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David Heinemeier Hansson

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David Heinemeier...
Open source is neither a community nor a democracy Using open source software does not entitle you to a vote on the direction of the project. The gift...
10 months ago
92

Open source is neither a community nor a democracy

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

10 months ago
Using open source software does not entitle you to a vote on the direction of the project. The gift you've received is the software itself and the freedom of use granted by the license. That's it, and this ought to be straight forward, but I repeatedly see that it is not (no...
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David Heinemeier...
The open source gift exchange I love writing and sharing code as open source, but it's not an abstract act of pure altruism. The...
a year ago
92

The open source gift exchange

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
I love writing and sharing code as open source, but it's not an abstract act of pure altruism. The first recipients of these programming gifts are almost always myself and my company. It's an intentionally selfish drive first, then a broader benefit second. But, ironically, this...
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David Heinemeier...
System tests have failed When we introduced a default setup for system tests in Rails 5.1 back in 2016, I had high hopes. In...
10 months ago
87

System tests have failed

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

10 months ago
When we introduced a default setup for system tests in Rails 5.1 back in 2016, I had high hopes. In theory, system tests, which drive a headless browser through your actual interface, offer greater confidence that the entire machine is working as it ought. And because it runs in...
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David Heinemeier...
Introducing Omakub Linux can look and feel so good, but it often doesn't out of the box. It's almost like there's a...
10 months ago
81

Introducing Omakub

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

10 months ago
Linux can look and feel so good, but it often doesn't out of the box. It's almost like there's a rite of passage in certain parts of the community where becoming an expert in the intricacies of every tool and its theming is required to prove you're a proper nerd. I think that's a...
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David Heinemeier...
You can't get faster than No Build For the first time since the 2000s, I'm working on a new Rails application without using any form of...
a year ago
80

You can't get faster than No Build

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
For the first time since the 2000s, I'm working on a new Rails application without using any form of real build steps on the front-end. We're making it using vanilla ES6 with import maps for Hotwire, and vanilla CSS with nesting and variables for styling. All running on a...
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David Heinemeier...
Hating Apple goes mainstream This isn't just about one awful ad. I mean, yes, the ad truly is awful. It symbolizes everything...
11 months ago
79

Hating Apple goes mainstream

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

11 months ago
This isn't just about one awful ad. I mean, yes, the ad truly is awful. It symbolizes everything everyone has ever hated about digitization. It celebrates a lossy, creative compression for the most flimsy reason: An iPad shedding an irrelevant millimeter or two. It's destruction...
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David Heinemeier...
I could have been happy with Windows After more than twenty years on the mac, it was always going to be difficult for me to leave Apple....
11 months ago
77

I could have been happy with Windows

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

11 months ago
After more than twenty years on the mac, it was always going to be difficult for me to leave Apple. I've simply not been in the market for another computing platform in decades. Sure, I've dabbled a bit here and there, but never with true commitment. It wasn't until Cupertino...
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David Heinemeier...
What is HiFi I grew up in a home where music was always playing. My father repaired electronics, so an endless...
a year ago
74

What is HiFi

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
I grew up in a home where music was always playing. My father repaired electronics, so an endless stream of speakers, amplifiers, turntables, and TVs passed through the household. And all of it had to be tested, of course. At max volume. Sometimes at odd hours. While that was...
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David Heinemeier...
Visions of the future Nothing gets me quite as fired up as discovering the future early and undistributed. That feeling of...
9 months ago
74

Visions of the future

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

9 months ago
Nothing gets me quite as fired up as discovering the future early and undistributed. That feeling of realizing that something is simply better, and the only reason it hasn't taken off yet is because the world hasn't realized it. It's amazing, and it's how I'm feeling about Linux...
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David Heinemeier...
X celebrates 60% savings from cloud exit Musk has taken a cleaver to the costs and complexity at X. It hasn't always been pretty, but it sure...
a year ago
74

X celebrates 60% savings from cloud exit

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Musk has taken a cleaver to the costs and complexity at X. It hasn't always been pretty, but it sure has been effective, and in the process, he's proven his detractors wrong time and again. Not only has the site stayed up, despite hysteric proclamations that it would crater soon...
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David Heinemeier...
The premise trap The hardest part for me about collaborating with junior programmers, whether it's in open source or...
3 months ago
73

The premise trap

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

3 months ago
The hardest part for me about collaborating with junior programmers, whether it's in open source or at work, is avoiding the premise trap. That's where the fundamental assumptions baked into the first draft of the code aren't questioned until you've already spent far too long...
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David Heinemeier...
As we forgive those who trespass against us Google's announcement that they're done discussing politics at work widely echoed the policy changes...
11 months ago
73

As we forgive those who trespass against us

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

11 months ago
Google's announcement that they're done discussing politics at work widely echoed the policy changes Coinbase and we at 37signals did a few years back. So yesterday, I did two separate interviews with media outlets on the topic. And we spoke in part about those early weeks of...
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David Heinemeier...
The Framework 13 has a new high-res screen! The first laptop I ordered back when my Linux journey began was the Framework 13. I immediately...
7 months ago
71

The Framework 13 has a new high-res screen!

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

7 months ago
The first laptop I ordered back when my Linux journey began was the Framework 13. I immediately liked a lot about it. The keyboard is a big step up over the MacBook Pro, primarily because of the 50% longer key travel. And I love the matte screen and 3:2 aspect ratio. Both feel...
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David Heinemeier...
We are a place of business After the disastrous launch of their Gemini AI, which insisted that George Washington was actually...
11 months ago
71

We are a place of business

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

11 months ago
After the disastrous launch of their Gemini AI, which insisted that George Washington was actually Black and couldn't decide whether Musk's tweets or Hitler was worse, Google's response was timid and weak. This was just a bug! A problem with QA! It absolutely, positively wasn't a...
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David Heinemeier...
Children of You The birth rate is dropping all over the world. In some places, like South Korea (0.72), it is so low...
7 months ago
66

Children of You

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

7 months ago
The birth rate is dropping all over the world. In some places, like South Korea (0.72), it is so low people are starting to worry about a national extinction. In other places, including all of Europe (average 1.5, Spain 1.29), it's merely bad and alarming. And nobody seems to...
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David Heinemeier...
Finding acoustical delight in THE THOCK Before diving into the world of mechanical keyboards, I'd never heard the word "thock" before. But I...
8 months ago
65

