News 12th April: Coding in the 80s, flaws in the open, and the floppy Jonathan
Equal doses of computing history, open source, and of course, AI this week
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Content from others
The Apple Jonathan: A Very 1980s Concept Computer That Never Shipped
Modular devices have long been a dream never realised, and even Apple attempted one way back when. It’s wonderfully blocky and large, but conceptually amazing.
The Rise and Fall of 3M’s Floppy Disk
Forgotten by many of us, some people still use floppy disks or have only just stopped using them. This story isn’t about the history of the device but about the history of one company's large history with the product.
Coding like it's the 1980s
Watch a modern teenager learn what it was like to code 40 years ago. And then read the thankfully positive comments from people old enough to remember doing it.
OpenTofu may be showing us the wrong way to fork
A tale of when a new open-source fork of a long-established project can create features a little too similar to its source.
The Mystery of ‘Jia Tan,’ the XZ Backdoor Mastermind
The fascinating and concerning tale of social engineering behind a major open-source project that led to a potentially disruptive back door.
How web bloat impacts users with slow devices
Surely everyone has access to high-end machines and high-speed internet connections? Well, that’s what many developers seem to assume anyway…
How Adobe’s bet on non-exploitative AI is paying off
I’m a big fan of Adobe’s approach to AI tools so far…
Content from me
The state of open source in Europe
After some time, I am back on The Next Web, writing content for developers. This article takes a general look at the state of open source in Europe.
Technical Writing for Software Developers
My first book of the year is out! 🥳,