The hottest Systems Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top Business Topics

How to destroy a world

Data People Etc. • 53 implied HN points • 24 Feb 25
🕹 Technology AI Data science Software Systems Influencers
  1. Frameworks can be used for both building and breaking worlds. It's important to understand how to exploit weaknesses in these structures.
  2. To weaken a dominant system, you can undermine its narrative, disrupt key players, and challenge established norms. This approach can create doubts and resistance.
  3. Destroying a world can teach us about resilience. Strengthening systems and protocols is crucial to support and maintain their relevance in changing times.

ioctls from Rust

Blog System/5 • 827 implied HN points • 13 Feb 25
🕹 Technology Programming Systems Software Open Source Unix
  1. The 'ioctl' system call is used in Unix-like systems to communicate with the kernel in ways that go beyond normal file operations. It allows for special operations not covered by standard read/write calls.
  2. Using 'ioctl' in Rust can be tricky. It often requires unsafe code blocks since it involves direct interactions with the kernel and can affect the running process in unpredictable ways.
  3. There are multiple ways to call 'ioctl' in Rust, including using libraries like 'nix' and 'libc', or even creating custom C wrappers. Each method has its trade-offs in terms of complexity and code structure.

Hands-on graphics without X11

Blog System/5 • 1240 implied HN points • 17 Jan 25
🕹 Technology Software Graphics Hardware Programming Systems
  1. Using NetBSD's wscons framework, you can access and manipulate the graphical framebuffer directly without needing X11. This lets programmers draw graphics in a simpler way.
  2. The architecture of wscons is structured in layers, making it possible to interact with various hardware devices uniformly. It ensures that both output and input devices work across different machines.
  3. You can handle keyboard input using a feature called wsmux, which allows you to manage multiple keyboard devices easily. It makes your program more robust if a keyboard isn't connected right away.

The Sequence Engineering #546: You Know MCP, but What About ACP

TheSequence • 84 implied HN points • 21 May 25
🕹 Technology AI Protocols Communication Systems Autonomy
  1. The Agent Communication Protocol (ACP) allows different AI agents to talk to each other easily. This makes their interactions more advanced and effective.
  2. ACP builds on the Model Context Protocol (MCP) but adds features for more complex conversations. It supports things like agent discovery and message management.
  3. Understanding both MCP and ACP is important for grasping how AI agents work together. They each play a unique role in improving AI communication.

The Sequence Opinion #542 : Some Ideas About the Future of MCP

TheSequence • 112 implied HN points • 15 May 25
🕹 Technology AI Networking Protocols Integration Systems
  1. Model Context Protocol (MCP) is becoming really important for how AI models connect with tools and data. It's like how USB-C has made it easier for devices to connect with each other.
  2. MCP is evolving from just being a way to connect models to creating networks of AI systems that can work together and find resources dynamically. It's moving towards smarter and more flexible AI interactions.
  3. The future of MCP involves areas like better discovery methods and securing trust between AI agents. This is a shift towards creating more complex and coordinated systems that understand and use context effectively.
Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

The Chronicles of GND, Part 2

filterwizard • 19 implied HN points • 25 Sep 24
🕹 Technology Engineering Electronics Design Innovation Systems
  1. In modern circuits, many designs operate on a single supply instead of a split supply. This means they only use a positive voltage and treat ground as the reference point, which changes how we think about electrical connections.
  2. It's important to create separate nets for ground and a '0V' reference in circuit layouts. Mixing currents from both can lead to problems, even if they seem similar in potential.
  3. Using a low-impedance ground plane isn’t always the best solution. In sensitive systems, small voltage drops and current flow can significantly affect performance, so careful design is essential.

Demystifying secure NFS

Blog System/5 • 744 implied HN points • 04 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Networking Security Software Systems
  1. NFSv3 is not secure because it trusts clients too much and does not encrypt traffic. This means anyone on the network can access sensitive data if they can impersonate a user.
  2. NFSv4 is much better because it uses usernames for permission checks and can work with Kerberos for strong security features. This ensures that only authorized users can access files.
  3. Setting up NFSv4 with Kerberos can be really complicated, but it's important for protecting data. Proper configuration is crucial, and sometimes mistakes can lead to security issues.

"Cache me" if you can!

System Design Classroom • 659 implied HN points • 01 Jun 24
🕹 Technology Software Systems Data Engineering Architecture
  1. The type of caching strategy you choose depends on your read and write ratios. If you read a lot, caching is very helpful, but if you write often, you need a more complex approach.
  2. Data consistency is crucial for some applications. Using methods like Write-Through helps keep data in cache and databases aligned, while other methods, like Write-Behind, prioritize speed over immediate consistency.
  3. To see if your caching is effective, you should track metrics like how many times data is successfully retrieved from the cache versus not retrieved. This will help you understand how well your caching is working.

