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PSSA: A non-transformer language model written from scratch in Rust

89 points · 38 comments · sparticle62

  1. purple-leafy · · focus · HN ↗
    “In Rust” man of all the cliche title baits, I hate this one the most.

    Why did you choose Rust? Why does that matter?

    Nothing wrong with Rust. Lots wrong with the bandwagon that “in Rust” somehow adds value.

    1. anon291 · · focus · HN ↗
      Yeah I read the title and did a double-take. It's an uninteresting choice for systems like these. The more pressing concerns, which go undescribed, are the exact mathematical choices behind the actual model. Rust provides almost zero value here because tensor stuff is all just 2d-arrays of floats for the most part.
      1. sparticle62 · · focus · HN ↗

        [dead]

    2. echelon · · focus · HN ↗
      Counterpoint: I only clicked on it because it said "in Rust".
    3. janalsncm · · focus · HN ↗
      Rust has its place but python is default for this kind of thing. By doing it in rust, they have now changed two things: the implementation of the transformer, and this new model.
    4. IshKebab · · focus · HN ↗
      Rust matters because it means you can actually deploy it without going insane. I wonder if the anti-Rust zealots have actually ever used pip, especially on Windows.

      He could have said "... not written in Python" - would that have been acceptable?

      1. purple-leafy · · focus · HN ↗
        No he could have left out languages entirely. It’s not relevant for actual discussion.

        A non transformer language model written from scratch is more interesting than

        “I did X in Python/Rust/Flavour-of-the-month-thing”

        1. IshKebab · · focus · HN ↗
          I would say the ability to actually use software is kind of relevant to said software. There's definitely software I wanted to use but gave up on because it was just impossible to actually install. Hell I just spent half of today coaxing Claude to fix some Kotlin software so that it worked with the version of Java I have. Let me tell you that would have taken a good few weeks without AI, even if I was unfortunate enough to be an expert in Maven and Gradle. "Written in Rust" would have saved me a huge amount of (pre-AI) time for that software.
      2. skeledrew · · focus · HN ↗
        > actually ever used pip, especially on Windows

        There are a few layers of irony here, but see uv.

        - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;docs.astral.sh&#x2F;uv&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;docs.astral.sh&#x2F;uv&#x2F;

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