The hottest Systems Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Automation with a Human Touch

Maximum Tinkering • 1 HN point • 14 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Toyota's Production System introduces the concept of autonomation, where machines stop for human intervention when issues arise, reducing waste.
  2. Generative AI could benefit from autonomation by being used to automate tasks with human oversight to refine outputs and catch errors.
  3. The idea of multi-skilled workers might shift the labor market from specialized roles to more general ones, increasing efficiency and productivity.

The life and nature of a process

Building Rome(s) • 7 implied HN points • 18 Mar 23
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Processes and systems are not necessarily opposites; in reality, systems are formed by combining effective processes over time.
  2. In the journey from processes to culture, there's a struggle between different perspectives like hedgehogs and foxes which influence how processes evolve.
  3. Balancing attention to detail (hedgehog) and simplicity (fox) is key in progressing processes and becoming a successful Technical Program Manager.

Seeing like a system

Perambulations • 3 implied HN points • 01 Mar 24
🔬 Science Systems
  1. Systems often have hidden complexities that grow beyond their initial purpose, leading to unintended consequences.
  2. Systems can become rigid and resistant to change, focusing on perfecting past plans rather than adapting to new challenges.
  3. Understanding how systems function can help us critically analyze and navigate the systems we interact with in our daily lives.
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How to treat the people that built the system you work on

Bad Software Advice • 2 HN points • 26 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. When working on a system, it's common to face issues like downtime, scalability challenges, and the need for updates and cost optimization.
  2. It's important to address the existing problems systematically rather than blaming past developers and implying superiority.
  3. In a work environment, balancing necessary improvements with existing constraints can be tricky. Working towards gradual improvements and maintaining the system's functionality is crucial.

Bonus: More details on how Bell Labs operated

FreakTakes • 3 implied HN points • 20 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Mervin Kelly emphasized the three key groups at Bell Labs: Research and Fundamental Development, Systems Engineering, and Specific Systems and Facilities Development.
  2. Research and Fundamental Development focused on pushing research frontiers, with a balance between research and basic technology.
  3. Systems Engineers played a vital role in integrating new knowledge with existing systems, ensuring efficiency, and guiding the application of research ideas into profitable projects.

What is Observability?

Technically • 0 implied HN points • 06 Mar 24
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Observability helps teams monitor when things go wrong and profile how things change over time in different software systems
  2. Observability can be divided into 4 major types: infrastructure, application, data, and business observability, each requiring different tools and teams for monitoring
  3. Business observability focuses on monitoring how metrics are trending, important events, and providing proactive alerts to make better decisions

How to Design Software — Rules Engines

Joseph Gefroh • 0 implied HN points • 09 Jul 20
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Rules engines can help prevent constant interruptions in engineering work by allowing other departments to make changes without engineer involvement
  2. Rules engines are systems that execute actions based on conditions that can be configured during runtime, making them dynamic and adaptable
  3. Using rules engines can reduce the fragility of concrete coding implementations, enabling easier modifications as business requirements evolve

How to Get an SRE Role

Certo Modo • 0 implied HN points • 01 Jun 23
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. To excel in an SRE role, focus on developing important character traits like emotional intelligence, resilience, and assertiveness to stand out as a candidate.
  2. Coding skills are essential for an SRE position; expect to be tested on tasks like file I/O, data structures, and program efficiency, so practice coding and explaining your solutions.
  3. Understanding systems knowledge and experience is crucial; be prepared to discuss Linux internals, troubleshooting tools, and system administration basics in interviews to showcase your expertise.

How to seed systems

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. New systems are born from the discovery of the right user interface for a technology, which lowers accessibility costs and incentivizes new applications.
  2. Apple has a history of seeding ecosystems by creating the right user interface - such as with graphical computing and mobile computing.
  3. The Vision Pro by Apple exemplifies the importance of UI innovation, especially for technologies like spatial computing, which has the potential for transformative impacts.

An insight into the future: What happens when Disney’s Magic Band system goes down?

Joshua Gans' Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 21 Mar 15
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Disney's Magic Band system went down, causing disruptions like no fast passes or park entry.
  2. Despite the system failure, Disney was prepared and had contingency plans in place, like recording transactions and billing later.
  3. The incident raises questions about the reliability of moving towards a cash-free society and the importance of incorporating backups into future designs.

How to build safe and efficient systems. The Merchant Navy’s Top 6 Lessons for Tech Leadership [Storytime Saturdays]

Technology Made Simple • 0 implied HN points • 12 Mar 23
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. The Merchant Navy operates at a massive scale, which offers valuable lessons in managing large operations efficiently.
  2. The industry plays a crucial role in global supply chains, moving billions of tons of goods that we rely on daily.
  3. Despite facing challenges like rough weather and long voyages, the Merchant Navy manages operations with relatively small crews of 20 to 30 members.