Where to draw the line?

Subconscious • 1225 implied HN points • 01 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Software Systems Design Engineering Innovation
  1. Breaking problems into smaller pieces helps us manage them better. It's like solving a big puzzle by working on one piece at a time.
  2. Modules or parts of a system allow us to focus on what’s important without worrying about the whole. This makes it easier to change and adapt parts as needed.
  3. Deciding where to draw boundaries in a system can greatly affect its future. It's important to understand what will change and what won’t before setting those boundaries.

Are you delivering what you promised?

System Design Classroom • 279 implied HN points • 07 Jun 24
🕹 Technology Software APIs Systems Testing Performance
  1. Load tests help you see how well your API works with normal users. They show how many users it can support without slowing down.
  2. Stress tests push your API to its limits to find out what happens when it's overloaded. They help you prepare for crashes and see how fast it can recover.
  3. Spike tests check how your API handles sudden increases in traffic. They are important for making sure your service can handle bursts, especially during promotions.

Import AI 370: 213 AI safety challenges; everything becomes a game; Tesla's big cluster

Import AI • 439 implied HN points • 29 Apr 24
🕹 Technology AI Data Security Research Systems
  1. Chinese researchers introduced MMT-Bench, a benchmark for assessing visual reasoning in language models with diverse tasks and scenarios.
  2. Researchers developed a system to turn 2D photos into 3D gameworlds, showing AI's capability to transform real-world imagery into interactive experiences.
  3. A consortium of researchers addressed 213 AI safety challenges across 18 areas, emphasizing the urgent need for solutions to ensure the reliability and safety of language models.

Mastering Helm from Scratch: Part 1 – The Purpose of Helm

Curious Devs Corner • 1 HN point • 03 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Cloud Kubernetes Systems
  1. Helm makes using Kubernetes easier for beginners by simplifying the process of installing and managing applications. It helps users avoid the confusion of typing many commands to deploy different parts of an app.
  2. With Helm, you can package all the parts of your application into one bundle called a 'chart'. This makes it much simpler to distribute and manage apps on Kubernetes, similar to how apps are managed on computers.
  3. Helm focuses on security and customization. It verifies the integrity of packages and allows users to customize charts, making it a flexible tool for deploying applications according to their specific needs.

Metrics Are The Map, Not The Territory

Push to Prod • 59 implied HN points • 30 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Metrics Systems Data Analysis Software Performance
  1. Metrics give us a view of our systems, but they won't show the complete picture. It's like looking at a map; it can guide us but doesn't capture all the details.
  2. When we check the data, we might miss important moments because of how we sample information. This can lead to misunderstandings about our system's performance.
  3. Understanding that metrics are imperfect helps us make better decisions. We should use them to create theories, not think they tell us everything.

TAO - Meta's Scalable architecture powering world's largest social graph

Engineering At Scale • 120 implied HN points • 09 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Software Architecture Data Systems Engineering
  1. Meta created TAO to handle the huge amount of data and user interactions on its platform. This system helps generate personalized content for over 2 billion users very quickly.
  2. TAO uses a layered architecture that includes caching and data storage to improve performance. This design helps distribute the load and maintain fast responses even when many users are active.
  3. TAO prioritizes high availability over strict data consistency. This means it can sometimes show slightly out-of-date information, but it still works well for users, especially during busy times.

Hero Culture means your systems are broken

Sunday Letters • 159 implied HN points • 19 May 24
💼 Business Organization Leadership Culture Systems Processes
  1. Hero culture shows that a company's systems aren't working right. If you need someone to save the day, there's likely a problem with the organization's processes.
  2. Celebrating heroes can be nice, but it distracts from fixing the real issues. It's better to thank them and work together to prevent future emergencies.
  3. Good systems include clear documentation and solid processes. These tools help avoid relying on individuals to step in and fix issues all the time.

Can Machines Slip on Banana Peels?

Breaking Smart • 79 implied HN points • 30 Oct 24
🕹 Technology AI Robotics Design Engineering Systems
  1. It's funny when a self-important person slips on a banana peel because it shows their dignity being challenged. This humor comes from seeing someone with high self-esteem face an embarrassing moment.
  2. Machines can also have moments of failure, just like people. They slip up when their design looks seamless but actually has hidden flaws, similar to someone who overestimates their own abilities.
  3. Understanding the 'Contraption Factor' helps us analyze why machines fail. It shows a difference between how complex something is and how well it's designed, which can lead to unexpected problems.