Finding acoustical delight in THE THOCK

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

8 months ago
Before diving into the world of mechanical keyboards, I'd never heard the word "thock" before. But I soon learned that it describes one of those strangely seductive sounds you can produce from pressing the keys on a keyboard tuned for acoustical joy. And now, dammit, I've...
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David Heinemeier...
Living with Linux and Android after two decades of Apple It now seems laughable that only a few months ago, I was questioning whether I'd actually be able to...
8 months ago
65

Living with Linux and Android after two decades of Apple

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

8 months ago
It now seems laughable that only a few months ago, I was questioning whether I'd actually be able to switch off the Apple stack and stick to my choice. That's what two decades worth of entrenched habits will do to your belief in change! But not only was it possible, it's been...
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David Heinemeier...
Beautiful motivations Programmers are often skeptical of aesthetics because they frequently associate it with veneering. A...
10 months ago
64

Beautiful motivations

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

10 months ago
Programmers are often skeptical of aesthetics because they frequently associate it with veneering. A thin sheen of flashy marketing design covering up for a rotten or deficient product. Something that looks good from afar, but reveals itself to be a disappointing imitation up...
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David Heinemeier...
Jaguar is lost but Volvo knows the way Jaguar's new rebrand is getting murdered online, and for good reason. The clichés are as thick as...
4 months ago
63

Jaguar is lost but Volvo knows the way

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

4 months ago
Jaguar's new rebrand is getting murdered online, and for good reason. The clichés are as thick as the diversity pandering is dated. CREATE EXUBERANT. LIVE VIVID. DELETE ORDINARY. You'd think these were slogans from a Will Ferrel bit about insufferable marketing trons, but nope,...
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David Heinemeier...
Automattic is doing open source dirty Automattic demanding 8% of WP Engine's revenues because they're not "giving back enough" to...
5 months ago
62

Automattic is doing open source dirty

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

5 months ago
Automattic demanding 8% of WP Engine's revenues because they're not "giving back enough" to WordPress is a wanton violation of general open source ideals and the specifics of the GPL license. Automattic is completely out of line, and the potential damage to the open source world...
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David Heinemeier...
Where at least I know I'm free I used to find the American self-image of being this uniquely freedom-loving, freedom-having people...
7 months ago
61

Where at least I know I'm free

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

7 months ago
I used to find the American self-image of being this uniquely freedom-loving, freedom-having people delusional. Sure, I'd think, you're not North Korea or Venezuela, but is that really a standard worth celebration? Shouldn't America compare itself to higher alternatives, like...
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David Heinemeier...
Joining the Shopify board of directors I've known Tobi for over twenty years now. Right from the earliest days of Ruby on Rails, when he...
4 months ago
60

Joining the Shopify board of directors

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

4 months ago
I've known Tobi for over twenty years now. Right from the earliest days of Ruby on Rails, when he was building Snowdevil, which eventually became Shopify, to sell snowboards online. Here's his first commit to Rails from 2004, which improved the ergonomics of controller testing....
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David Heinemeier...
Our cloud-exit savings will now top ten million over five years We finished pulling seven cloud apps, including HEY, out of AWS and onto our own hardware last...
5 months ago
60

Our cloud-exit savings will now top ten million over five years

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

5 months ago
We finished pulling seven cloud apps, including HEY, out of AWS and onto our own hardware last summer. But it took until the end of that year for all the long-term contract commitments to end, so 2024 has been the first clean year of savings, and we've been pleasantly surprised...
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David Heinemeier...
Delusional dreams of excess freedom Jim Carey once said that he hoped everyone could "...get rich and famous and do everything they...
2 months ago
60

Delusional dreams of excess freedom

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

2 months ago
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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David Heinemeier...
Software estimates have never worked and never will Since the dawn of computing, humans have sought to estimate how long it takes to build software, and...
7 months ago
58

Software estimates have never worked and never will

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

7 months ago
Since the dawn of computing, humans have sought to estimate how long it takes to build software, and for just as long, they've consistently failed. Estimating even medium-sized projects is devilishly difficult, and estimating large projects is virtually impossible. Yet the...
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David Heinemeier...
Wonderful vi The speed of change in technology often appears to be the industry's defining characteristic....
6 months ago
57

Wonderful vi

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

6 months ago
The speed of change in technology often appears to be the industry's defining characteristic. Nothing highlights that perception more than the recent and relentless march of AI advancements. But for as much as some things in technology change, many other things stay the same....
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David Heinemeier...
What you know that just ain't so The fun bit about business is in all the answers you don't have. Should we be priced higher or lower...
4 months ago
57

What you know that just ain't so

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

4 months ago
The fun bit about business is in all the answers you don't have. Should we be priced higher or lower or leave it alone? Should we chase these customers over here or those customers over there? Should we add more features or polish the ones we have? There's endless variation in...
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David Heinemeier...
Merchants of complexity It's hard to sell simple, because simple looks easy, and who wants to pay for that? Of course,...
7 months ago
56

Merchants of complexity

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

7 months ago
It's hard to sell simple, because simple looks easy, and who wants to pay for that? Of course, everyone says they want something simple, but the way they buy reveals that they usually don't. This is the secret that the merchants of complexity have long since figured out. That...
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David Heinemeier...
Meta is shutting down Workplace The saying "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM" is at its essence about risk management. The...
10 months ago
56

Meta is shutting down Workplace

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

10 months ago
The saying "nobody ever got fired for buying IBM" is at its essence about risk management. The traditional wisdom goes that if you buy from a big company, you're going to be safe. It may be more expensive, but big companies project an image of stability and reliability, so buying...
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David Heinemeier...
Back in the market (Sonos Edition) I've been a Sonos megafan for years. Owned probably two dozen devices for different homes. Mainly...
6 months ago
54

Back in the market (Sonos Edition)

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

6 months ago
I've been a Sonos megafan for years. Owned probably two dozen devices for different homes. Mainly amps for in-ceiling speakers, but also some Ones, 3s, 5s. All of it. Because it Just Worked when it came to multi-room music. Now it doesn't, and it hasn't for a long time, so I've...
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David Heinemeier...
Bad Therapy This book nails it. What it's like to be a parent with school-age children in America right now. So...
a year ago
54

Bad Therapy

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
This book nails it. What it's like to be a parent with school-age children in America right now. So many kids with a diagnosis of one sort or another, so much monitoring of children's every move, so much anxiety over the most trivial things, like the sugar content of a cupcake....
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David Heinemeier...
Enough problems to go around The worst kind of company is usually not the one where there's too much real work to do, but the...
11 months ago
54

