> The truth is that there’s no way we can technically describe a PC Compatible now - or, honestly, ever. If you sent a modern PC back to 1981 the media would be amazed and also point out that it didn’t run Flight Simulator.
For historical context, a PC compatible is a machine that can run a DOS that is compatible with PC-DOS and that can run applications for the IBM PC running PC DOS. This was vital to the success and failure of many companies and thus we can absolutely say what a PC compatible was. The PC-compatible standard was largely replaced by WinTel compatible in the late 1990s. Modern machines can still run Win32 and applications written for Win32, and thus are WinTel compatible.
Of course, being WinTel compatible matters less than ever before. Much of the software people care about is now either browser-based or open source and compiled for multiple targets. We also now have dynamic recompilers that are quite good, and therefore even being compiled for the target is... well, not as important.
We need some new kind of standard that identifies general purpose, superscalar CPU with large cache and SIMD, a PCIe controller with many lanes, a memory controller for DDR4/5 paired with UEFI and either a modern GPU or a decent NPU (or both). Currently, this describes a few RISC-V machines, many ARM machines, and most AMD64 machines after about 2018. Maybe this is something like 5th Generation Industry Standard Architecture or 5SA? Whatever the industry does or doesn't call it, it's certainly not PC compatible in any sense.
This is a fantastic explanation! I've been thinking about software/binary compatibility lately. I think even before crossing the CPU arch barrier you mention, we could cross the OS barrier. Windows apps are generally mutually compatible. Within Linux is dicier. I've found some rules of thumb (compile on the oldest version you wish to support), with some cross-distro compat.
Some things like MUSL and manylinux are nice! I would love to see all OS barriers to compatibility knocked down. Or at least be able to make a single "Linux" binary. The CPU type barrier is obviously larger, but I think the OS one shouldn't exist.
Maybe we would need standard abstractions for things the OS provides like file system, date/time, allocator, threads, networking. The things programming languages abstract over in their std libs, but at an OS/compile level.
Author here. I have a twinge of regret at the end of every article for people and machines that get cut. I try to be happy that at least someone is making the effort, you know?
This niche will get smaller over time. The key hurdle right now is that most "AI" is just LLMs. People currently prefer to go to a website or open a dedicated application for AI inference. As better integrations with other workflows are made and people see them, the resistance will weaken.
Microsoft shoving LLMs into literally everything, including Notepad, is what people are currently hating, because it isn't quite ready.
I switched to US Mobile a long time ago just due to pricing. I was WFH most days of the week (before Covid) so I could do minimal data and pay around $100/yr for unlimited talk/text. Now, I do unlimited everything as I commute 5 days each week, but it's only $200/yr. Still significant savings.
In general, I've never really experienced the issues mentioned, but I also use Gitea with Actions rather than GitHub. I also avoid using any complex logic within an Action.
For the script getting run, there's one other thing. I build my containers locally, test the scripts thoroughly, and those scripts and container are what are then used in the build and deploy via Action. As the entire environment is the same, I haven't encountered many issues at all.
I am not an Apple Card user, so that mention meant little to me.
I am, however, a user of many of their other services. In particular, I really love iCloud's email aliases and such. Great added benefit. My only real complaint with Apple is having ads in News+. If I am paying, take out the ads please.
Edit: AdGuard DNS profiles are amazing for removing ads from apps, but seriously, I shouldn't need to do that when paying for a "premium" experience.
For historical context, a PC compatible is a machine that can run a DOS that is compatible with PC-DOS and that can run applications for the IBM PC running PC DOS. This was vital to the success and failure of many companies and thus we can absolutely say what a PC compatible was. The PC-compatible standard was largely replaced by WinTel compatible in the late 1990s. Modern machines can still run Win32 and applications written for Win32, and thus are WinTel compatible.
Of course, being WinTel compatible matters less than ever before. Much of the software people care about is now either browser-based or open source and compiled for multiple targets. We also now have dynamic recompilers that are quite good, and therefore even being compiled for the target is... well, not as important.
We need some new kind of standard that identifies general purpose, superscalar CPU with large cache and SIMD, a PCIe controller with many lanes, a memory controller for DDR4/5 paired with UEFI and either a modern GPU or a decent NPU (or both). Currently, this describes a few RISC-V machines, many ARM machines, and most AMD64 machines after about 2018. Maybe this is something like 5th Generation Industry Standard Architecture or 5SA? Whatever the industry does or doesn't call it, it's certainly not PC compatible in any sense.
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