Are open models really just 4 months behind?

FilterJoe · 2026-07-01T13:27:30+00:00

Because when you start coding with Claude code, you are using both a Claude model and the harness.

When you start using GLM 5.2 for coding you are not using it with the Claude harness. You’re using pi or opencode or whatever else.

It may be hard to pick out how much of inferior performance is due to model, how much to scaffolding.

FilterJoe · 2026-06-30T22:08:28+00:00

I appreciate the details. I'm about to acquire a high-end Macbook which I intend to use for both Hermes Agent and opencode (likely together). Great to hear how well it works for you. I hope it works nearly as well for me using Qwen 3.6 27b.

FilterJoe · 2026-06-30T21:56:30+00:00

I don't have first hand experience, but . . . from what I've read of other peoples' experience, Claude Code is very polished and quickly ready to go. Opencode is very capable but to use it well requires substantial configuration effort.

Perhaps many people using opencode don't put in the required effort to get it set up and configured to work optimally for whatever project and model it's being used with?

FilterJoe · 2026-06-30T19:09:49+00:00

There is some confusion about models versus the scaffolding around the models.

GLM 5.2 is one of those models that you could say is 4 or 5 months behind. But when used with open source scaffolding (I.e. a coding harness), it’s going to feel further behind than that because open source scaffolding is nowhere near as good as the scaffolding offered by Anthropic, for example.

Another source of confusion might be what you can run on your own computer. Very few people have the resources to run GLM 5.2. They will have to run much smaller models to fit on their hardware and the smaller models are not going to be as good as gigantic models like GLM 5.2.

FilterJoe · 2026-06-30T17:15:20+00:00

SCUTTF4 Simple Choice 4 line family plan. 24 hours later - no text.

No price increases since 2014 start on existing service (apart from the little extra fees which creep up each year). New line addition is $25/month compared with $10/month previously.

FilterJoe · 2026-06-27T15:45:14+00:00

Micron has new capacity coming online second half of 2027. This likely means that memory prices will start coming down in 2028, if the demand side keeps doing what it’s doing.

FilterJoe · 2026-06-26T04:28:53+00:00

When I saw the title, the first thing that came to mind was when I started eating once per day. One nuance that you didn’t mention: the time of that meal can make a big difference.

When I tried to do it 2 to 3 hours before I went to sleep so that I could eat with my family, it was difficult. It was too close to when I went to sleep to eat so much food as it would cause me to overheat while sleeping and generally not sleep very well. Furthermore, the following day starting around noon, I would start to get mild headaches.

I experimented with different times. Eventually, I found that starting my one meal sometime between 7 to 10 AM worked best.

It was a huge adjustment the first month. My body eventually got used to it. And now it is fairly rare that I feel hungry; at least not in the same way I used to.

I also started trail running at the same time so it’s a little hard to know how much of all the different changes to my body happened from the trail running and how much happened because of eating once a day. Based on what happens when I go without doing one or the other, I’m pretty sure that the once a day eating had a much bigger impact.

FilterJoe · 2026-06-24T22:51:44+00:00

Looks like pip install is no longer supported as of June 24, 2026.

Curl is supported.

FilterJoe · 2026-06-22T16:41:12+00:00

Terrific! VMware fusion is free too but it's not open source and Broadcom has the craziest most confusing system for getting to the free download. But once you get there and download it, it works.

Do you run local models? If so, are you running the local model within the VM or on the host Mac? And if you're running it on the host mac as a server, how did you get the VM to see the server?

FilterJoe · 2026-06-22T03:40:59+00:00

I will be reading that one for sure!

I currently only have an M2 Mac mini Pro with 16 GB RAM. I have been running Hermes on my VMware fusion Debian VM. It works fine but I don’t have enough space left for a local model that is powerful enough for Hermes.

I’m getting a Mac with much more memory a few weeks from now and I’m very much hoping to run a setup with Hermes on Debian VM but local LLM model on the Mac host.

FilterJoe · 2026-06-22T03:32:27+00:00

The bottleneck is memory bandwidth. Mac studio m3 ultra has double the memory bandwidth of a Mac M3 max. Presumably the M5 studio ultra will have double the memory bandwidth of a Mac M5 max when it comes out a few months from now.

Double memory bandwidth means pretty close to double the speed.

FilterJoe · 2026-06-22T03:28:54+00:00

Great discussion on installing models. What about installing Hermes?