Enough problems to go around

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

11 months ago
The worst kind of company is usually not the one where there's too much real work to do, but the kind where there's not enough. It's in this realm the real monsters appear. Without enough real problems to go around, humans are prone to invent fictitious and dreadful ones. This...
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David Heinemeier...
Too much therapy at work Many years ago, Jason and I hired a COO at 37signals, but ended up letting them go after just a year...
4 months ago
53

Too much therapy at work

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

4 months ago
Many years ago, Jason and I hired a COO at 37signals, but ended up letting them go after just a year (many reasons, another story). This happened not long before one of our company meet-ups, so we thought it fitting to discuss the matter in-person. What a mistake. The session...
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David Heinemeier...
Capture less than you create I beam with pride when I see companies like Shopify, GitHub, Gusto, Zendesk, Instacart, Procore,...
5 months ago
52

Capture less than you create

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

5 months ago
I beam with pride when I see companies like Shopify, GitHub, Gusto, Zendesk, Instacart, Procore, Doximity, Coinbase, and others claim billion-dollar valuations from work done with Rails. It's beyond satisfying to see this much value created with a web framework I've spent the...
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David Heinemeier...
Why I retired from the tech crusades When Ruby on Rails was launched over twenty years ago, I was a twenty-some young programmer...
10 months ago
52

Why I retired from the tech crusades

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

10 months ago
When Ruby on Rails was launched over twenty years ago, I was a twenty-some young programmer convinced that anyone who gave my stack a try would accept its universal superiority for solving The Web Problem. So I pursued the path of the crusade, attempting to convert the...
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David Heinemeier...
Cold reading an ADHD affliction I'm sure there are truly pathological cases of ADHD out there, and maybe taking amphetamines really...
4 months ago
52

Cold reading an ADHD affliction

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

4 months ago
I'm sure there are truly pathological cases of ADHD out there, and maybe taking amphetamines really is a magic pill for some folks. But there clearly is also an entire cottage industry cropping up around convincing perfectly normal people that they suffer from ADHD, and that this...
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David Heinemeier...
Cookie banners show everything that's wrong with the EU Companies have spent billions on cookie banner compliance only to endlessly annoy users with no...
8 months ago
52

Cookie banners show everything that's wrong with the EU

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

8 months ago
Companies have spent billions on cookie banner compliance only to endlessly annoy users with no material improvement to their privacy, but this unsightly blight is still with us (and the rest of the internet!). All because the EU has no mechanism for self-correcting its...
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David Heinemeier...
Commit to competence in this coming year It’s that time of year where people often start thinking about new year’s resolutions. I want to...
a year ago
51

Commit to competence in this coming year

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
It’s that time of year where people often start thinking about new year’s resolutions. I want to loose 10 lbs, I want to read more books, I want to x, y, and z. Often, it’s just a fantasy. They’re not actually going to loose 10 lbs or they might order some more books but never...
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David Heinemeier...
We once more have no full-time managers at 37signals After experimenting with a number of management roles over the last few years, 37signals is back to...
7 months ago
51

We once more have no full-time managers at 37signals

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

7 months ago
After experimenting with a number of management roles over the last few years, 37signals is back to its original configuration: None. We once more have no full-time managers whose sole function is to organize or direct the work of others. Everyone doing management here does so on...
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David Heinemeier...
Why don't more people use Linux? A couple of weeks ago, I saw a tweet asking: "If Linux is so good, why aren't more people using it?"...
7 months ago
50

Why don't more people use Linux?

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

7 months ago
A couple of weeks ago, I saw a tweet asking: "If Linux is so good, why aren't more people using it?" And it's a fair question! It intuitively rings true until you give it a moment's consideration. Linux is even free, so what's stopping mass adoption, if it's actually better? My...
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David Heinemeier...
The gift of ambition The Babylon Bee ran this amazing bit last year: "Study Finds 100% Of Men Would Immediately Leave...
11 months ago
50

The gift of ambition

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

11 months ago
The Babylon Bee ran this amazing bit last year: "Study Finds 100% Of Men Would Immediately Leave Their Desk Job If Asked To Embark Upon A Trans-Antarctic Expedition On A Big Wooden Ship". Yes. Exactly. Modern office workers are often starved for ambition, adventure, and even...
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David Heinemeier...
Wonderful Rails World Vibes I totally understand how programming conferences end up being held in a drab Sheraton hotel...
6 months ago
50

Wonderful Rails World Vibes

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

6 months ago
I totally understand how programming conferences end up being held in a drab Sheraton hotel somewhere to save money. It's expensive to outfit a cool venue with the gear and operations needed to pull off a great experience for speakers, sponsors, and attendees. And while the cost...
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David Heinemeier...
House rules in Fortnite We play a lot of Fortnite at our house. It's a great game for teaching kids cooperative discipline,...
4 months ago
49

House rules in Fortnite

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

4 months ago
We play a lot of Fortnite at our house. It's a great game for teaching kids cooperative discipline, and in a remarkably wholesome setting to boot (no blood, cartoon styling). I've had no qualms involving all three of our boys from an early age in the family squad, including our...
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David Heinemeier...
You're not guaranteed a spot on the team I've always hated the saying "we're like family here" when it comes to work. Because it's obviously...
11 months ago
49

You're not guaranteed a spot on the team

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

11 months ago
I've always hated the saying "we're like family here" when it comes to work. Because it's obviously not true, and it's usually cynically invoked by management to entice an undue obligation of sacrifice. Implying that you should give it all to The Company -- constantly working...
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David Heinemeier...
Ears rarely open until a rapport is established It's hard to open cold with a controversial take to a bunch of strangers. And the room is always...
6 months ago
49

Ears rarely open until a rapport is established

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

6 months ago
It's hard to open cold with a controversial take to a bunch of strangers. And the room is always cold on X or in a one-off blog post. Just like comedy, half the battle of winning over the audience comes from a solid introduction, good timing, and a broad smile to warm the room....
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David Heinemeier...
Passwords have problems, but passkeys have more We had originally planned to go all-in on passkeys for ONCE/Campfire, and we built the early...
6 months ago
49

Passwords have problems, but passkeys have more

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

6 months ago
We had originally planned to go all-in on passkeys for ONCE/Campfire, and we built the early authentication system entirely around that. It was not a simple setup! Handling passkeys properly is surprisingly complicated on the backend, but we got it done. Unfortunately, the user...
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David Heinemeier...
VSCode + WSL makes Windows awesome for web development I’m kinda shocked. Windows actually got good for web developers. Between VSCode, WSL, and Intel’s...
a year ago
49

