Hacker News
1Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs
- Synology reversed its unpopular policy that forced users to buy only Synology-branded hard drives after NAS sales plummeted in 2025. The company faced heavy criticism and customer backlash for the restriction, which made third-party drives from Seagate and WD unusable in newer models.
Internal morale and employee impact
Technical and support staff likely fought against the policy internally but were overruled, damaging morale and potentially causing valuable employees to leave. The reversal may be too late to restore trust among workers who felt ignored despite dedicating years to the company.Hardware limitations and lack of innovation
Synology has stagnated with decade-old hardware, outdated Linux kernels, and removed features like transcoding. Competitors like UGREEN and Ubiquiti offer better specs at lower prices, making the drive restriction just the final push for many to switch platforms.Incomplete reversal and trust issues
The policy reversal only applies to 2.5" SATA SSDs and some Plus series models - 3.5" HDDs remain restricted. Many users view this as "too little, too late" and have permanently switched to alternatives, questioning Synology's long-term trustworthiness.
2Gemini 2.5 Computer Use model
- Google has released the Gemini 2.5 Computer Use model via the Gemini API, enabling developers to build AI agents that can interact with user interfaces by clicking, typing, and scrolling through web pages and mobile apps. The model outperforms competitors on web and mobile control benchmarks with lower latency, and is available now through Google AI Studio and Vertex AI for developers to test and build applications.
Computer use capabilities and limitations
Users tested Gemini 2.5's ability to solve CAPTCHAs, play Wordle, and perform web automation. Results were mixed - it succeeded at some tasks but often got stuck or refused to complete others, showing inconsistent performance across different scenarios.Technical approaches to automation
Discussion of whether using screenshots/visual interfaces is optimal versus structured data approaches like accessibility APIs. Some argued screenshots are more robust for real-world messy applications, while others preferred programmatic interfaces.Future implications and concerns
Conversations about how computer use models could replace vertical agents, enable sophisticated deception in video calls, and potentially transform how applications are designed - from human-friendly UIs to minimal text interfaces optimized for AI consumption.
3Vibe engineering
- The author proposes "vibe engineering" as a term for experienced developers using AI coding tools responsibly, contrasting it with "vibe coding" which is fast but irresponsible AI-generated code. Vibe engineering requires senior-level skills like automated testing, planning, documentation, code review, and managing AI agents effectively to produce production-quality software.
Emotional impact on developers
Many experienced developers express feeling discouraged and demotivated by AI-assisted coding, missing the flow state and craftsmanship of traditional programming. They describe it as becoming managers rather than creators, with some considering career changes due to reduced enjoyment.Productivity and code quality debate
Mixed experiences on whether AI tools actually increase productivity beyond 10%. Some report massive gains in unfamiliar domains, while others find the tools generate subtle bugs requiring extensive review, questioning if speed truly equals better outcomes.Terminology and professional perception
Strong debate over naming conventions, with many rejecting "vibe coding/engineering" as unprofessional. Alternatives proposed include "agentic coding," "agent-assisted development," and "AI-assisted programming" to better reflect serious professional practice.
4Canadian bill would strip internet access from 'specified persons', no warrant
- The Canadian Liberal government is pursuing Bill C-8, which would allow federal ministers to unilaterally cut internet access from "specified persons" without a warrant, requiring only ministerial order with judicial review only after the fact. This contradicts previous Liberal positions defending internet access as a human right and their international commitments to online freedom through the Freedom Online Coalition.
Overreach of government powers
Commenters are concerned about the Canadian government's Bill C-8 allowing it to ban individuals from internet access without due process, compensation, or transparency. Many see this as authoritarian overreach disguised as national security measures.Ineffectiveness against real threats
Discussion centers on how the law would fail to stop genuine bad actors who can easily circumvent restrictions through VPNs, alternate connections, or false identities, while only affecting law-abiding citizens.Internet as essential service
Participants argue that internet access is now fundamental for basic life functions like job applications, government services, and daily transactions, making such bans equivalent to excluding people from society entirely.
5Show HN: Timelinize – Privately organize your own data from everywhere, locally
- A developer has been working on Timelinize for 10+ years during nights and weekends to help people maintain local copies of their personal data instead of relying solely on cloud storage. The project aims to keep exported data from various accounts alive and accessible locally, giving users more control over their information. The developer is seeking collaboration to stabilize the project for broader use.
Comprehensive personal data surveillance and recording
Discussion about wanting total digital life recording including browser tabs, keystrokes, documents, and notes for complete searchable context. Users debate privacy concerns vs self-hosted benefits, with comparisons to Microsoft Recall and existing tools like ActivityWatch.Data storage architecture and privacy concerns
Users discuss self-hosting requirements, end-to-end encryption needs, data deduplication challenges, and storage backend decoupling. Creator emphasizes home hosting model and intentional data duplication for reliability over external storage integration.Real-time data updates and automation
Users frustrated with manual Google Takeout process for updates, seeking automated polling and real-time syncing. Discussion covers companion apps, cron jobs, drop zones, and integration with existing tools like Immich for streamlined data flow.
