mame

quine-relay

Ruby2013–2026

mame / quine-relay

quine-relay

An uroboros program with 100+ programming languages

Languages & Compilers

Explore on GitHub Read Hacker News discussions

93Distinct people

99Mentions

1Explicit recommenders

14.6KGitHub stars

REPOSITORY AT A GLANCE

What to know before exploring

What it is

An uroboros program with 100+ programming languages

GitHub

Where it is used

No documented product use was verified in the last source check.

What people are saying

I love his sense of humor too: https://github.com/mame/quine-relay/issues/10

minikomi used a recommendation phrase. One indexed comment matches. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.

No classified warning is attached to this page. Read the discussions before treating silence as approval.

Also in these discussions

mame/radiation-hardened-quine · linked in 2 of the same discussions

Mentioned in the same Hacker News threads. That is not proof they are substitutes.

This week on Hacker News

Nov 8–Nov 15 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/15/2026, 10:01:16 PM UTC.

No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.

Mentions over time

HN mentions by year99 dated mentions

Observed mentions: 2013-07-15 14:59:43 UTC to 2026-08-07 10:01:08 UTC.

* An incomplete calendar period is marked with an outlined bar. Its count is not directly comparable with a full period.

Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.

View mention counts and date ranges

UTC ranges include their start and exclude their end. Select a period to filter the source evidence.
Period	Start (UTC)	End (exclusive, UTC)	Mentions	Submissions	Comments
2013	2013-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	20	3	17
2014	2014-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2	1	1
2015	2015-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	7	4	3
2016	2016-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	15	5	10
2017	2017-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	7	2	5
2018	2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	4	2	2
2019	2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	5	2	3
2020	2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	9	2	7
2021	2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	3	0	3
2022	2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	14	5	9
2023	2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	4	1	3
2024	2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	3	1	2
2025	2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	1	1	0
2026 (partial)	2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC	5	2	3

From the project README

An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 13, 2026.

