Iustin Pop: Corydalis v2025.21.0 - new features!
I just released yesterday a new version of Corydalis
(https://demo.corydalis.io,
https://github.com/iustin/corydalis). To me personally, it s a major
improvement, since the native (my own) image viewer finally gets
zooming, panning, gesture handling, etc. This is table-stakes for an
image viewer, but oh well, it took me a long time to implement it,
because of multiple things: lack of time, the JS library I was using
for gestures was pretty old and unmaintained and it caused more
trouble than was helping, etc.
The feature is not perfect, and on the demo site there s already a bug
since all images are smaller than the screen, and this I didn t test
, so double-click to zoom doesn t work: says Already at minimum
zoom , but zooming otherwise (
+/- on the keyboard, mouse wheel,
gesture) works.
End-to-end, the major development for this release was done over
around two weeks, which is pretty short: I extensively used Claude
Sonnet and Grok to unblock myself. Not to write code per se - although
there is code written 1:1 by LLMs, but most of the code is weirdly
wrong, and I have to either correct it or just use it as a starter and
rewrite most of it. But to discuss and unblock, and learn about new
things, the current LLMs are very good at.
And yet, sometimes even what they re good at, fails hard. I asked for
ideas to simplify a piece of code, and it went nowhere, even if there
were significant rewrite possibilities. I spent the brain cycles on
it, reverse engineered my own code, then simplified. I ll have to
write a separate blog post on this
In any case, this (zooming) was the last major feature I was
missing. There are image viewer libraries, but most of them slow,
compared to the bare-bones (well, now not so much anymore) viewer that
I use as main viewer. From now on, it will me minor incremental
features, mostly around Exif management/handling, etc. Or, well,
internal cleanups: extend test coverage, remove use of JQuery in the
frontend, etc., there are tons of things to do.
Fun fact: I managed to discover a Safari iOS bug. Or at least I think
it s a bug, so reported
it and curious
what ll come out of it.
Finally, I still couldn t fix the GitHub actions bug where the git
describe doesn t see the just pushed tag, sigh, so the demo site still
lists Corydalis v2024.12.0-133-g00edf63 as the version .
In this post, I demonstrate the optimal workflow for creating new Debian packages in 2025, preserving the upstream git history. The motivation for this is to lower the barrier for sharing improvements to and from upstream, and to improve software provenance and supply-chain security by making it easy to inspect every change at any level using standard git tooling.
Key elements of this workflow include:
Don t knock the fence down before you know why it s up. I repeat this phrase over and over again, yet the (metaphorical) Homeowner s Association still decides my fence is the wrong color.Well, now you get to know why the fence is up. If anyone s actually willing to challenge me on this level, I d welcome it.The four ideas I d like to discuss are this: quantum physics, Lutheranism, mental resilience, and psychology. I ve been studying these topics intensely for the past decade as a passion project. I m just going to let my thoughts flow, but I d like to hear other opinions on this.Can the mysteries of the mind, the subatomic world, and faith converge to reveal deeper truths?When it comes to self-taught knowledge on analysis, I m mostly learned on Freud, with some hints of Jung and Peterson. I ve read much of the original source material, and watched countless presentations on it. This all being said, I m both learned on Rothbard and Marx, so if there is a major flaw in the way of Freud is frowned upon, I d genuinely like to know so I can update my research and juxtapose the two schools of thought.Alongside this, although probably not directly relevant, I m learned on John Locke and transcendentalism. What I d like to focus on here is this the Id.The Id is the pleasure-seeking, instinctual part of the psyche. Jung further extends this into the idea of the shadow self, and Peterson maps the meanings of these texts into a combined work (at least in my rudimentary understanding).In my research, the Id represents the part of your psyche that deals with religious values. As an example, if you re an impulsive person, turning to a spiritual or religious outlet can be highly beneficial. I ve been using references from the foundational text of the Judaeo-Christian value system this entire time, feel free to re-read my other blog posts (instead of claiming they don t exist).Let s tie this into quantum physics. This is the part where I ll struggle most. I ve watched several movies about this, read several books, and even learned about it academically, but quantum physics is likely to be my weak spot here.I did some research, and here are the elements I m looking for: uncertainty principle, wave-particle duality, quantum entanglement, and the observer effect.I already know about the cat in the box. And the Cat in the Hat, for that matter. I know about wave-particle duality from an incredibly intelligent high school physics teacher of mine. I know about the uncertainty principle purely in a colloquial sense. The remaining element I need to wrap my head around is quantum entanglement, but it feels like I m almost there.These concepts do actually challenge the idea of pure free will. It s almost like we re coming full circle. Some theologians (including myself, if you can call me a self-taught one) do believe the idea of quantum indeterminacy can be a space where divine action may take place. You could also liken the unpredictable nature of the Id to quantum indeterminacy as well. These are ones to think about, because in all reality, they re subjective opinions. I do believe they re interconnected.In terms of Lutheranism, I ll be short on this one. Please do go read the full history behind Martin Luther and his turbulent relationship with Catholicism. I m not a Bible thumper, and I actually think this is the first time I ve mentioned religion publicly at all. This being said, now I m actually ready to defend the points on an academic level.The Id represents hidden psychological forces, quantum physics reveals subatomic mysteries, and Lutheranism emphasizes faith in the unseen God. Okay, so we have the baseline. Now, time for some mental resilience. When I think of mental resilience, the first people I think of are David Goggins and Jocko Willink. I ve also enjoyed Dr. Andrew Huberman s podcast.The idea there is simple if you understand exactly how to learn, you know your fundamentals well enough to draw them and explain them vividly on a whiteboard, and you can make it a habit, at that point you re ready to work on your mental resilience. Little by little, gradually, how far can you push the bar towards the ceiling?There s obviously limits. People sometimes get scared when I mention mental resilience, but obviously that s a bit of a catch 22. There are plenty of satirical videos out there, and of course, I don t believe in Goggins or Jocko wholeheartedly. They re just tools in the toolbox when times get tough.I wish you all well, and I hope this gets you thinking about those people who just insist there is no God or higher being, and think you re stupid for believing there is one. Those people obviously haven t read analysis, in my own opinion.Have a great night!
Like each month, have a look at the work funded by 
Everybody (who runs containers) knows this situation: you've been running 
When I configured 
Dear Debian community,
This is bits from the DPL for April.
End of 10
I am sure I was speaking in the interest of the whole project when
joining the 
It all began from a discussion in #debian-in of not having any BSPs in
the past in India. Then twisted in to hosting a 
I learned
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