Any experienced C developers among my followers? #BoostsWelcome.

Expat, arguably the world's most popular #XML parser, is understaffed and without funding. As #xz has shown, situations like this are dangerous.

Last month, maintainer Sebastian Pipping put up a plea for help at https://github.com/libexpat/libexpat/blob/R_2_6_2/expat/Changes

(I would help myself, but my C skills barely surpass "Hello, World".)

Found via @timbray - https://cosocial.ca/@timbray/112203547801373427

#libexpat
#SoftwareSupplyChainSecurity #OpenSource #OpenSourceMaintainer
#C

libexpat/expat/Changes at R_2_6_2 · libexpat/libexpat

:herb: Fast streaming XML parser written in C99 with >90% test coverage; moved from SourceForge to GitHub - libexpat/libexpat

^GitHub

Tim Bray

2024-04-02 20:37:47

I think the #xz incident is teaching us that our infrastructure is dangerously fragile in the face of well-organized/funded attackers. The response isn’t “try harder” or “donate to your OSS project”, it needs to be institutional, professional, and at scale.

So, here’s my proposal, called “OSQI”, aimed at starting a how-to discussion: https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/202x/2024/04/01/OSQI

OSQI

^{ongoing by Tim Bray}

#SwiftLang
#rustlang / #Rust
#Python
#JavaScript / #TypeScript
#C
#Vala
#Go
#CSharp
#CPlusPlus

Those are languages people use to write #GTK / #GNOME apps, and it's amazing ❤️

PSA: Improvements to #GCC's static analyzer are going to cause (at least) `g_error()` to throw an error about an infinite loop.

Wrap the call in a few pragmas:

```c
#pragma GCC diagnostic push
#pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Wanalyzer-infinite-loop"
g_error ("Just like this");
#pragma GCC diagnostic pop
```

https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Diagnostic-Pragmas.html

#GNOME #GLib #C #StaticAnalyzer

Most annoying?

#threads #clothing #c #debugging #matrix #meta

• Loose clothing threads (31%, 6 votes)
• Debugging C threads (15%, 3 votes)
• Matrix threads (15%, 3 votes)
• Meta threads (36%, 7 votes)

Hey #gnome and #kde people, since you are at #fosdem could you maybe discuss what would it take to make a common toolkit (Linux toolkit?) that would appeal to both #c and #cpp devs? Basically covering both platforms so we could converge. Maybe #swiftlang? Fork of #Kotlin native? Seems to me we would be better off with people writing mobile apps for Linux desktop, than people writing web apps and electron garbage on desktop.

Fully aware of https://xkcd.com/927/

Standards

^xkcd

Last week I presented my paper at SecDev on the impact #Rust has vs. #C++ on the probability of a vulnerability being introduced by a first-time contributor to a project—and therefore, how easy it is for newbies to get contributions merged. The full paper is available here:

https://cypherpunks.ca/~iang/pubs/gradingcurve-secdev23.pdf

but the tl;dr is: Rust significantly lowered the number of vulnerabilities introduced, especially from new contributors, and increased the quantity of new contributors to projects.

"Safety vs Performance. A case study of C, C++ and Rust sort implementations."

#cpp #rust #c #programming

https://github.com/Voultapher/sort-research-rs/blob/main/writeup/sort_safety/text.md

I'm looking for a new job, or contract work, for the first time in a while - boosts appreciated!

I'm a polyglot programmer, with a wide range of experience behind me, from developing firmware that runs on 8-bit AVR, to highly distributed systems across hundreds of nodes, I covered pretty much the whole landscape.

I had my fair share of Ops experience too, and worked in (technical) Customer Service aswell.

I speak many languages (#C, #Rust, #Lua, #Python, #JavaScript, some #Go among them), but I pride myself in being able to pick up a new language at a decent level between signing a contract and starting on the job.

I'm a #Linux guy through and through, and have very little experience (or desire) to work with anything else, save maybe for the BSDs. I worked with containers, databases (relational and otherwise); in the cloud and on premises. I can debug, I can mentor, I can teach, and build, and integrate (continuously, even!). I'm not afraid of git rebase, nor of a crowd to speak in front of.

I live in Hungary, and am seeking remote work. I cannot relocate.

If you are someone looking for something like that, or know someone who is, please get in touch. My CV - with contacts - is available here.

#GetFediHired