Read the project’s introduction

Quine Relay What this is QR.rb is a Ruby program that generates a Rust program that generates a Scala program that generates ...(through 128 languages in total)... a REXX program that generates the original Ruby code again. (If you want to see the old 50-language version, see the 50 branch.) Usage Ubuntu If you are using Ubuntu 26.04 (Resolute Raccoon), you can follow these steps. 1. Install all the interpreters/compilers. First, you need to type the following apt-get command to install them all. $ sudo apt-get install afnix algol68g aspectj asymptote ats2-lang bash \ bc bsh clisp clojure cmake coffeescript crystal dc dhall \ dotnet-sdk-10.0 elixir emacs-nox erlang execline f2c fennel fish flex \ fp-compiler g++ gambas3-gb-pcre gambas3-scripter gap gawk gcc gdb gdc \ genius gforth gfortran ghc ghostscript gm2 gnat gnucobol4 gnuplot \ gobjc golang gpt groovy guile-3.0 gzip haxe icont iconx intercal \ iverilog jasmin-sable jq kotlin ksh libevent-dev libpolyml-dev \ livescript llvm lua5.3 m4 make minizinc mono-devel nasm neko nickle \ nim node-typescript nodejs ocaml octave openjdk-25-jdk pari-gp \ parser3-cgi perl php-cli pike8.0 polyml python3 r-base rakudo ratfor \ rc regina-rexx ruby ruby-mustache rustc scala scilab-cli sed slsh spin \ squirrel3 surgescript swi-prolog swiftlang tcl tcsh valac vim wabt \ xsltproc yabasic yorick zoem zsh Then, build the bundled interpreters. $ sudo apt-get install cmake libpng-dev libgd-dev libfl-dev groff bison curl $ make -C vendor 2. Run each program on each interpreter/compiler. $ ulimit -s unlimited $ ruby QR.rb > QR.rs $ rustc QR.rs && ./QR > QR.scala $ scalac QR.scala && scala QR > QR.scm $ guile QR.scm > QR.sci $ scilab-cli -nb -f QR.sci > QR.sed $ sed -E -f QR.sed QR.sed > QR.spl $ spl2c < QR.spl > QR.spl.c && gcc -z muldefs -o QR -I ./vendor/local/include -L ./vendor/local/lib QR.spl.c -lspl -lm && ./QR > QR.sl $ slsh QR.sl > QR.nut $ squirrel QR.nut > QR.sml $ polyc -o QR QR.sml && ./QR > QR.sq $ ruby vendor/subleq.rb QR.sq > QR.ss $ surgescript QR.ss > QR.swift $ swiftc QR.swift && ./QR > QR.tcl $ tclsh QR.tcl > QR.tcsh $ tcsh QR.tcsh > QR.t $ ruby vendor/thue.rb QR.t > QR.ts $ tsc --outFile QR.ts.js QR.ts && nodejs QR.ts.js > QR.unl $ ruby vendor/unlambda.rb QR.unl > QR.vala $ valac QR.vala && ./QR > QR.mid $ mono vendor/local/bin/Vlt.exe /s QR.mid && mono QR.exe > QR.v $ iverilog -o QR QR.v && ./QR -vcd-none > QR.vim $ vim -EsS QR.vim > QR.vb $ echo '<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk"><PropertyGroup><OutputType>Exe</OutputType><TargetFramework>net10.0</TargetFramework><EnableDefaultCompileItems>false</EnableDefaultCompileItems></PropertyGroup><ItemGroup><Compile Include="QR.vb" /></ItemGroup></Project>' > tmp.vbproj && DOTNET_NOLOGO=1 dotnet run --project tmp.vbproj > QR.wasm $ $(WASI_RUNTIME) QR.wasm > QR.wat $ wat2wasm QR.wat -o QR.wat.wasm && $(WASI_RUNTIME) QR.wat.wasm > QR.ws $ ruby vendor/whitespace.rb QR.ws > QR.xslt $ xsltproc QR.xslt > QR.yab $ yabasic QR.yab > QR.yorick $ yorick -batch QR.yorick > QR.azm $ zoem -i QR.azm > QR.zsh $ zsh QR.zsh > qr.adb $ gnatmake qr.adb && ./qr > QR.als $ LANG=C LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/lib/afnix axi QR.als > QR.aheui $ ruby vendor/aheui.rb QR.aheui > QR.a68 $ a68g QR.a68 > QR.ante $ ruby vendor/ante.rb QR.ante > QR.aj $ ajc QR.aj && java QR > QR.asy $ asy QR.asy > QR.dats $ patscc -o QR QR.dats && ./QR > QR.awk $ awk -f QR.awk > QR.bash $ bash QR.bash > QR.bc $ BC_LINE_LENGTH=4000000 bc -q QR.bc > QR.bsh $ bsh QR.bsh > QR.bef $ cfunge QR.bef > QR.Blc $ ruby vendor/blc.rb < QR.Blc > QR.bf $ ruby vendor/bf.rb QR.bf > QR.c $ gcc -o QR QR.c && ./QR > QR.cpp $ g++ -o QR QR.cpp && ./QR > QR.cs $ echo '<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk"><PropertyGroup><OutputType>Exe</OutputType><TargetFramework>net10.0</TargetFramework><EnableDefaultCompileItems>false</EnableDefaultCompileItems></PropertyGroup><ItemGroup><Compile Include="QR.cs" /></ItemGroup></Project>' > tmp.csproj && DOTNET_NOLOGO=1 dotnet run --project tmp.csproj > QR.chef $ PERL5LIB=vendor/local/lib/perl5 compilechef QR.chef QR.chef.pl && perl QR.chef.pl > QR.clj $ clojure QR.clj > QR.cmake $ cmake -P QR.cmake > QR.cob $ cobc -O2 -x QR.cob && ./QR > QR.coffee $ coffee --nodejs --stack_size=100000 QR.coffee > QR.lisp $ clisp QR.lisp > QR.cr $ crystal QR.cr > QR.d $ gdc -o QR QR.d && ./QR > QR.dc $ dc QR.dc > QR.dhall || true $ dhall text --file QR.dhall > QR.exs $ elixir QR.exs > QR.el $ emacs -Q --script QR.el > QR.erl $ escript QR.erl > QR.e $ execlineb QR.e > QR.fsx $ echo '<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk"><PropertyGroup><OutputType>Exe</OutputType><TargetFramework>net10.0</TargetFramework><EnableDefaultCompileItems>false</EnableDefaultCompileItems></PropertyGroup><ItemGroup><Compile Include="QR.fsx" /></ItemGroup></Project>' > tmp.fsproj && DOTNET_NOLOGO=1 dotnet run --project tmp.fsproj > QR.false $ ruby vendor/false.rb QR.false > QR.fnl $ fennel QR.fnl > QR.fl $ flex -o QR.fl.c QR.fl && gcc -o QR QR.fl.c && ./QR > QR.fish $ fish QR.fish > QR.fs $ gforth QR.fs > QR.f $ gfortran -o QR QR.f && ./QR > QR.f90 $ gfortran -o QR QR.f90 && ./QR > QR.gbs $ gbs3 QR.gbs > QR.g $ gap -q QR.g > QR.gdb $ gdb -q -x QR.gdb > QR.gel $ genius QR.gel > QR.plt $ gnuplot QR.plt > QR.go $ go run QR.go > QR.gs $ ruby vendor/golfscript.rb QR.gs > QR.gpt $ mv QR.c QR.c.bak && gpt -t QR.c QR.gpt && gcc -o QR QR.c && ./QR > QR.grass && mv QR.c.bak QR.c $ ruby vendor/grass.rb QR.grass > QR.groovy $ groovy QR.groovy > QR.gz $ gzip -cd QR.gz > QR.hs $ rm -f QR.o && ghc QR.hs && ./QR > QR.hx $ haxe -main QR -neko QR.n && neko QR.n > QR.icn $ icont -s QR.icn && ./QR > QR.i $ ick -bfOc QR.i && gcc -std=c99 -static QR.c -I /usr/include/ick-* -o QR -lick && ./QR > QR.j $ jasmin QR.j && java QR > QR.java $ javac QR.java && java QR > QR.js $ nodejs QR.js > QR.jq $ jq -r -n -f QR.jq > QR.jsfuck $ nodejs --stack_size=100000 QR.jsfuck > QR.kt $ kotlinc QR.kt -include-runtime -d QR.jar && kotlin QR.jar > QR.ksh $ ksh QR.ksh > QR.lazy $ lazyk QR.lazy >

