David Heinemeier...
Pay yourself first
There'll always be more emails in need of reply, more meetings to attend, and more updates to read....
4th Oct 2025
There'll always be more emails in need of reply, more meetings to attend, and more updates to read. A person can fill the entire workweek with these tasks over and over again. But to stay sane and sharp, you must pay yourself first by doing the work that actually means something...
David Heinemeier...
Thrice charmed at Rails World
The first Rails World in Amsterdam was a roaring success back in 2023. Tickets sold out in 45...
6th Sep 2025
The first Rails World in Amsterdam was a roaring success back in 2023. Tickets sold out in 45 minutes, the atmosphere was electric, and The Rails Foundation set a new standard for conference execution in the Ruby community.
So when we decided to return to the Dutch Capital for...
David Heinemeier...
Omarchy is on the move
Omarchy has been improving at a furious pace. Since it was first released on June 26, I've pushed...
5th Aug 2025
Omarchy has been improving at a furious pace. Since it was first released on June 26, I've pushed out 18(!) new releases together with a rapidly growing community of collaborators, users, and new-to-Linux enthusiasts. We have about 3,500 early adopters on the Omarchy Discord, 250...
David Heinemeier...
Get in losers, we're moving to Linux!
I've never seen so many developers curious about leaving the Mac and giving Linux a go. Something...
3rd Jul 2025
I've never seen so many developers curious about leaving the Mac and giving Linux a go. Something has really changed in the last few years. Maybe Linux just got better? Maybe powerful mini PCs made it easier? Maybe Apple just fumbled their relationship with developers one too...
David Heinemeier...
Omarchy: Bottling that inspiration before it spoils
Over the years, I've learned not to question inspiration. To simply let it drive when it shows up...
2nd Jun 2025
Over the years, I've learned not to question inspiration. To simply let it drive when it shows up with a full tank. Quite often, I don't exactly know where we're going or even why we're going, but it's repeatedly taken me to just the right place at just the right time, so now I...
David Heinemeier...
Coding should be a vibe!
The appeal of "vibe coding" — where programmers lean back and prompt their way through an entire...
13th May 2025
The appeal of "vibe coding" — where programmers lean back and prompt their way through an entire project with AI — appears partly to be based on the fact that so many development environments are deeply unpleasant to work with.
So it's no wonder that all these programmers stuck...
David Heinemeier...
Universal Basic Dead End
While the world frets about the future of AI, the universal basic income advocates have an answer...
7th Apr 2025
While the world frets about the future of AI, the universal basic income advocates have an answer ready for the big question of "what are we all going to do when the jobs are gone": Just pay everyone enough to loaf around as they see fit! Problem solved, right?
Wrong. The...
David Heinemeier...
Human service is luxury
Maybe one day AI will answer every customer question flawlessly, but we're nowhere near that reality...
3rd Mar 2025
Maybe one day AI will answer every customer question flawlessly, but we're nowhere near that reality right now. I can't tell you how often I've been stuck in some god-forsaken AI loop or phone tree WHEN ALL I WANT IS A HUMAN. So I end up either just yelling "operator",...
David Heinemeier...
Servers can last a long time
We bought sixty-one servers for the launch of Basecamp 3 back in 2015. Dell R430s and R630s, packing...
7th Feb 2025
We bought sixty-one servers for the launch of Basecamp 3 back in 2015. Dell R430s and R630s, packing thousands of cores and terabytes of RAM. Enough to fill all the app, job, cache, and database duties we needed. The entire outlay for this fleet was about half a million dollars,...
David Heinemeier...
Delusional dreams of excess freedom
Jim Carey once said that he hoped everyone could "...get rich and famous and do everything they...
6th Jan 2025
Jim Carey once said that he hoped everyone could "...get rich and famous and do everything they dreamed of so they can see that it is not the answer". And while I sorta agree, I think the opposite position also has its appeal: That believing in a material fix to the problem of...
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