VSCode + WSL makes Windows awesome for web development

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
I’m kinda shocked. Windows actually got good for web developers. Between VSCode, WSL, and Intel’s latest desktop chips, I’ve been living with a PC for over a week that runs my programming tests faster than an M3 Max, ships with an excellent window manager out-the-box, and...
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David Heinemeier...
Open source royalty and mad kings I'm solidly in favor of the Benevolent Dictator For Life (BDFL) model of open source stewardship....
5 months ago
49

Open source royalty and mad kings

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

5 months ago
I'm solidly in favor of the Benevolent Dictator For Life (BDFL) model of open source stewardship. This is how projects from Linux to Python, from Laravel to Ruby, and yes, Rails, have kept their cohesion, decisiveness, and forward motion. It's a model with decades worth of...
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David Heinemeier...
The spells are spent They just don't work any more, those baseless accusations that anyone we disagree with is a racist,...
4 months ago
48

The spells are spent

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

4 months ago
They just don't work any more, those baseless accusations that anyone we disagree with is a racist, misogynist, fascist. After being invoked in en masse and in vain for the better part of the past decade, their power to shock and awe is finally gone. All that's left is a weak...
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David Heinemeier...
The endangered state of normality When I was growing up in the 80s and 90s, I had friends who were socially awkward nerds, friends who...
10 months ago
48

The endangered state of normality

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

10 months ago
When I was growing up in the 80s and 90s, I had friends who were socially awkward nerds, friends who were cool but didn't like school at all, friends who were good at school but couldn't muster the will to finish their math homework, and friends who were tomboys. None of these...
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David Heinemeier...
Failed integration and the fall of multiculturalism For decades, the debate in Denmark around  problems with mass immigration was stuck in a...
2 months ago
48

Failed integration and the fall of multiculturalism

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

2 months ago
For decades, the debate in Denmark around  problems with mass immigration was stuck in a self-loathing blame game of "failed integration". That somehow, if the Danes had just tried harder, been less prejudice, offered more opportunities, the many foreigners with radically...
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David Heinemeier...
MEGA Trump is back at the helm of the United States, and the majority of Americans are optimistic about...
2 months ago
48

MEGA

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

2 months ago
Trump is back at the helm of the United States, and the majority of Americans are optimistic about the prospect. Especially the young. In a poll by CBS News, it's the 18-29 demographic that's most excited, with a whopping two-thirds answering in the affirmative to being...
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David Heinemeier...
The social media censorship era is over (for now) Mark Zuckerberg just announced a stunning pivot for Meta's approach to social media censorship....
2 months ago
48

The social media censorship era is over (for now)

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

2 months ago
Mark Zuckerberg just announced a stunning pivot for Meta's approach to social media censorship. Here's what he's going to do: Replace third-party fact checkers with community notes ala X. Allow free discussion on immigration, gender, and other topics that were heavily censored...
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David Heinemeier...
To the crazy ones In an earlier era, we'd all have been glued to the television to cheer SpaceX successfully catching...
5 months ago
47

To the crazy ones

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

5 months ago
In an earlier era, we'd all have been glued to the television to cheer SpaceX successfully catching Starship's returning booster rocket on the first try. I remember my father talking about seeing Apollo 11 make it to the moon. That was a lifelong memory for him. And I remember,...
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David Heinemeier...
Apple is in its Ballmer era During Ballmer's reign as CEO of Microsoft, the company always made plenty of money. While the stock...
a year ago
47

Apple is in its Ballmer era

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
During Ballmer's reign as CEO of Microsoft, the company always made plenty of money. While the stock traded sideways, Ballmer made sure it was still raining dividends. Yet, today, that era of Microsoft is not looked upon too fondly. It's seen as being anchored in the company's...
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David Heinemeier...
The last RailsConf Few numbers exemplified the early growth of Rails like attendance at RailsConf. I think we started...
11 months ago
47

The last RailsConf

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

11 months ago
Few numbers exemplified the early growth of Rails like attendance at RailsConf. I think we started with something like 400-600 attendees at the inaugural conference in Chicago in 2006, then just kept doubling year over year, as Rails went to the moon. If memory serves me right,...
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David Heinemeier...
Be less precious The essence of the book Radical Candor is the concept of ruinous empathy. That by trying your best...
a year ago
46

Be less precious

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
The essence of the book Radical Candor is the concept of ruinous empathy. That by trying your best to couch employee performance feedback in overly gentle language, you end up confusing the message, and cheating the recipient out of the clarity they desperately need to improve –...
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David Heinemeier...
DEI is done (minus the mop up) In November of 2022, I wrote about the waning days of DEI's dominance, and enumerated four factors...
10 months ago
46

DEI is done (minus the mop up)

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

10 months ago
In November of 2022, I wrote about the waning days of DEI's dominance, and enumerated four factors that I saw as primary drivers of this decline. Those waning days have now been brought to a close, and DEI, as an obsessive, ideological preoccupation of the corporate world, is...
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David Heinemeier...
Forcing master to main was a good faith exploit I never actually cared whether we call it master or main. So when the racialized claims started over...
11 months ago
46

Forcing master to main was a good faith exploit

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

11 months ago
I never actually cared whether we call it master or main. So when the racialized claims started over how calling the default branch in Git repositories "master" was PrObLEmAtIC, I thought, fine, what skin is it off anyone's or my back to change? If this is really important, can...
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David Heinemeier...
The origin of Ruby on Rails I can't thank Honeypot and Carolina Cabral enough for the producing The Rails Documentary that was...
a year ago
44

The origin of Ruby on Rails

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
I can't thank Honeypot and Carolina Cabral enough for the producing The Rails Documentary that was just released today. Looking back on those early, formative years of Ruby on Rails with Tobi, Jamis, Jeremy, and Jason was actually kind of profound. I usually don't spend much time...
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David Heinemeier...
Apple’s new extortion regime to keep big app makers Apple’s recent threat of financial audits for developers who dare link to their own website was a...
a year ago
44

Apple’s new extortion regime to keep big app makers

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Apple’s recent threat of financial audits for developers who dare link to their own website was a big, revealing moment to a lot of people. Folks who perhaps didn’t think Apple would be “that kind of company”. That they wouldn't so blatantly threaten developers into compliance...
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David Heinemeier...
Optimize for bio cores first, silicon cores second A big part of the reason that companies are going ga-ga over AI right now is the promise that it...
6 months ago
44