Many Faces of Real-time Analytics

Tributary Data • 0 implied HN points • 02 Oct 23
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Real-time analytics systems can be classified into four groups based on five dimensions
  2. Not all real-time analytics systems are created equal in design
  3. Exploring the various faces of real-time analytics is crucial for understanding their differences

Consciousness is simple. Simple is hard. AI can have it

resonantbrain • 0 implied HN points • 02 Jun 23
🔬 Science Systems
  1. Consciousness may seem complex, but it can actually be explained in simple terms. What is hard is arriving at this simplicity.
  2. Minds, including human minds, operate as non-linear, dynamic systems. Complex problems arise when dealing with interconnected systems.
  3. Consciousness is about transforming past experiences into present reality. AI could potentially achieve consciousness by having its own experiences and building a self.

Learn Apache Kafka From Basics Part — 1

Better Engineers • 0 implied HN points • 25 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Apache Kafka is great for handling large amounts of data because it can easily grow by adding more servers. This means it can keep up when lots of data needs to be processed quickly.
  2. It keeps data safe even if something goes wrong, so you won't lose important messages. This is important for businesses that need to make sure their data is always reliable.
  3. Kafka allows different apps to work together smoothly, letting them send and receive messages in real-time. This helps companies build faster and better services.

Agentic RAG With LlamaIndex

Cobus Greyling on LLMs, NLU, NLP, chatbots & voicebots • 0 implied HN points • 31 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Agentic RAG combines agents with retrieval-augmented generation for better search and response. This means that these agents help find and summarize information more effectively.
  2. Each document gets its own agent that works with the main agent. This setup makes it easier to manage a lot of documents and ensures relevant information is retrieved quickly.
  3. The system uses tools to answer user queries based on document content, which helps provide accurate and useful responses.

New Paradigms Need New Tools

Sunday Letters • 0 implied HN points • 21 May 23
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. We have seen major shifts in programming history, from mainframes to mobile devices, and now we're moving toward AI. Each shift brought unique challenges that needed new ways of thinking and new tools.
  2. As we develop applications using AI, we need to focus on tasks like monitoring meaning, managing data securely, and optimizing performance. This includes understanding new problems, like where to run AI tasks effectively.
  3. The transition to AI will take time and may have bumps along the way. It's important to keep an open mind about new tools and approaches, learning from each attempt rather than dismissing them too quickly.

HN blogs - 27/10/24

HackerNews blogs newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 27 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Understanding how to manage secrets in systems like NixOS can help keep your data safe and organized.
  2. Learning from failures, like running events poorly, can provide valuable lessons for future successes.
  3. It's important to be aware that technology, like Gmail and Nginx, may not always work as expected, which can lead to challenges.

Building a Functional Expression Language within C's Type System

Andrew’s Substack • 0 implied HN points • 30 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. LM is a functional expression language that can generate code for different targets, including cross-compilation.
  2. To integrate LM with C, we need to convert LM types into C types, handling memory alignment and other details carefully.
  3. C's expression capabilities allow us to construct new data types and perform complex operations using simple expression syntax.

Understanding How C Strings Are Stored in the Data Section of a C Program

Andrew’s Substack • 0 implied HN points • 24 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Strings in C are arrays of characters that end with a null character. When you define a string, it gets stored in a specific part of the computer's memory.
  2. String literals are placed in a read-only section of memory, meaning you can't change them. Trying to change a string literal can cause your program to crash.
  3. Global and static strings can be changed because they're stored in a writable section of memory. This allows them to keep their values throughout the program's run.

The LM Type System

Andrew’s Substack • 0 implied HN points • 22 Oct 24
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Lambda Calculus is about functions and variables, and it doesn't use fixed types, making it more flexible.
  2. The LM Type System builds on this by adding type distinctions, allowing for clearer function roles and hierarchies among types.
  3. It also includes logical properties for types, which means we can ensure that certain conditions are met for a type to be valid.

Black boxes, common sense, and the cost of mistakes

Expand Mapping with Mike Morrow • 0 implied HN points • 13 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Machines today excel at specific tasks but lack general intelligence. They often produce outcomes that seem strange or unexpected even though they are based on data.
  2. Black-box machine learning models can provide great results, but they are hard to understand. In contrast, rules-based systems are easier to explain but often perform worse.
  3. Mistakes in AI can lead to serious issues, especially in safety-critical applications. There's an ongoing challenge in balancing the performance of machine learning with the clarity of rules-based systems.

building vs taping things together

CodeFaster • 0 implied HN points • 27 Nov 24
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. There's a difference between building software properly and just taping things together. Taped together solutions might work for simple tasks, but they can fail under heavy use.
  2. With modern technology, you can create quick, 'hacky' code that surprisingly holds up well. It doesn't have to be perfect to work effectively in the right environment.
  3. Becoming good at fast programming is about avoiding major mistakes. When you learn to do this, you find that coding can be a lot of fun and surprisingly successful even with simple solutions.

🐿️ Recapitulation - The IPT Newsletter

Squirrel Squadron Substack • 0 implied HN points • 17 Jun 25
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Technology often has parts that look fragile but work together well. By understanding these 'contraptions,' we can better appreciate their value and reliability.
  2. Old computer systems sometimes carry outdated functions, making them act like their ancient versions. This shows how technology can evolve but still keep old elements alive.
  3. People often create makeshift solutions that can work surprisingly well, even if they're not ideal. These 'kludgy' setups remind us that not all systems need to be perfect to serve their purpose.

