star at 50: How a micro-budget student film changed sci-fi forever
My first reasonably useful Linux computer was called "darkstar" because it was the default on Slackware.
fermigier··on Ask HN: Anybody Using Htmx on the Job?
I did a presentation last year with a couple slides on experience reports:

https://fermigier.com/slides/2023-htmx-OSXP/#30

I will probably have more stories to tell later this year.

fermigier··on Ludic: New framework for Python with seamless Htmx support
Cool idea. I had a similar one a few weeks ago, with this additional idea of turning this into a "real" templating language (e.g. by adding a special construct for conditionals, looping, variables, macro expansion...).
fermigier··on Ludic: New framework for Python with seamless Htmx support
I have been working on a (currently half-baked) similar project:

- <https://github.com/abilian/webbits>

Inspirations for the idea of generating HTML code from Python:

- <https://www.yattag.org/>

- <https://tylerbakke.github.io/MarkupPy/>

- <https://github.com/michaeljones/packed>

- <https://github.com/twidi/mixt/>

- <https://github.com/byteface/domonic>

- <https://pypi.org/project/hyperpython/>

- <https://pypi.org/project/PyHTML/>

- <https://github.com/jviide/htm.py>

- <https://viewdom.readthedocs.io/>

- <https://github.com/pcarbonn/fast_html>

- <https://github.com/sanic-org/html5tagger>

- <https://github.com/j4mie/hotmetal/>

fermigier··on Redis adopts dual source-available licensing
Potential alternatives:

- https://github.com/dragonflydb/dragonfly (BSL-licensed, aka not OSS).

- https://github.com/Snapchat/KeyDB (BSD-licensed)

Anyone using one of these?

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