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LFS takes the opposite approach. You build a cross compilation toolchain, build out a full Linux file system, compile a massive number of packages… it’s almost two days of work before you even start thinking about a boot loader.

This tutorial gets straight to the heart of the matter. Get a system that boots asap and then add complexity as you discover the shortcomings.

This seems like a much better pedagogical approach for someone not sure how the kernel works or what initramfs is, etc…


Lots of people posting in here about how they can’t figure out the cause of their tinnitus.

Mine was ear wax. I went to an ENT doctor for an unrelated issue, he pulled a big plug of wax out of my ear, and my tinnitus (which was quite bad and had a very sudden onset) totally disappeared.

If you have it, go get a doctor to look in your ear before you give up and decide to try to live with it.


Many folks end up in r/zen after reading books like “Zen Mind, Beginners Mind” written by Japanese Zen Buddhists.

Ewk is obsessed with the Chinese source material, written by Chan (Chinese for Zen) masters, and believes that the Chinese Chan masters were not Buddhist at all.

Many people who come to the subreddit are interested in meditation. It is a big focus of Japanese Zen as practiced in the west. It is not particularly emphasised in Chan… at least not in the records we have. Some of the most amusing bits on r/zen are watching Ewk lay into some poor suffering sap looking to get some semblance of peace in their life by starting a meditation practice. According to Ewk, meditation is “not zen”.

It’s hard to explain exactly how crazy things are. He’s not wrong about everything. Chan really doesn’t emphasise having a meditation practice. But he also, despite being interested in this for over 20 years and posting nearly full time - literally for 16 hours a day every day for two decades - has never taken a single Chinese lesson. And he has major, major disagreements with the translators of these ancient Chinese texts (because they are Buddhists). So he uses Google translate to prove the translators wrong.

But the old Chan texts are full of violence and masters bashing one another on the head, as Ewk is quick to point out. Maybe he’s onto something. It really is pretty entertaining.


You're missing the bit where he has never studied under a Buddhist master and actively refuses to. Both Chan and Zen are traditions that are characterised by the belief that written works are always flawed and can't contain the actual teachings and if you want to learn you should find someone who already knows.


What you are describing sounds like the behaviour of someone who is passionate, righteous and perhaps obsessed. That is not the case in the case of Michael Novati according to Lars Lofgren's post. He is claiming that Novati's Reddit posts are entirely driven by profit motives, not to do with the truth or passion for the code bootcamp space.


No, I think you misread the post. The story about backstabbing Zuckerberg in a Risk game and boasting about it in his blog, I believe the author included especially to show that it's not just about the profit motive. It's far more about rivalry and crushing your opponents, he's basically saying. Clearly, spending so much time in a forum trash talking a rival (without disclosure) isn't a good investment of time, if profit is the sole motive.

Certainly, such people exist though. The picture he's painting of Novati is not something I'd find terribly surprising from an ex-Facebook code boot camp entrepreneur.


Wow it's incredible how much almost every single post of his is downloaded to oblivion. Never seen a community so united against an individual.

I do actually believe distinguishing the historical Chinese practice of Zen from its western incarnation is a valuable contribution but also see how unnecessarily instigative his comments can be. Perhaps in a different world where his contributions were more validated he could've learned to frame things in a more generative way


16 hours a day every day for two decades

If I hadn't taken a look at the subreddit just now I would have thought you were being flippant. What a voluble fellow. So much wisdom must be a terrible burden!


You're reminding me of the old 'News of the Weird' (RIP) category "No Longer Weird: frequently recurring stories that have been retired from circulation: ... violence breaks out at peace conference ...".


I wonder if this is the same person behind a series of accounts and similar opinions in the taosim subreddit.


Wow, very surprised to see someone mention ewk on HN of all places. So surprised in fact that I created an account to respond to you! I’ve been following him on the zen subreddit for over 10 years now, off and on. He really is an absolute sight to behold. And I’m sure there is a name for it.


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