this post was submitted on 05 Aug 2026
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This is so true tho

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[–] Corbin@programming.dev 1 points 1 minute ago

Discussed previously (here, there).

I like to think of myself as the kind of person that, given enough time and documentation, can maintain anything; I think it’d still take three of me to do Ronald’s job. (Well, “job.” I think he technically works for Red Hat or something?)

[–] SalamiDommie@lemmus.org 1 points 3 minutes ago

The amount of businesses with things you just can't touch for whatever reason is surprising.

The reliance on something made that is barely understood by the entire company makes me think that society will drag on generations after any kind of societal collapse.

[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 26 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

Ah. He must be a KDE contributor as well.

[–] spazzman6156@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 hour ago (1 children)
[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 1 points 10 minutes ago

You know, I was VERY tempted to write it that way, but decided against it at the last moment.

[–] lividweasel@lemmy.world 75 points 2 hours ago (3 children)
[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 1 points 57 seconds ago

Also extremely stable.

[–] Tattorack@lemmy.world 21 points 2 hours ago

By gods, the interactive one is great!

[–] W3dd1e@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 hour ago

I didn’t know how much I needed the interactive version until now.

[–] FiniteBanjo@feddit.online 1 points 25 minutes ago (1 children)

Oh yeah, I love Ronald Burkiworkowskini

[–] derfunkatron@lemmy.world 2 points 15 minutes ago

It’s pronounced Brutananadilewski!

[–] FedX@quokk.au 132 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Ronald is indescribably more important than any tech billionaire could ever hope to be. So let's raise a glass and give out a hardy thank you to all the Ronalds of the world!

[–] Kirp123@lemmy.world 54 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Too bad all the tech billionaires profit from Ronald's work while he does it for free.

“Ronald” is all of us.

[–] dracc@discuss.tchncs.de 77 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

Not sure if it's part of the joke but that word means "jerk" (as in "jerk off") in Swedish.

[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 69 points 3 hours ago

So a perfect open source name then.

[–] HerbalGamer@sh.itjust.works 48 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Runk that hog, swedish boy.

[–] wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

pojke/kille/grabb/gosse = boy/dude/guy/kiddo, so have fun with that. 😂

[–] Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com 96 points 3 hours ago (1 children)
[–] AnxiousMiisha@lemmy.blahaj.zone 49 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Our math depends on him 🙏

[–] pelya@lemmy.world 45 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

Written in hand-optimized assembly with individual implementation for every CPU on the planet, with integer division function in 10000 lines of code impelented with XOR and bit-shifting which is somehow 0.3% faster than CPU built-in division operation.

[–] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 21 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

He had to de-optimize the init sequence because the little trick he added that caused the init sequence to return a little power to the grid instead of taking it was causing grid stability issues because the returned power from offices starting up was a bit higher than the extra power required for factory startup weekday mornings.

I love that this is an actual possibility.

[–] palordrolap@fedia.io 4 points 1 hour ago

The mention of division has triggered a memory. I think I actually saw a library like that once. It was in C, not assembly, and was almost certainly for one specific architecture (probably Intel), but other than that, there was a lot of low-level stuff that claimed to make division faster for all CPU-native data types.

It was above my skill level to just pick up and use, let alone read and understand, but I can tell you that it at least looked legit, and the author seemed earnest in their description, so something like your hypothetical is very much out there.

[–] alpine_jim@piefed.social 20 points 2 hours ago (1 children)
[–] AnxiousMiisha@lemmy.blahaj.zone 22 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

FFmpeg and QEMU? Holy shit!
I had no idea

[–] Arghblarg@lemmy.ca 9 points 2 hours ago

and tcc, which while maybe not as 'important', is extremely cool.

[–] comrademiao@piefed.social 6 points 2 hours ago (2 children)
[–] themoken@startrek.website 3 points 46 minutes ago

It's basically the best virtualization platform. It can do full system emulation across a number of platforms, or hardware assisted virtualization (using KVM). It's incredibly useful for debug as well as doing real work.

I would say so? It's an emulator and I personally use it to manage KVM on Linux. Makes my life easier.

Not really sure about the precise details, sorry

[–] mastertigurius@lemmy.world 49 points 3 hours ago (3 children)

Everyone who understands Norwegian love the name Ronald chose for his invaluable tool.

[–] lena@gregtech.eu 29 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

For the uninitiated: well, let's just say. jorkin it.

[–] lime@feddit.nu 20 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

and by "it".. hehe, well lets just say... my digits

[–] lena@gregtech.eu 1 points 15 minutes ago
[–] f314@lemmy.world 12 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

Came here to say this (no pun intended)

[–] mastertigurius@lemmy.world 6 points 3 hours ago

But pun gladly taken nonetheless

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[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 7 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

I don't know a word of Norwegian but I know the internet.

[–] kungen@feddit.nu 1 points 14 minutes ago

I don't know a word of Norwegian

Now you do. So if you see any Norwegian or Swede, remember to tell them "I know runk".

[–] agentTeiko@piefed.social 8 points 2 hours ago

Its almost like his name was Dennis Richie and its a shame a blow hard like Jobs died around the same time as him and overshadowed his passing and his legendary legacy.

[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 34 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

The myth of Steve Jobs needed the actual genius of others to exist. Steve's gift to the world was recognizing and pointing out actual gifts tonthe world that would have otherwise gone unoticed or not brought to their full potential.

If Steve was still around, he would have taken Ronald's idea and had it rebuilt with a little polish and an exorbitant price tag.

[–] vrek@programming.dev 24 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

For a long time all systems which deal with timezone data (like ability to convert utc to est for example) was reliant on 1 server in 1 random guy's basement which he paid for himself. I heard they were working to correct this situation but haven't been following it.

[–] mushroommunk@lemmy.today 22 points 2 hours ago

You sent me down the exact kind of weird rabbit hole I love. Genuinely thank you.

It's maintained by the IANA now (the same people who basically run the modern Internet, saying what domains are allowed and such for those who don't know). Though Arthur David Olson (the man you mentioned) still contributes his expertise and data.

[–] folekaule@lemmy.world 10 points 2 hours ago

You're probably thinking of Paul Eggert.

[–] BlonksClown@lemmy.world -1 points 18 minutes ago (1 children)

And they're all pedophiles or white supremists

[–] MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 1 points 10 minutes ago* (last edited 9 minutes ago)

Ronald and runk, not Donald ~~Duck~~ Trump.

[–] bisby@lemmy.world 8 points 2 hours ago

thanks Daniel Stenberg!

[–] CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de 16 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

I think it’s worth noting there’s few people like Jobs and more like Gates but they’re all psychopaths.

[–] unmagical@lemmy.ml 17 points 3 hours ago

Those were both exploitative business men more than engineers or developers. Jobs wasn't special and there're reasons why Microsoft boosted Gates to be the richest person in the world at one point.

[–] wyldrstallyns@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

It's more often not the "face" that's the crux, it's the geek. Make nice with the actual casters. 🖖🏼

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