Borrow Checking from Scratch

Burning the Midnight Coffee • 64 implied HN points • 17 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Programming Software Memory management Compilers Systems
  1. The concept of 'borrow checking' helps programmers ensure their code is memory safe. This means the code won't allow unsafe practices like using memory that has already been freed.
  2. Implementing a simple, C-like language called Cnile can introduce memory safety by adding rules that check for issues during compilation rather than at runtime. This involves stopping problems like double-free and use-after-free situations.
  3. Using single-use types ensures resources can only be used once, which helps prevent memory leaks and makes it safer to manage dynamic data structures in programming.

All you need is Wide Events, not “Metrics, Logs and Traces”

A Song Of Bugs And Patches • 224 HN points • 15 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Observability Systems Events Metrics
  1. The concept of 'Wide Events' is proposed as a simpler and more effective approach to observability than the traditional 'Metrics, Logs, and Traces'.
  2. Older systems like Open Telemetry may contribute to confusion by categorizing data into distinct pillars, making observability seem complex.
  3. A system like Scuba, based on 'Wide Events', enables streamlined investigation and data exploration, emphasizing the importance of simplicity in observability tools.

pip install sqlmesh-cube

davidj.substack • 23 implied HN points • 19 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Software Programming Data Development Systems
  1. A new package called 'sqlmesh-cube' is available for anyone to use. You can easily install it with pip.
  2. This package helps create a CLI command that outputs JSON, showing how sqlmesh models relate to each other. It's important for building a semantic layer.
  3. This was the author's first package, and they learned a lot about the publishing process along the way. They are open to feedback and requests for updates.

Microsoft's New Framework for Multi-Agent Systems

TheSequence • 175 implied HN points • 10 Nov 24
🕹 Technology AI Software Research Innovation Systems
  1. Magentic-One is a new tool from Microsoft that helps manage multiple AI agents to tackle complex tasks. It acts like a conductor guiding different musicians, making it easier to complete different jobs together.
  2. This system allows for flexibility by using different AI models for different tasks, which means it can be customized based on what you need. It's designed to improve efficiency in our daily tasks, like ordering food or doing research.
  3. While Magentic-One is powerful, it's still being improved to reduce errors and ensure it acts safely. The goal is to make sure these AI agents help us reliably without causing problems.

TBM 205: "Process" vs. Systems & Habits

The Beautiful Mess • 1613 implied HN points • 12 Mar 23
💼 Business Management Processes Systems Habits Leadership
  1. Team A focuses on rushed, performative annual processes, while Team B prioritizes continuous improvement and thoughtful feedback.
  2. Team A's lack of customer-centricity and reactive approach leads to institutionalized mediocrity, while Team B's positive habits and systems drive effectiveness.
  3. Breaking the loop of reactive processes and establishing human-centric systems and valuable habits is crucial for better ways of working in organizations.

Comprehension of Concurrency is a Lifelong Journey

Push to Prod • 19 implied HN points • 23 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Software Engineering Concurrency Debugging Systems
  1. Understanding concurrency is a long-term process that requires ongoing learning. It's normal to feel confused, but every experience adds to your knowledge.
  2. It's important to be open about your knowledge gaps. Accepting that you don't know everything helps you grow and learn from others.
  3. Mistakes and misunderstandings are part of the journey. Embracing these moments can lead to valuable insights and a deeper comprehension.

Accelerate by years part I - Inlang directories as lix repositories

Opral (lix & inlang) • 19 implied HN points • 23 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Software Development Networking Systems Programming
  1. Making inlang directories work as independent repositories can speed up the development process significantly. This means less reliance on GitHub and fewer complications.
  2. Smaller, self-contained inlang repositories require less hosting and have lower scalability needs. This makes it easier to manage and use them without needing a lot of resources.
  3. With control over push, pull, and commit actions, developers can streamline their workflows. This helps avoid many frustrating issues related to traditional version control systems.

Edge 454: Meet Magentic-One, Microsoft's New Framework for Building Multi Agent Systems

TheSequence • 91 implied HN points • 05 Dec 24
🕹 Technology AI Frameworks Systems Innovation Research
  1. Microsoft has introduced a new framework called Magentic-One for building multi-agent systems. It allows different AI agents to work together on tasks that can change or evolve.
  2. This framework is built upon another Microsoft technology called AutoGen, which helps agents collaborate effectively. It aims to manage tasks using information from the web and files from various fields.
  3. Magentic-One is part of a growing trend in AI where multi-agent systems are gaining popularity. This reflects the diverse and innovative landscape of AI development today.