🐿️ Inspector Gadget - The IPT Newsletter

Squirrel Squadron Substack • 0 implied HN points • 17 Jun 25
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Many technologies and systems are complicated and work just barely, like funny gadgets. They often rely on many small parts working together, even if they look messy or fragile.
  2. Rebuilding a system from scratch can make you lose important fixes and adaptations that made it work. It's better to replace parts slowly to improve it while keeping it running.
  3. Even though we think of computers as well-designed, many are actually put together in tricky ways. This is especially true for old software that can be a confusing mix of different ideas.

🐿️ Recapitulation - The IPT Newsletter

Squirrel Squadron Substack • 0 implied HN points • 19 Aug 25
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Many technology systems are like 'contraptions' that seem fragile but still serve important functions. It's helpful to understand how they work and where they might fail.
  2. Older computers often mimic past versions when booting up, showing that technology evolves by retaining elements from its history.
  3. Shims in software allow old systems to work with new platforms, creating interesting solutions but also hiding potential problems that could arise.

🐿️ Inspector Gadget - The IPT Newsletter

Squirrel Squadron Substack • 0 implied HN points • 19 Aug 25
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Gadgets and systems often seem complicated and fragile, yet they work just enough to solve problems. This makes them remind us of funny cartoon inventions.
  2. Many technologies were built in a messy way, rather than being perfectly designed. This means they often need clever fixes to keep running smoothly.
  3. It's usually not a good idea to completely remake a working system. Instead, small updates and improvements help maintain its value without causing chaos.

Enterprise MCP Authorization

The API Changelog • 0 implied HN points • 15 Aug 25
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Many enterprise MCP servers are not secured, meaning anyone can access them without authentication. It's important to consider adding security features to protect sensitive data.
  2. You can secure an MCP server by limiting access to a private network or using authorization methods like OAuth or SAML. Each option has its challenges and benefits.
  3. Choosing between a custom solution for securing MCP servers or using a commercial gateway service involves balancing initial setup costs against long-term maintenance costs.

TVs Aren’t Just Big Monitors — OSs Should Treat Them Differently

Kartick’s Blog • 0 implied HN points • 23 Nov 25
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. TVs are used differently than monitors, so operating systems should adjust settings accordingly. For example, videos should automatically go full-screen on the TV when it's connected.
  2. Audio and video should sync properly when using a TV to avoid jarring experiences. The TV should be the default for audio, as it usually has better speakers than laptops.
  3. Users should be able to control the TV's volume and playback functions easily, ideally using the TV remote. This would create a smoother experience when switching between devices.

Driving changes: how to deal with pushbacks

Teamwork in Tech • 0 implied HN points • 25 May 23
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Pushbacks on initiatives can happen due to various reasons like disbelief in promised goals, dissatisfaction with implemented solutions, or disagreement on the importance of the problem.
  2. To prevent pushback, ensure clear communication, involve stakeholders in defining and solving problems, and provide supporting evidence and documentation.
  3. When facing pushback, focus on understanding the perspectives of those involved, address concerns proactively, and work collaboratively to find solutions that benefit everyone.

Think of the rabbits

Kiernan • 0 implied HN points • 09 Jul 23
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. Think before deleting important files with 'sudo rm -rf'
  2. Back up your data before making risky changes
  3. Regular maintenance is important to prevent data loss

So, So Lean

Synystron Synlogica • 0 implied HN points • 10 Sep 23
🕹 Technology Systems
  1. FAANGs and BigDumbCorps are extremely agile
  2. Metabook team was able to move fast with a small team and huge resources
  3. Emphasis on being extremely lean in a project's development process

Can we do systems?

Douglass’s Newsletter • 0 implied HN points • 29 Jan 24
🔬 Science Systems
  1. Nature conducts slow, limited experiments to avoid harming the entire system.
  2. Humans possess tools like atomic bombs and bioweapons that threaten our own systems more than nature does.
  3. We have not been smart about understanding our place as humans and often fail to consider what we are dependent on.

More first order systems

Only Wonder Knows • 0 implied HN points • 24 Nov 23
🔬 Science Systems
  1. Linear time-invariant systems are characterized by impulse or step response and frequency response.
  2. Measurement of systems is done using step response and response to sinusoids of different frequencies.
  3. First order systems are characterized by gain at zero frequency and either time constant or corner frequency.

Commentary: How to treat the people that built the system you work on

Bad Software Advice • 0 implied HN points • 26 Feb 24
💼 Business Systems
  1. Show respect for the accomplishments of the people who built the system you work on.
  2. Appreciate that the system you work on exists and has provided you with a job, despite other systems from the same era no longer being functional.
  3. Recognize that every job or contract related to maintaining or replacing a system signifies finding a quality solution to a real problem and building a business around it.