Not at all. Thanks for posting OP. Any technical discussion is welcome here. Ignore the haters who think STL vectors are a drop in replacement for lists.
"insertions to the end of a variable-length array are very fast"
really tptacek? its O(1) ammortized over time, and when N grows it becomes really slow because it involves reallocation and a linear copy of all elements.
It would be lovely if HN could be a place where people could rise above their petty self interests and help the community move forward. Thomas is at the wrong end of this spectrum.
TheAmazingIdiot is correct BTW. Its hard to imagine Thomas posting his ridiculous views unless he is a paid shill. Probably on your team.
Your views are consistent with a paid or otherwise incentivized "shill" with vested interests in taking the opposite view of any positive legislative action regarding the Swartz case. You knocked the earlier legislative proposal, now you are knocking this.
Lets just sit back and revel in the irony of programmers discussing broad fixes to federal laws, based on insights from reddit comments.
To all the armchair legal experts of HN, here's a challenge: draft legislation that fixes what you propose and post it here.If you can't do that, you are not qualified to comment on the matter.
The EFF has addressed the technology aspects of this. You have ascended into general purpose prosecutorial reform. The legal profession has a vast number of incredibly intelligent people and the legal process has vast nuances, and to think you are an expert in the subject is downright arrogant.
You solve this problem by momentum and visibility, not tossing out arbitrary criticisms.
In the meanwhile, vote up the comment that urges readers to help get this passed.
If you could kindly edit your top comment by requesting readers to contact their representatives to help get this passed, THEN i will move on. Till then I have a pretty low opinion of you.
YES. Vote up this comment, for he speaks the truth.
Edit: Note to PG and HN mods. With power comes responsibility. You have in the past allowed cynical posts from reaching the top and influencing opinion and thats led to tragic consequences. See the infamous Aaron post from Ed. Its happening again. I encourage you to vote down negative nonsense, even it consists of well constructed sentences and comes from people with high karma scores. Or whatever the kids call it these days.
Its too late for that. Look to the future instead. Will having Arron's Law in place, coupled with civil outcry and petitions we've seen , prevent the next Aaron from being over-zealously prosecuted?
I think the answer is: not entirely, but its a huge, practical step in that direction. This is one of those things that you celebrate, not dismiss cynically.
Think of an alternate reaction. Why not create a petition on the whitehouse to make this small step a reality instead of cynically dismissing it? Remember, your pessimism can influence a whole audience into inaction. Recent precedent suggests.
Legislating against what you term "prosecutorial misconduct" is far fetched. Can you imagine how you would word that legislation without hampering law enforcement efforts against the real bad guys? Do you really want that?
Having the law named after Aaron would be more than symbolic, it would be a perpetual reminder that overreach against programmers who in general want to make the world a better place can result in massive civil outcry, and to a large extent address your concerns too.