Optimize for bio cores first, silicon cores second

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

6 months ago
A big part of the reason that companies are going ga-ga over AI right now is the promise that it might materially lower their payroll for programmers. If a company currently needs 10 programmers to do a job, each have a cost of $200,000/year, then that's a $2m/year problem. If AI...
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David Heinemeier...
We're moving continuous integration back to developer machines Between running Rubocop style rules, Brakeman security scans, and model-controller-system tests, it...
11 months ago
44

We're moving continuous integration back to developer machines

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

11 months ago
Between running Rubocop style rules, Brakeman security scans, and model-controller-system tests, it takes our remote BuildKite-based continuous integration setup about 5m30s to verify a code change is ready to ship for HEY. My Intel 14900K-based Linux box can do that in less than...
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David Heinemeier...
Le Mans 2024 This will be my 11th attempt. The first time I showed up on the grid at Le Mans was in 2012 -- some...
a year ago
44

Le Mans 2024

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
This will be my 11th attempt. The first time I showed up on the grid at Le Mans was in 2012 -- some five years after I had first driven a real race car, and even less time since I made participating in the world's greatest endurance race the ultimate goal. But it almost didn't...
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David Heinemeier...
Villains may live long enough to become heroes The first tech company I ever really despised was Microsoft. This was back in the 1990s, the era of...
11 months ago
44

Villains may live long enough to become heroes

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

11 months ago
The first tech company I ever really despised was Microsoft. This was back in the 1990s, the era of "cutting off the air supply", of embrace-extend-extinguish, of open source as a "cancer", and of Bill Gates before he sought reputational refugee in philanthropy. What made the...
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David Heinemeier...
The compounding seeds of creativity Early on in my career, I learned a very important lesson about creativity: It can’t be saved for...
a year ago
43

The compounding seeds of creativity

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Early on in my career, I learned a very important lesson about creativity: It can’t be saved for later. Creativity is perishable, just like inspiration. It has to be discharged regularly or it will spoil. And if you let enough of it go to waste, eventually your talents will sour...
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David Heinemeier...
Imperfections create connections The engine is in wrong place in a Porsche 911. It's hanging out the back, swinging the car like a...
11 months ago
43

Imperfections create connections

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

11 months ago
The engine is in wrong place in a Porsche 911. It's hanging out the back, swinging the car like a pendulum. And that's key to why it's the most iconic sports car ever made. This fundamental imperfection is part of how it creates the connection. This is true of mechanical watches...
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David Heinemeier...
For what it'll make of you I've always had an ambivalent relationship with goals. I don't like goals that feel like checkpoints...
7 months ago
42

For what it'll make of you

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

7 months ago
I've always had an ambivalent relationship with goals. I don't like goals that feel like checkpoints on a treadmill. They make you reach for a million dollars in revenue, celebrate for a second, and then turn the chase to five million the minute after. No thanks. But specific,...
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David Heinemeier...
Linux as the new developer default at 37signals For over twenty years, the Mac was the default at 37signals. For designers, programmers, support,...
10 months ago
42

Linux as the new developer default at 37signals

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

10 months ago
For over twenty years, the Mac was the default at 37signals. For designers, programmers, support, and everyone else. That mono culture had some clear advantages, like being able to run Kandji and macOS-specific setup scripts. But it certainly also had its disadvantages, like...
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David Heinemeier...
Campfire is now for sale After a couple of weeks of final Patek-level polishing with early-access customers, Campfire is...
a year ago
41

Campfire is now for sale

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
After a couple of weeks of final Patek-level polishing with early-access customers, Campfire is finally for sale for all! This is The Moment of Truth where we get to see whether all that excitement turns into credit card swipes. That release rush. I love it. And I especially love...
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David Heinemeier...
Free speech isn't guaranteed to be forever History is full of long stretches of dominance by noble ideas and despots, times of prosperity and...
7 months ago
41

Free speech isn't guaranteed to be forever

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

7 months ago
History is full of long stretches of dominance by noble ideas and despots, times of prosperity and of dark ages. Each of which must have seemed like they would never end to the people who lived through them. If you were a citizen of the Ottoman empire 1452, you probably didn't...
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David Heinemeier...
Magic machines There's an interesting psychological phenomenon where programmers tend to ascribe more trust to...
11 months ago
40

Magic machines

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

11 months ago
There's an interesting psychological phenomenon where programmers tend to ascribe more trust to computers run by anyone but themselves. Perhaps it's a corollary to imposter syndrome, which leads programmers to believe that if a computer is operated by AWS or SaaS or literally...
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David Heinemeier...
Kamal 2: Thou need not PaaS Kamal was our ticket out of the cloud. A simple tool for deploying containerized applications onto...
6 months ago
40

Kamal 2: Thou need not PaaS

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

6 months ago
Kamal was our ticket out of the cloud. A simple tool for deploying containerized applications onto our own hardware, without the need for the complexity of something like Kubernetes. Kamal 2 is a huge leap forward for that tool, and it has just shipped.  Now you can deploy...
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David Heinemeier...
Switching to Android was easy In addition to trying out Windows for a week, I also switched my main phone number to Android...
a year ago
40

Switching to Android was easy

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
In addition to trying out Windows for a week, I also switched my main phone number to Android recently. And that turned out to be far easier. Dangerously easy, you might say, if you were in Apple’s shoes. But it’s all down to how deep you’re mired in the platform services soup. I...
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David Heinemeier...
Obsessive problem solving followed by aimless wandering I haven't felt any urge to tinker with my Linux setup in months. This after spending much of the...
4 months ago
40

Obsessive problem solving followed by aimless wandering

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

4 months ago
I haven't felt any urge to tinker with my Linux setup in months. This after spending much of the spring and into summer furiously and obsessively trying every PC out there to find the perfect replacement for the Mac, diving deep with Ubuntu, and codifying my findings in the...
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David Heinemeier...
Campfire is ONCE #1 With the successful launch of HEY Calendar a week in the rearview mirror, we’re ready for our second...
a year ago
39

Campfire is ONCE #1

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
With the successful launch of HEY Calendar a week in the rearview mirror, we’re ready for our second big launch of the new year: ONCE #1. And... drumroll... it’s a rebirth of Campfire! The original web-based chat system we built back in 2006. Brought back to the future as...
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David Heinemeier...
Paranoia and desperation in the AI gold rush I've ever seen so much paranoia in technology about missing out on The Next Big Thing as with AI....
10 months ago
39

