Lars Schenk

Independent software developer since 1988. npub1p24zeejst6d2cq3pkphfwdrm4gc559j3eu9u06y6cw00f7nrxgcs8dsclw

[Mr. Buzzoni @polydao]

the creator of C++ just explained why most developers will never become senior - and it has nothing to do with years of experience

> AI code is trained on legacy patterns - accepting it blindly is a mid move
> 90%+ of memory bugs come from old coding habits, not the language itself

> static typing isn't annoying overhead - it's what lets you design instead of debug
> if you only know one language, you're a hobbyist, not a professional
> seniors solve real problems - juniors build tools to scratch their own itch

> the same principles apply whether you're writing web apps or autonomous agents - clean architecture over clever hacks

the man whose language powers every OS, browser, and trading system alive

if you're trying to level up, save this interview

[Forrest @ForrestHODL]

This is why I nostr.

[Nicolas Dorier @NicolasDorier]

I just don't get the psychosis at all... I'm more excited than ever was about coding.

[Lars Schenk @Lars_Schenk]

!

[Mo @atmoio]

I was a 10x engineer. Now I'm useless.

[Seán Ono Lennon @seanonolennon]

I am against violence. I am against celebrating violence. I’m praying for peace. I’m praying for healing. I’m praying for the family, especially the children. I know what they’re going through. I’ve been through it.

I’m deeply scared for this country. The way some people are reacting on both sides is dangerous. If I had one wish right now it would be for everyone to please just step back and take a breath and remember we are all just sophisticated apes trying to coexist on a rock hurtling through space.

If we cannot tolerate polite and reasoned disagreement then there is no hope for our society.

There is a famous quote falsely attributed to Voltaire that however does sum up a principle of enlightenment philosophy, ‘I disagree with what you say, but I would die to defend your right to say it.’

The ideas of people like John Locke and Voltaire and Thomas Paine are what lead to the American Revolution which then inspired the French Revolution. They introduced the World to the idea that individual rights were important and should be protected from Monarchs (tyrants and dictators), and ultimately led to the idea that a country should be governed by its people NOT by the Church and NOT by a King.

If citizens don’t protect and respect each other’s right to disagree, then we cannot have a democracy. If we do not protect our right to disagree then we’ll get violence.

We do NOT want a society where violence is the way we win arguments, because then nobody wins. Everyone loses.

We are ALL losing right now. The whole society is losing together. Losing to violence. It’s unbelievably sad. It took so much work to get us here. We can’t throw it all away like spoilt children.

I did NOT agree with Charlie Kirk’s views on MANY important topics. I know he helped get Trump elected and people hate him for that. But he was a conservative Christian. What do you expect a conservative Christian to believe? How can those views surprise you? He argued those views calmly, reasonably, and considerately as far as I’ve seen.

But no matter what he did not deserve this. His wife did not deserve this. His kids did NOT deserve to have their world torn apart!

The way some people are being so cold and uncaring and even celebrating is disturbing and repugnant to me. It is making me physically ill. If you are celebrating the murder of a non-violent man for his opinions then you are NOT the better person. Look in the mirror. Imagine telling his kids how you feel. Step back. Take a breath. Remember we are all humans. We are all just flickers of consciousness in an endless eternity. Love IS the answer. I really mean it.

We are quite literally ALL in this together. If this ship sinks we ALL drown. Look around you. Everyone you see is a shipmate. We have to figure this out. We have no other choice.

[Daniel Vassallo @dvassallo]

iPhone 5s was the best design ergonomically. Perfect size to reach across the screen with one thumb, no camera bulge, fingerprint sensor, nice materials, and 33% lighter than the latest iPhone 17 Air.

[Mack C. @bitcoinmackc]

Peter Wuille saw the problem with op_return back in 2013 when it was first introduced.

[Peter Todd @peterktodd]

This has gotten so out of hand that the Knots crowd are becoming a serious risk to Bitcoin.

We can't stop people from putting illicit data in the Bitcoin chain. We just can't.

By LOUDLY calling attention to it we greatly increase the chances that some prosecutor notices this and makes it our problem. Not to mention, mainstream press.

If we STFU, we minimize the chance that this turns into a major narrative.

Hell, if Luke hadn't freaked out about inscriptions, they would have never gotten the free advertising they needed to get off the ground...

[Walker⚡️ @WalkerAmerica]

**ADAM BACK DID NOT MENTION KNOTS**

People who called Adam “pro spam” (and worse) for weeks are now celebrating that “Adam is back.”

NEWSFLASH: he never left.

Obviously Adam freaking Back is not “pro spam” and never was.

He simply did not agree with the efficacy of the proposed "solution" (Knots node implementation) from a technical perspective (and still does not agree that node filtering of spam is a viable solution, based on my reading of his thread).

Instead, Adam is trying to lay out the *economic* case for how to deal with incentives to filter spam at the *miner/pool* level, while clearly stating “bitcoin is about money, spam has no place in the timechain. what defaults the bitcoin core project puts in the reference client matter in this."

Again, clearly Adam is not "pro spam."

A key line that jumped out to me was “to prevail, we have to make economic sense (or we work against our own objectives)”.

Adam focuses on *miners/pools*—and their economic incentives, or lack thereof—not on node implementations.

If you’ve spent the past weeks bashing Adam because you think he is a “spam apologist,” now is a good time to check your assumptions and consider that Adam wants what is best for bitcoin... as do you... as do I.