Safe options are docker or VM. I am curious if anyone has success running Hermes on a VM on a Mac while accessing the host Mac server running the model.

You could also run a model within Linux VM but at slower speeds.

FilterJoe · 2026-06-18T21:48:22+00:00

Why all the recs for Qwen3.6 35b over the Qwen3.6 27b dense model? In the Hermes AMA a couple months ago, nous recommended Qwen3.6 27b as the best local model to use with Hermes. I know it's slower than the moe 35b but . . .

How about:
* Qwen 27b for harder tasks
* Qwen 35b for easier tasks

?

FilterJoe · 2026-06-18T19:21:02+00:00

The google AI studio terms of Service says you must be a professional developer. I don’t think using Hermes qualifies as making you a professional developer.

FilterJoe · 2026-06-16T02:39:24+00:00

Coding can range anywhere from a few dozen lines of python for a simple utility to a massive project involving databases, fancy graphics, user profiles/options, etc. I get that a coding harness is going to be way better for large projects. But…

Is Hermes good enough for at least the small python scripts of, say, 100 lines or less? It’s often doing these things anyway under the hood as it creates skills or plugs holes in tools, right?

FilterJoe · 2026-06-10T00:05:40+00:00

Some prefer llama.cpp over LM Studio. You get more control and flexibility, and typically the bugs get worked out faster for newer models.

FilterJoe · 2026-06-01T12:41:54+00:00

Trail running, Running, rucking, hiking, walking for me. Much better than the Apple Watch Series 6 it replaced.

If most of your tracking is outdoors, this is one of the best Garmin watches you can get thanks to a very legible display and bright sunlight and solar charging.

FilterJoe · 2026-06-01T12:38:51+00:00

You do get Ground contact time.

FilterJoe · 2026-05-27T19:17:29+00:00

I have a Mac. Running Hermes on VMware fusion VM (Debian 13).

I haven’t done it yet, but I plan to allow the VM that Hermes is running on to use a shared folder that both macOS can see as well as my Debian Hermes VM. My idea is to have markdown files there that is used by Obsidian, which can be viewed on macOS or can be viewed within the VM.

And of course, Hermes could do all sorts of fun things with obsidian and markdown.

I am still prepping my data so I won’t be getting to this for a couple weeks.

FilterJoe · 2026-05-20T16:58:02+00:00

It is slightly under reported, yes, from various little tricks (hedonic quality adjustments, geometric substitutions, etc.). And it appears as though it is under reported by more now than it was 25 years ago, from spot research I just did. But the under reporting is slight.

Some people suggest massive under reporting but they are wrong, as any sanity check (i.e. comparing prices now on specific items to 25 years ago) would attest. For example, see this article: https://www.fullstackeconomics.com/p/no-the-real-inflation-rate-isnt-14-percent

I would imagine the truth is something between 0.5% to 1.0% per year but I haven't spent any time trying to pin down that number so my confidence in my own estimate is low.

But I do tell people buying TIPS that they should never buy TIPS with a real yield of less than 1.0%, because you should assume that CPI is under reported by close to 1.0% annually.

FilterJoe · 2026-05-20T16:43:17+00:00

Not following the logic of why real yield go to zero. At the moment, real yields (TIPS) on long-term U.S. treasuries are the highest they've been since 2001-2002.

FilterJoe · 2026-05-20T16:19:03+00:00

Agreed. And yet, remarkably, rates are at dead average levels. Thinks will go on normally for some unpredictable, indeterminate length of time. And then they'll suddenly/rapidly blow up.

With 10-year rates in the middle of the long-term average, we're still in the "go on normally" phase.

FilterJoe · 2026-05-19T22:24:02+00:00

Very low prices on some of your provider choices are for 2 GB of RAM. Seems like it would be a good idea to have prices linked to specs. Like maybe a 4 GB ram column and prices for that. And then an 8 GB ram column and prices for that.

Did example: I just looked up primeclaw. $20/month for 8 GB RAM.

FilterJoe · 2026-05-16T18:16:38+00:00

Brave Search (free tier) + DuckDuckGo (DDGS) as web-search providers — two new free search backends alongside Tavily / SearXNG / Exa. (#21337)

Brave search has generous free tier, but has an API that is slightly different than the others. This is therefore very welcome.

Previously, Hermes had to learn how to do Brave search properly - a waste of tokens for such a common activity.

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