Paranoia and desperation in the AI gold rush

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

10 months ago
I've ever seen so much paranoia in technology about missing out on The Next Big Thing as with AI. Companies seem less excited about the prospects than they are petrified that its going to kill them. Maybe that fear is justified, maybe it's not, but what's incontestable is the...
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David Heinemeier...
We need a Right To Compute The App Store dispute can be boiled down to one big question: Is the iPhone a computer or not? If...
a year ago
38

We need a Right To Compute

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
The App Store dispute can be boiled down to one big question: Is the iPhone a computer or not? If it’s a computer, we ought to have the right to compute. Like consumers have won the right to repair. If it’s a computer, it ought to be yours, and you ought to have the right to...
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David Heinemeier...
Every generation needs their own apocalypse Danish 8th, 9th, and 10th graders vote in a mock election every year in Denmark. The results for...
a year ago
38

Every generation needs their own apocalypse

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Danish 8th, 9th, and 10th graders vote in a mock election every year in Denmark. The results for 2024 were a startling refutation of the idea that young people must be inherently left-leaning. The dominating winner was Liberal Alliance, a center-right party that speaks to the...
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David Heinemeier...
We’re so back Under the old Twitter regime, politics seemed to seep into everything, especially tech talk. There...
a year ago
38

We’re so back

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Under the old Twitter regime, politics seemed to seep into everything, especially tech talk. There was scarcely a programming or product topic that couldn’t be turned into a struggle session on account of some perceived transgression or privilege. It was, to use the trauma...
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David Heinemeier...
Dare to connect a server to the internet The merchants of complexity thrive when they can scare you into believing that even the simplest...
a year ago
37

Dare to connect a server to the internet

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
The merchants of complexity thrive when they can scare you into believing that even the simplest things are too dangerous to even attempt by yourself these days. That without their rarified expertise, you’ll be left vulnerable. So best just to leave ever-more of your burdens to...
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David Heinemeier...
Campfire is SaaS without the aaS It hasn’t even been a week since we started selling Campfire under the new ONCE model, but we’ve...
a year ago
37

Campfire is SaaS without the aaS

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
It hasn’t even been a week since we started selling Campfire under the new ONCE model, but we’ve already sold more than quarter of a million dollars worth of this beautifully simple installable chat system. People are using it to replace existing systems costing tens of thousands...
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David Heinemeier...
Waiting on red Americans often laugh when they see how often Danes will patiently, obediently wait on the little...
2 months ago
37

Waiting on red

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

2 months ago
Americans often laugh when they see how often Danes will patiently, obediently wait on the little red man to turn green before crossing an empty intersection, in the rain, even at night. Nobody is coming! Why don't you just cross?! It seems silly, but the underlying philosophy is...
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David Heinemeier...
Chart the course, set the pace, hold the line I break the essential responsibilities of the company executive into three distinct buckets. They...
a year ago
35

Chart the course, set the pace, hold the line

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
I break the essential responsibilities of the company executive into three distinct buckets. They are:   1. Chart the course Where are we going? What are we building? Who is it for? Any executive running anything has to know the answer to these questions in order to lead anyone...
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David Heinemeier...
The early bird sees the sunrise I’ve found that you eventually get bored or at least used to every form of material trapping you can...
a year ago
34

The early bird sees the sunrise

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
I’ve found that you eventually get bored or at least used to every form of material trapping you can buy. Cars, watches, cameras, computers, whatever. It’s not that fancy stuff stops being nice, but it does stop being wow. That’s the essence of the hedonic treadmill. But do you...
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David Heinemeier...
Is greed really seasonal? As the tech layoffs continue, there’s naturally a search for someone to blame. People are losing...
a year ago
34

Is greed really seasonal?

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
As the tech layoffs continue, there’s naturally a search for someone to blame. People are losing their jobs after all, so that must mean someone is acting malevolent, dammit. This is when the age old accusation of greed is trotted out. Companies are only laying off people now...
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David Heinemeier...
Fonts don't have to look awful on Windows I always thought it was a software problem — or at least a difference of aesthetics expressed in...
a year ago
34

Fonts don't have to look awful on Windows

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
I always thought it was a software problem — or at least a difference of aesthetics expressed in software. But it turns out  the reason many Mac owners, including yours truly, so strongly dislike how fonts typically look on Windows is actually a hardware problem!  See, every Mac...
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David Heinemeier...
Finding The Last Editor Some programmers can code under any conditions. Open office? They'll bring headphones. Whatever...
a year ago
33

Finding The Last Editor

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Some programmers can code under any conditions. Open office? They'll bring headphones. Whatever editor is on their system? They'll make it work. Using a different framework or language every few years? No problem. I envy that level of versatility, but I've come to accept it just...
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David Heinemeier...
Apple rejects the HEY Calendar from their App Store There should at least be a standard of double jeopardy when it comes to the app store monopoly...
a year ago
33

Apple rejects the HEY Calendar from their App Store

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
There should at least be a standard of double jeopardy when it comes to the app store monopoly regimes. If you’ve managed to overturn a rejection of your service once, they can’t come after you on the same service again later. We could have used that today! But unfortunately...
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David Heinemeier...
The tech layoffs continue A quarter of a million tech workers were laid off last year from the likes of Google, Amazon, Meta,...
a year ago
33

The tech layoffs continue

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
A quarter of a million tech workers were laid off last year from the likes of Google, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and thousands of other big and small companies in the industry. And it looks like this year is not going to bring any relief. Google just announced more layoffs, Twitch...
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David Heinemeier...
Developers are on edge It's a double whammy of anxiety for developers at the moment. On the one hand, the layoffs are...
a year ago
33

Developers are on edge

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
It's a double whammy of anxiety for developers at the moment. On the one hand, the layoffs are dragging on. The industry has shed more jobs in a shorter period than any time since the dot-com bust over twenty years ago. Seasoned veterans who used to have recruiters banging on...
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David Heinemeier...
Google's sad ideological capture was exactly what we were trying to avoid The Gemini AI roll out should have been Google's day of triumph. The company made one of the...
a year ago
31

Google's sad ideological capture was exactly what we were trying to avoid

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
The Gemini AI roll out should have been Google's day of triumph. The company made one of the smartest acquisitions in tech when they bought DeepMind in 2014. They helped set the course for the modern AI movement with the Transformer paper in 2017. They were poised to be right...
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David Heinemeier...
Beware the leviathans I've been pleading with antitrust authorities around the world to do something about Big Tech for...
a year ago
30

Beware the leviathans

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
I've been pleading with antitrust authorities around the world to do something about Big Tech for years now. Especially with those awful app store monopolies that have been choking out developers left, right, and center. But now that something finally looks to be happening, I'm...
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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...
a month ago
28

Servers can last a long time

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a month ago
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,...
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David Heinemeier...
Committing to Windows I've gone around the computing world in the past eighty hours. I've been flowing freely from Windows...
a year ago
28

Committing to Windows

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
I've gone around the computing world in the past eighty hours. I've been flowing freely from Windows to Linux, sampling text editors like VSCode, neovim, Helix, and Sublime, while surveying PC laptops and desktops. It's been an adventure! But it's time to stop being a tourist....
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David Heinemeier...
You can own more than one type of computer! I probably wouldn't have done a deep dive on Apple alternatives without the announcement that they...
a year ago
28

You can own more than one type of computer!

