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A developer has published a project implementing a Minsky register machine using only ncurses terminfo terminal capability definitions, demonstrating that the obscure format for describing terminal behaviour is powerful enough to express computation. The work, described on seriot.ch, is drawing attention for its inventiveness and as a playful example of turning an unexpected file format into a programming environment.
- 2Hidden Fibonacci computation found inside macOS top command▼A parasitic Fibonacci computation inside /usr/bin/top https://seriot.ch/computation/terminfo/ # HackerNews # Tech # Prog
Security researcher Nicolas Seriot documents how /usr/bin/top, the macOS system monitor, ends up performing an unnecessary Fibonacci-style recursive computation through terminal capability string parsing, meaning the utility wastes CPU cycles every time it runs. The write-up walks through the terminfo parsing chain that triggers the hidden workload. Developers are sharing the finding as a striking example of obscure, parasitic computation lurking in everyday Unix tools.
- 3Hidden Fibonacci computation found inside /usr/bin/top●A parasitic Fibonacci computation inside /usr/bin/top
A researcher at seriot.ch has documented how a terminfo configuration can force /usr/bin/top, the standard Unix process monitor, to carry out a parasitic Fibonacci computation as a hidden side effect. The write-up explains the mechanism and its performance implications, and it is drawing attention from developers surprised that a routine terminal database entry can trigger unexpected CPU work inside a core system utility.