We ALL want what’s best for Bitcoin to make sure it succeeds as unfuckable sound money and a censorship-resistant medium of exchange.

No serious person is like "OOOH YEAH I LOVE SPAM! MORE JPEGS ON THE TIMECHAIN, PLEASE!"

It is possible to disagree with the efficacy of a proposed solution *without* being a "spam apologist."

Just because someone has a different opinion than you do about a solution does not mean that person is your enemy or has been "compromised."

This should be obvious but apparently it needs to be said...

@adam3us I hope I have not misrepresented anything you said -- just trying to help parse your thread for my fellow plebs. Thanks for all you do.

[Nicolas Dorier @NicolasDorier]

Retweeting this, and also explaining the direct impact on @BtcPayServer. (But first, read Antoine’s post with a cool head, even if you dislike him.)

𝐓𝐋;𝐃𝐑: Most deployed BTCPay Servers will, sooner or later, be bricked. The change to the OP_RETURN size limit may prevent this. Here’s why.

When I created BTCPay Server, a hard requirement was keeping costs as low as possible and do not require our users to use command line. That’s why we love Bitcoin: everyone can verify.

The most popular option was (and still is) to buy a server on LunaNode. You could host BTCPay for $7 per month (M2 instance).
It comes with a 20GB SSD.

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐰

To keep costs down, blocks are stored on a separate volume of ~80GB. Our default deployment runs in pruned mode. This means blocks are downloaded, verified, stored temporarily, and discarded over time. As a result, the volume size is always sufficient.

Bitcoin doesn’t only store blocks; it also stores the current state (the UTXO set), which requires high throughput. Because of this, unlike the blocks, it isn’t stored on the separate volume but on the main drive (20GB).
The UTXO set size had always been relatively stable at the time, so 20GB was considered enough to keep costs low.

Up to 2022, the UTXO set was about 4GB. Now, it’s around 12GB, almost entirely due to spam. Uh oh.
This means very old BTCPay Servers on M2 instances will soon be bricked (since the 20GB must also hold the OS).

If you create a new server on LunaNode today, the default is now M4 (twice as expensive, $14 per month).
If your server is still running on M2, I strongly advise upgrading ASAP. Once the storage runs out, your server won’t be able to restart. Upgrading after that point may or may not go smoothly. Regardless of all of above, M4 is recommended as it also improves stability.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡

If the UTXO set keeps growing forever, it’s a big problem. You couldn’t just set up BTCPay Server and forget about it; you’d need to monitor storage and upgrade your machine periodically. That’s a high technical barrier for most merchants.

As Antoine points out, the specific spam has two approaches: one using unspendable outputs, and the other using OP_RETURN.

The nice thing about OP_RETURN is that it’s only stored in blocks, which means your node can safely discard it. Thanks to this, the UTXO set growth can stay stable, or even shrink.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐜

Another issue with a larger UTXO set is fast sync. Setting up a new BTCPay Server could once be accelerated by downloading 4GB of data instead of the entire blockchain.

Now it’s 12GB. As a result, we’ve reduced the frequency of fast sync snapshot updates for BTCPay Server.
This makes bootstrapping a server way slower.

I know all of this doesn't cover all your grievances on Core (why don't they just keep the knobs?).

I know that there exists way to make the problem of the UTXO Set size go away. (why don't they just implement Utreexo, X/Y/Z?)

But suffice to say that those solutions are far from ready, and wouldn't depend solely on Core to work in practice.

[Adam Back @adam3us]

Bitcoin is owned by humanity, the protocol developers are stewards, and need consensus from users to change it materially. bitcoin is about money, spam has no place in the timechain. what defaults the bitcoin core project puts in the reference client matter in this.

[TFTC @TFTC21]

Jack Dorsey unveils “Bitchat,” a new Bluetooth-based messaging app.

No Wi-Fi. No cell service. Messages hop peer-to-peer, up to 300 meters.

Fully end-to-end encrypted.

[Lars Schenk @Lars_Schenk]

I have been using CloudFlare since 2011. Today is the worst day I can remember.

[Lars Schenk @Lars_Schenk]

I have been using Heroku since 2012. Today is the worst day I can remember.

[Lars Schenk @Lars_Schenk]

Where is our money, Digital River? https://t.co/OyCwTzSfj6 @DigitalRiverInc

[Reza Sixo Safai @rezawrecktion]

Hey @Apple, I fixed it for you (sound on)

[Anita ⚡🏳️‍🌈 @anitaonl]

Very disturbing....
Chainalysis tools are being used to convict a privacy tool user as its operator - despite the fact that the Chainalysis method is flawed and their tool closed source. They basically can make things up.
Can happen to any one of us too!
https://t.co/jFANJJhJ0O

[Kay 🔆 @2point0Kay]

#FreeAssange Berlin ✊🏻

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr @RobertKennedyJr]

Please SIGN THIS PETITION for the immediate pardon and release of Julian Assange, the publisher and activist who founded WikiLeaks and is now in jail facing life imprisonment and extradition. He’s a heroic whistleblower who stood up for democracy and against the surveillance state. It’s time we stood up for Julian Assange the way he stood up for us.

If you agree, sign this petition now to pardon Julian Assange:
➡️ https://t.co/luIWA0Vmjs

[Judge Napolitano @Judgenap]

The clock is ticking! My friend @MearsheimerJ on #FreeAssange #FreeAssangeNOW #FreeAssange2024

PLEASE repost. Use Hashtags. Together, we will get this message to the #HighCourt to #SETHIMFREE