Biomimicry versus Top-Down Engineering

Risk Musings • 573 implied HN points • 22 Jul 23
🔬 Science Genetics Biology Innovation Systems
  1. Nature builds from the bottom up through evolution and mutations, unlike top-down engineering in human systems.
  2. Biomimicry offers inspiration across various fields by learning from nature's efficient and resilient systems.
  3. Bottom-up building, like in the human brain, involves countless interactions that lead to emergent solutions, unlike enforced top-down strategies.

The Ion Proton Fluidics System

ASeq Newsletter • 14 implied HN points • 06 Dec 24
🕹 Technology Engineering Systems Devices Innovation
  1. The Ion Proton Fluidics System has a complex fluidics setup that is important for its function. It may look confusing at first, but breaking it down can help understand how it works.
  2. Understanding the fluidics system is crucial for improving its performance. Learning about its components can lead to better maintenance and efficiency.
  3. This post is specifically tailored for paid subscribers, indicating there is exclusive content available for those who support the platform. Being a paid member might offer more in-depth insights.

Understanding Software Idempotency [Math Mondays]

Technology Made Simple • 119 implied HN points • 11 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Software Math Engineering Systems Programming
  1. Idempotency ensures the same output regardless of how many times an operation is executed, providing data consistency and preventing duplicate operations.
  2. Idempotency is crucial for resilience, scalability, performance, simplicity, and provability in software systems.
  3. Implementing idempotency involves using unique identifiers, versioning, transaction management, and leveraging HTTP methods, offering benefits like better error handling and faster response times.

Eventual Business Consistency

Software Design: Tidy First? • 134 HN points • 04 Aug 23
🕹 Technology Business Data Management Programming Systems Database
  1. The goal is to achieve eventual business consistency by closely matching what's in the system with real-world events.
  2. Different data storage methods like storing dated data or double-dated data come with trade-offs in complexity and accuracy.
  3. Bi-temporal systems use two dates to track when data changes occurred in reality and when they were recorded in the system for better business operations.

System Design - Scale 0 to Millions of Users

Better Engineers • 7 HN points • 31 Jul 24
🕹 Technology Systems Design Databases Scaling
  1. Scaling systems to handle millions of users involves understanding how to make systems work better under pressure. This can be done by adding more resources or managing them effectively.
  2. Vertical scaling means adding more power (like RAM or CPU) to existing servers, while horizontal scaling means adding more servers to share the load. Horizontal scaling is often better for high traffic situations.
  3. Using a master-slave database setup helps balance loads and keeps data safe. If one database fails, another can take over, ensuring the system runs smoothly and reliably.

Diagram of an AI Image System

Cybernetic Forests • 119 implied HN points • 21 May 23
🕹 Technology AI Data Media Systems
  1. There is no definite definition of an AI image, as there are differing views on what AI and images truly are.
  2. Understanding different levels of AI image systems, such as data, interface, image, and media, is essential to navigating challenges within these systems.
  3. The intersection of AI images with human culture and media can perpetuate stereotypes and impact creators, leading to concerns about theft and ethical considerations.

How Would The Architecture For An LLM Agent Platform Look?

Cobus Greyling on LLMs, NLU, NLP, chatbots & voicebots • 19 implied HN points • 24 May 24
🕹 Technology AI NLP Software Architecture Systems
  1. The architecture for an LLM agent platform could develop in three stages, starting with a simple AI that recommends tools based on user needs.
  2. As the platform grows, it will enable interactions between multiple tools and the AI, allowing for dynamic exchanges of information.
  3. Future improvements will focus on enhancing the agent's capabilities through better tools and more collaboration among them.

Understanding the CAP theorem [Math Mondays]

Technology Made Simple • 99 implied HN points • 10 Jan 23
🕹 Technology Systems Tradeoffs Consistency
  1. The CAP theorem states that in a distributed system, you can only guarantee 2 out of 3 desirable traits: Consistency, Availability, and Partition Tolerance.
  2. Consistency in the CAP theorem ensures that all nodes in a network have the same data at the same time.
  3. Availability means that every read or write request will either succeed or receive an error message, with every node responding in a reasonable time.

LLM links, 2/27

In My Tribe • 91 implied HN points • 27 Feb 24
🕹 Technology AI Models Systems Predictions
  1. Compound AI systems are proving more effective than individual AI models, showing that combining different components can lead to better results.
  2. Providing extensive context can enhance AI capabilities, enabling new use cases and more effective training through models like Sora.
  3. The emergence of an AI computer virus is predicted to become a major concern, potentially causing widespread panic and technological shutdowns.