Re: Rewriting SSA. Is This A Chance For GNU/Linux?

On 4/7/25 4:39 PM, -hh wrote:

On 4/5/25 18:27, c186282 wrote:

On 4/5/25 3:40 PM, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 05/04/2025 20:22, c186282 wrote:

Analog ...

>
Massive arrays of non linear analogue circuits for modelling things like the Navier Stokes equations would be possible: Probably make a better stab at climate modelling then the existing shit.

>
   Again with analog, it's the sensitivity to especially
   temperature conditions that add errors in. Keep
   carrying those errors through several stages and soon
   all you have is error, pretending to be The Solution.
   Again, perhaps some meta-material that's NOT sensitive
   to what typically throws-off analog electronics MIGHT
   be made.
>
   I'm trying to visualize what it would take to make
   an all-analog version of, say, a payroll spreadsheet :-)

 Woogh!  That makes my brain hurt.

   Indeed ! However ... probably COULD be done, it's
   a bunch of shifting values - input to some accts,
   calx ops, shift to other accts ....... lots and
   lots of rheostats ........
   I'm not gonna try it !  :-)

   Now discrete use of analog as, as you suggested, doing
   multiplication/division/logs initiated and read by
   digital ... ?
>
   Oh well, we're out in sci-fi land with most of this ...
   may as well talk about using giant evil brains in
   jars as computers  :-)
>
   As some here have mentioned, we may be closer to the
   limits of computer power that we'd like to think.
   Today's big trick is parallelization, but only some
   kinds of problems can be modeled that way.
>
   Saw an article the other day about using some kind
   of disulfide for de-facto transistors, but did not
   get the impression that they'd be fast. I think
   temperature resistance was the main thrust - industrial
   apps, Venus landers and such.

 Actually, one of the things that Analog's still good at is real world control systems with feeback loops and all the like.

   As long as it's pretty straightforward, analog can
   sometimes do it quicker and simpler. I oft wonder
   whether the problem of a self-balancing android
   might be handled better with analog feedback schemes.
   Of course nerves are, ultimately, 'digital' - pulses
   of varying rate/spacing but always the same strength.
   Some of the sensory stuff even gets 'compressed'/encoded
   before going to the brain. Every little leg hair does
   not its own direct nerve to the brain.

I had one project some time 'way back in the 80s where we were troubleshooting a line that had a 1960s era analog control system, and one of the conversations that came up was if to replace it with digital. It got looked into and was determined that digital process controls weren't fast enough for the line.
 Fast-forward to ~2005.  While back visiting that department, I found out that that old analog beast was still running the line and they were trolling eBay for parts to keep it running.

   Hey, so long as it works well !

On another visit ~2015, the update:  they finally found a new digitally based control system that was fast enough to finally replace it & did.

   What was the thing doing ?