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
I probably wouldn't have done a deep dive on Apple alternatives without the announcement that they were killing progressive web apps (PWAs) on the iPhone in the EU. Most people don't switch operating systems willy-nilly, and for good reason: They're different! And different is...
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David Heinemeier...
Could Apple leave Europe? Apple's responses to the Digital Market Act, its recent 1.8b euro fine in the Spotify case, and Epic...
a year ago
27

Could Apple leave Europe?

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Apple's responses to the Digital Market Act, its recent 1.8b euro fine in the Spotify case, and Epic Sweden's plans to introduce an alternative App Store in the EU have all been laced with a surprising level of spite and obstinacy. Even when Steve Jobs was pulling power moves...
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David Heinemeier...
Europeans don't have or understand free speech The new American vice president JD Vance just gave a remarkable talk at the Munich Security...
a month ago
25

Europeans don't have or understand free speech

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a month ago
The new American vice president JD Vance just gave a remarkable talk at the Munich Security Conference on free speech and mass immigration. It did not go over well with many European politicians, some of which immediately proved Vance's point, and labeled the speech "not...
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David Heinemeier...
It burns The first time we had to evacuate Malibu this season was during the Franklin fire in early December....
2 months ago
25

It burns

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

2 months ago
The first time we had to evacuate Malibu this season was during the Franklin fire in early December. We went to bed with our bags packed, thinking they'd probably get it under control. But by 2am, the roaring blades of fire choppers shaking the house got us up. As we sped down...
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David Heinemeier...
Happiness is never having to ask for permission If there’s one value Jason and I put above all else in business, it's independence. The freedom to...
a year ago
24

Happiness is never having to ask for permission

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
If there’s one value Jason and I put above all else in business, it's independence. The freedom to make our own choices, good or bad, without ever having to ask anyone for permission. Not from investors, not from naysayers, not from platform gatekeepers. It’s why we’ve built our...
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David Heinemeier...
Celebrating a million copies of REWORK It’s been 14 years since REWORK was first published. It was our first big-publisher book, and it hit...
a year ago
23

Celebrating a million copies of REWORK

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
It’s been 14 years since REWORK was first published. It was our first big-publisher book, and it hit the New York Times bestseller list right out the gate. In the first two years, it sold over 200,000 copies. And then... it just kept selling. Now it has passed one million copies...
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David Heinemeier...
Basecamp turns 20 On February 5, 2004, we released the first version of Basecamp to the world. It was built to solve...
a year ago
22

Basecamp turns 20

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
On February 5, 2004, we released the first version of Basecamp to the world. It was built to solve our own problems running client projects as an agency where we found email alone to be lacking. The first version was really just the basics: Messages, todo lists, milestones. We...
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David Heinemeier...
Where next for DEI? It was a rough 2023 for DEI. After the ideology completely conquered both the corporate and cultural...
a year ago
22

Where next for DEI?

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
It was a rough 2023 for DEI. After the ideology completely conquered both the corporate and cultural world from 2020-2022, the reversal last year was astounding. The Supreme Court ruled the use of race in college admissions illegal, Ibram X. Kendi’s Antiracst Research center fell...
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David Heinemeier...
The reality of the Danish fairytale Denmark has long ranked high on the list of societies that American liberals dream about turning the...
a year ago
21

The reality of the Danish fairytale

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Denmark has long ranked high on the list of societies that American liberals dream about turning the United States into. And for many good reasons. Education is state-funded, and students are even paid a stipend to go to university. Health care is equally free of individual...
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David Heinemeier...
Europe is half the cost for our company meet-ups Since the pandemic ended, we've had the pleasure of organizing three different company meet-ups for...
a year ago
20

Europe is half the cost for our company meet-ups

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Since the pandemic ended, we've had the pleasure of organizing three different company meet-ups for 37signals. We got going again in Miami, then hopped to Amsterdam, and most recently we went to New Orleans. Next we're going to Barcelona in the fall. Would you have guessed that...
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David Heinemeier...
Google Cloud cuts egress and promotes cloud exits The absurd egress fees charged by major hyperscalers have been one of the biggest impediments for...
a year ago
20

Google Cloud cuts egress and promotes cloud exits

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
The absurd egress fees charged by major hyperscalers have been one of the biggest impediments for companies to leave the cloud. We’ve been preparing for our own departure from AWS S3 at 37signals, and the price for taking our data elsewhere is in the crazy-land region of...
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David Heinemeier...
Europe must become dangerous again Trump is doing Europe a favor by revealing the true cost of its impotency. Because, in many ways, he...
a month ago
20

Europe must become dangerous again

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a month ago
Trump is doing Europe a favor by revealing the true cost of its impotency. Because, in many ways, he has the manners and the honesty of a child. A kid will just blurt out in the supermarket "why is that lady so fat, mommy?". That's not a polite thing to ask within earshot of said...
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David Heinemeier...
The Musk Algorithm Walter Isaacson's new book about Elon Musk is a fine biography, but an even better business book....
a year ago
20

The Musk Algorithm

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Walter Isaacson's new book about Elon Musk is a fine biography, but an even better business book. And like all the best business books, it's not merely an instruction manual, but an inspirational guide too. Not since reading Ricardo Semler's Maverick in the early 2000s have I...
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David Heinemeier...
Buying the seller We've just moved the 37signals podcast to Buzzsprout. Podcast hosting is to some extent a commodity...
a year ago
20

Buying the seller

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
We've just moved the 37signals podcast to Buzzsprout. Podcast hosting is to some extent a commodity market, so this was less about pining for a specific feature or even working to reduce the bill. This was about buying from Tom Rossi, the technical cofounder of HigherPixels (who...
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David Heinemeier...
Leave it to the Germans Just a day after JD Vance's remarkable speech in Munich, 60 Minutes validates his worst accusations...
a month ago
19

