Im trying to find a post in HN about some OS developer in the 80s coding by hand
Hi, as the title says, I tried everything, checking my bookmarks and chatgpt but cannot find a post about someone telling the story of some engineer using pencil and paper for a month or so and then typing the code in one go and it worked flawlessly.
He was writing some niche OS system and the blog was a collection of posts about that system.
I also remember from the discussion thread that the developer had passed away.
Was it the Story of Mel?
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32395589
He also passed away relatively recently.
https://melsloop.com/docs/the-story-of-mel/pages/mel-kaye-cv
This looks pretty close to your description: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39342143
Oh that surely must be it! Even if it isn't though, that is a neat little anecdote and I'm glad I've had the chance to read it - I hadn't seen it before.
I couldn't find the exact post, but it might be related to the story of Terry Davis, the creator of TempleOS. He was known for his unique approach to coding and his dedication to his project. Unfortunately, Terry Davis passed away in 2018.
https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...
It can also be Mel
https://hn.algolia.com/?q=mel
Unfortunetaly is not any of them. Title was not very descriptive, a keen of "My friend Andre", but didnt find anything with those so maybe I misremember the name.
Have you tried using Hacker News Search?
https://hn.algolia.com
No luck as I dont have a keyword in mind of the title. I remember in the blogpost that in the very end he had to fix 1-2 typos and everything worked correctly.
The blog (in old school design) had a lot of posts and pictures of that era and the people involved building that OS.
I hope @dang remembers? :)