Read the full README on GitHub

What Hacker News says

20 sources

chewxy·Dec 3, 2013

A quine perhaps? (Perhaps Endoh's crazy quine? https://github.com/mame/quine-relay)

In The Language-Language Matrix

jgeorge·Nov 6, 2013

Posted here before I'm sure, but no discussion of this topic is complete without a link to https://github.com/mame/quine-relay

In The Quine Page (self-reproducing code)

minikomi·Jul 17, 2013Recommendation phrase

I love his sense of humor too: https://github.com/mame/quine-relay/issues/10

In Quine Relay

isomorph·Jul 16, 2013

Welcome to social coding: https://github.com/mame/quine-relay/issues

In Quine Relay

chalst·Jul 16, 2013

Fixed: https://github.com/mame/quine-relay/commit/b9322a12e9598911f... The hashes are automatically generated, it turns out.

In Quine Relay

codeulike·Jul 16, 2013

NB: I originally posted this with the link pointing to the QR.rb file, which is the main code file and also a piece of Ascii art. Looks like the mods switched the link back to the main project to provide more context. But to have people looking at QR.rb first and then reading about what it does afterwards was the idea. Amazing piece of work by @hirekoke. https://github.com/mame/quine-relay/blob/master/QR.rb

In Quine Relay

SilasX·Jul 16, 2013

Woot! Pascal issue fixed in a later commit: https://github.com/mame/quine-relay/commit/5d8c1e61a5012b9b5... (Replying to self because I can't further edit that comment.)

In Quine Relay

akkyakimoto·Jul 16, 2013Submission

Quine relay in 50 programming languages

1 points · Open discussion

barbs·Jul 16, 2013

Wow, even the source code of the original file is arranged to look like the Star of David surrounded by the dragon-eel thing, Obfuscated-C-contest style: https://github.com/mame/quine-relay/blob/master/QR.rb

In Quine Relay

jcromartie·Jul 16, 2013

The code that generates the quine is included. There's still lots of super impressive stuff here, but don't be intimidated thinking he wrote that monster by hand! https://github.com/mame/quine-relay/blob/master/src/code-gen...

In Quine Relay

NanoWar·Jul 16, 2013

The miracle happens here: https://github.com/mame/quine-relay/blob/master/src/code-gen... Also the SVG to ASCII mapping is cool!

In Quine Relay

SilasX·Jul 16, 2013

Working on it now. I started a repo where I document the things I had to do to get it to work, i.e. where I had to do something other than what was in Mame's README: https://github.com/SilasX/QuineRelayFiles The intermediate source files I've been able to generate so far are in /output_files: https://github.com/SilasX/QuineRelayFiles/tree/master/output... Edit: Direct link to the go file: https://github.com/SilasX/QuineRelayFiles/blob/master/output... Edit2: I ended up copying so much of what was already there that I re-did this as a fork, adding my contributions in two directories (installation and intermediate): https://github.com/SilasX/quine-relay So far I'm stuck at an issue with the Pascal compiler not accepting long strings, which can be fixed either with a compiler switch or by editing the source earlier in the relay. https://git

Read the rest

hub.com/mame/quine-relay/issues/3

In Quine Relay

shawnz·Jul 15, 2013

If you look at the ruby source file[1], you'll see that the first thing it does is take all of its source and put it in a variable $s. Then it evaluates the source code in that variable, with that source having access to itself as a string. All of the intermediate representations could easily contain this string in its entirety (and they likely do). Hopefully you can see now how it's not so impossible (but still ridiculously awesome!) [1] https://github.com/mame/quine-relay/blob/master/QR.rb

In Quine Relay

recuter·Jul 15, 2013

https://github.com/mame/quine-relay/blob/master/src/code-gen... This is a neat project but somehow the implementation is a lot less mind bending than the definition. Which is rather the opposite of what I experienced when I first heard of a Quine and figured out how to write one (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quine_(computing), Turbo Pascal in my case, heh). This smacks of something else, perhaps art.

In Quine Relay

polemic·Jul 15, 2013

And: https://github.com/mame/quine-relay/blob/master/QR.rb This project isn't code, it's art. Edit: Heh, Brainfuck, Whitespace, Logo... and notice they're all in alphabetical order?

In Quine Relay

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