6We found a bug in Go's ARM64 compiler
- Cloudflare discovered a rare but serious bug in Go's arm64 compiler that caused race conditions and crashes in their network services. The bug manifested as sporadic panics and segmentation faults during stack unwinding operations, particularly affecting garbage collection processes. Through extensive investigation, they traced the issue to Go's asynchronous preemption mechanism interacting poorly with the Go Netlink library, ultimately leading to stack corruption. The scale of Cloudflare's operations made this extremely rare compiler bug visible due to processing 84 million HTTP requests per second across 330 cities.
Technical debugging details
Commenters discuss ARM assembly optimization alternatives, immediate value encoding methods, and whether the assembler should handle large immediate adds to RSP as special cases. Debate over atomic stack pointer adjustments and compiler vs assembler fixes.Cloudflare's infrastructure and technology choices
Discussion about Cloudflare's use of ARM64 machines (likely Ampere Altra) alongside AMD EPYC servers, their gradual ARM deployment for edge computing efficiency, and surprise that they use Go instead of being "100% Rust."The nature of debugging complex issues
Debate over whether such deep compiler bugs are "fun" to debug, with some finding satisfaction in esoteric problems while others describe the frustration of race conditions and doubting fundamental tools before suspecting compiler issues.
7IKEA Catalogs 1951-2021
- For over 70 years, IKEA produced catalogues that reflected changing times and interior design trends, from the 1950s when founder Ingvar Kamprad wrote the texts himself through various decades showing evolving home styles. The 2021 catalogue was the last printed version, and IKEA Museum has digitized all Swedish catalogues to preserve this history and make it accessible to everyone, serving as a time capsule of home furnishing evolution.
Nostalgia for physical IKEA catalogs
Users express strong desire for the return of printed IKEA catalogs, viewing them as cultural artifacts and design inspiration. Many would pay for physical copies despite digital availability, citing the unique browsing experience and nostalgic value of flipping through pages.IKEA's website usability issues
Discussion centers on IKEA's deliberately poor website design that hides product information and makes online shopping difficult. Users speculate this drives customers to physical stores where they spend more, reflecting IKEA's change-averse culture and preference for in-person sales.Design evolution and timelessness
Comments explore how IKEA designs from decades ago still look modern today, though many are knockoffs of classic pieces. Users note the shift from colorful, soulful furniture in earlier catalogs to today's bland white minimalism requiring additional decorative elements.
8One-man campaign ravages EU 'Chat Control' bill
- The content only contains a link to fightchatcontrol.eu with no accompanying text or description to summarize.
Democracy and dialogue
Users argue that mass emails to politicians constitute legitimate democratic dialogue, criticizing MEP Lena Düpont's dismissal of citizen outreach as "not a dialog." They contend politicians only want input from lobbyists while ordinary citizens should "shut up and take it."Media bias and framing
Discussion centers on Politico's headline calling it a "spam campaign" despite the article accurately describing it as citizens contacting representatives. Users note Politico is owned by Axel Springer and criticize the negative framing of legitimate political organizing.Privacy and surveillance concerns
Users express frustration that the Chat Control bill won't actually stop CSAM since criminals will use additional encryption, while the legislation threatens privacy. They argue any surveillance powers will inevitably be abused once available.
9Doing Rails Wrong
- A conversation between Kevin and John about web development tools illustrates the complexity of modern JavaScript toolchains. Kevin enthusiastically describes setting up Vite, React, TypeScript, and numerous other tools for a Rails app, while John demonstrates that vanilla Rails works perfectly fine with a simple setup, highlighting how over-engineering can complicate development unnecessarily.
Complexity debate
Users disagree whether modern web development complexity is inherent or artificial. Some argue tools solve real problems and are necessary for "modern" apps, while others contend complexity is self-imposed and vanilla Rails suffices for most projects.Rails tooling evolution
Discussion of Rails' frequent changes to frontend approaches (bundler→webpacker→importmaps, Prototype→Hotwire) creating upgrade challenges. Many prefer Inertia.js + React over Rails' native Stimulus/Hotwire due to better documentation and ecosystem.Team size and architecture
Debate over when frontend/backend separation is justified. Consensus that projects under 30 developers don't need the complexity, with many advocating for monoliths + minimal tooling over SPAs for most CRUD applications.
10Seeing like a software company
- James C. Scott's "Seeing Like A State" explains how modern organizations prioritize "legibility" - making work measurable and trackable - over efficiency. While legible processes slow down software development, tech companies accept this trade-off because legibility enables enterprise deals, long-term planning, and organizational control that are more valuable than pure coding efficiency.
Legibility vs illegible backchannels
Discussion centers on the tension between formal, "legible" processes that executives can track versus informal backchannels that actually get work done. Commenters debate whether CEO oversight is necessary or harmful, with examples of micro-management and the need for engineers to work around bureaucratic obstacles.Testing and software quality challenges
Focus on limitations of formal testing approaches like TDD and unit tests, which may miss qualitative bugs. Discussion includes the "streetlight effect" where easy-to-test features get attention over important but hard-to-measure aspects, and the value of dogfooding in game development.Organizational scaling and communication
Exploration of how corporate dynamics mirror geopolitics and interpersonal relationships. Commenters discuss the exponential growth of communication overhead as companies scale, the need for formal processes beyond Dunbar's number, and how organizational structure affects efficiency.