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krnlclnl commented on Where Is GPT in the Chomsky Hierarchy?   fi-le.net/chomsky/... · Posted by u/fi-le
nabla9 · 2 months ago
Natural languages being in MCSL (Mildly Context-Sensitive) is the consensus among linguistics, not some random individual's viewpoint.
krnlclnl · 2 months ago
OK? What concrete human problems human biology faces are resolved by this groups consensus? Obsession with notation does little to improve crop yields, or improve working conditions for the child labor these academic geniuses rely on.

Sure, linguists, glad you found some semantics that fit your obsession. Happy for you!

Most people will never encounter their work and live their lives never knowing such an event happened.

krnlclnl commented on Ask HN: Who here is not working on web apps/server code?    · Posted by u/ex-aws-dude
dabockster · 2 months ago
Honestly, they shouldn't even need to touch a debugger if they're able to reasonably manage their memory "well enough". Like in general. I'd only touch a debugger myself if I knew I was dealing with a memory problem.
krnlclnl · 2 months ago
Overall I agree. But in the early learning stages, getting used to interacting with and interpreting the debugger is useful. So when it is essential to resolving an issue, they don't get off in the weeds figuring it all out.
krnlclnl commented on Where Is GPT in the Chomsky Hierarchy?   fi-le.net/chomsky/... · Posted by u/fi-le
suddenlybananas · 2 months ago
You can also reject quantum physics and the sky will not open and smash us with a giant foot. However, to do so without serious knowledge of physics would be quite dumb.
krnlclnl · 2 months ago
Apples and oranges. Language emerges from human biology which emerges from the physical realm. In the end language emerges then from the physical realm. Trying to de-couple it from physical nature and make it an abstract thought bubble is akin to bike shedding in programming.
krnlclnl commented on Where Is GPT in the Chomsky Hierarchy?   fi-le.net/chomsky/... · Posted by u/fi-le
nabla9 · 2 months ago
Strictly speaking natural languages fit into Context-Sensitive (Type-1) in Chomsky Hierarchy, but that's too broad to be useful.

In practice they are classified into MCSL (Mildly Context-Sensitive) subcategory defined by Aravind K. Joshi.

krnlclnl · 2 months ago
Sure, if you accept and agree with Joshi.

No reason to do that though, except to validate some random persons perspective on language. The sky will not open and smash us with a giant foot if we reject such an obligation.

krnlclnl commented on Ask HN: Who here is not working on web apps/server code?    · Posted by u/ex-aws-dude
stack_framer · 2 months ago
I have worked exclusively on web apps for my entire career (~17 years), but something is pulling me toward C development. I have no idea how to really get started though. I'm doing a little hobby project, but I'm not sure where to channel my study/effort to become good enough for a career change. I picked up the second edition of The C Programming Language by Kernighan/Ritchie, but I assume it's outdated by now. Any advice?
krnlclnl · 2 months ago
Got my start with C via Linux kernel hacking in the 90s. It's practical so that's where I would recommend. (or a BSD kernel which are often better organized).

With ~17 years of experience already, start with the study of the structure of C programs. Recreate some of it manually, build it, and research the things that do not behave as expected.

Bonus of using an open source kernel is they have a lot of eyeballs on them. They will be pretty dialed in versus studying random Github projects that happen to be written in C.

Would recommend avoiding cognitive overload, wait until you get into comfortable flow writing, building, fixing as needed, simple programs before you dive into lower level debugging, trying to grasp assembly structures that a compiler spits out.

u/krnlclnl

KarmaCake day1December 19, 2025View Original