Leave it to the Germans

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a month ago
Just a day after JD Vance's remarkable speech in Munich, 60 Minutes validates his worst accusations in a chilling segment on the totalitarian German crackdown on free speech. You couldn't have scripted this development for more irony or drama! This isn't 60 Minutes finding a...
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David Heinemeier...
ONCE #1 is entirely #nobuild for the front-end The dream has come true. It’s now possible to build fast, modern web applications without...
a year ago
19

ONCE #1 is entirely #nobuild for the front-end

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
The dream has come true. It’s now possible to build fast, modern web applications without transpiling or bundling either JavaScript or CSS. I’ve been working towards this personal nirvana ever since we begrudgingly started transpiling and bundling assets in the late 2000s....
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David Heinemeier...
Breaking the inertia of mediocrity It's rarely the terrible decisions, processes, or even people that'll sink your organization. It's...
a year ago
19

Breaking the inertia of mediocrity

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
It's rarely the terrible decisions, processes, or even people that'll sink your organization. It's the accumulation and inertia of the mediocre ones. Dealing with the truly bad is easy. It's painfully obvious to all that change is required. The danger is imminent. It's much...
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David Heinemeier...
Rails World and Rails 8 in 2024 The first major Rails conference on the European continent in over a decade was a smashing success...
a year ago
19

Rails World and Rails 8 in 2024

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
The first major Rails conference on the European continent in over a decade was a smashing success this past October in Amsterdam. Not only did the conference sell out more than 700 tickets in less than 40 minutes, but it was the atmosphere from those in attendance that really...
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David Heinemeier...
Europe's impotent rage Europe has become a third-rate power economically, politically, and militarily, and the price for...
a month ago
19

Europe's impotent rage

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a month ago
Europe has become a third-rate power economically, politically, and militarily, and the price for this slowly building predicament is now due all at once. First, America is seeking to negotiate peace in Ukraine directly with Russia, without even inviting Europe to the table....
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David Heinemeier...
Multi-tenancy is what’s hard about scaling web services Computers have gotten so ridiculously fast that there is scarcely any organization in the world that...
a year ago
19

Multi-tenancy is what’s hard about scaling web services

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Computers have gotten so ridiculously fast that there is scarcely any organization in the world that can overwhelm a web-based information system running on a single server. All the complexity and sophistication required to run web services today stem from multi-tenancy. From...
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David Heinemeier...
It’s easier to forgive a human than a robot One of the reasons I think AI is going to have a hard time taking over all our driving duties, our...
a year ago
19

It’s easier to forgive a human than a robot

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
One of the reasons I think AI is going to have a hard time taking over all our driving duties, our medical care, or even just our customer support interactions, is that being as good as a human isn’t good enough for a robot. They need to be computer good. That is, virtually...
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David Heinemeier...
We have left the cloud Since it took us years to get into the cloud in the first place, I originally imagined it would take...
a year ago
19

We have left the cloud

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Since it took us years to get into the cloud in the first place, I originally imagined it would take us years to get out as well. But all that work to containerize our applications and prepare them for the cloud actually turned out to make it relatively easy to exit. And now,...
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David Heinemeier...
Until the end of the internet It's hard to know what'll stick around when shopping for software online. Popular services and...
a year ago
18

Until the end of the internet

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
It's hard to know what'll stick around when shopping for software online. Popular services and crucial products get shut down all the time. You can't even trust that major conglomerates like Google to provide something you can count on two-five-ten years from now. And if you're...
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David Heinemeier...
When to give up Most of our cultural virtues, celebrated heroes, and catchy slogans align with the idea of "never...
a month ago
18

When to give up

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a month ago
Most of our cultural virtues, celebrated heroes, and catchy slogans align with the idea of "never give up". That's a good default! Most people are inclined to give up too easily, as soon as the going gets hard. But it's also worth remembering that sometimes you really should...
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David Heinemeier...
The price of managed cloud services One of the common objections to our cloud exit has been that we shouldn't have expected good...
a year ago
18

The price of managed cloud services

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
One of the common objections to our cloud exit has been that we shouldn't have expected good outcomes from a lift'n'shift operation. That the real value of the cloud is in managed services and new architectures, not just running the same software on rented cloud instances. It's...
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David Heinemeier...
That Model S Plaid I've owned a lot of great cars in my time. It's been one of the few places where hitting it big has...
a year ago
18

That Model S Plaid

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
I've owned a lot of great cars in my time. It's been one of the few places where hitting it big has allowed for something that wouldn't otherwise be possible. From Lamborghini to Pagani, Porsche to Ferrari, Aston Martin to Bentley, I have owned and loved them all. A+ use of...
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David Heinemeier...
Not everyone can be the best Many software developers seem to have a uniquely hard time accepting that not everyone who just...
a year ago
18

Not everyone can be the best

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Many software developers seem to have a uniquely hard time accepting that not everyone who just tries real hard will become so good as to be among the best in this field. That there really is a discrepancy of talent that leads to a discrepancy of competence. That not everyone can...
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David Heinemeier...
Serving the country In 1940, President Roosevelt tapped William S. Knudsen to run the government's production of...
a month ago
18

Serving the country

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a month ago
In 1940, President Roosevelt tapped William S. Knudsen to run the government's production of military equipment. Knudsen had spent a pivotal decade at Ford during the mass-production revolution, and was president of General Motors, when he was drafted as a civilian into service...
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David Heinemeier...
A writer's Ruby Programmers at large seem eternally skeptical of style. And I’m not just talking about the...
a year ago
18

A writer's Ruby

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Programmers at large seem eternally skeptical of style. And I’m not just talking about the stereotype of nerds in uncoordinated outfits or using pocket protectors. But style in the broad sense of aesthetics. Many appear imbued with fundamental opposition to the idea that how...
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David Heinemeier...
Open source hooliganism and the TypeScript meltdown I've seen a lot of true believers argue for virtues of their favorite paradigms and methods over the...
a year ago
18

Open source hooliganism and the TypeScript meltdown

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
I've seen a lot of true believers argue for virtues of their favorite paradigms and methods over the decades working in software. And mostly, I look at people with a passionate preference and smile. Isn't it great that people care so much about their craft that they volunteer to...
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David Heinemeier...
New year, new calendar We’ve spent the last year tackling the number one request for our email service HEY.com: Adding a...
a year ago
18

New year, new calendar

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
We’ve spent the last year tackling the number one request for our email service HEY.com: Adding a calendar! And now, in celebration of the new year, it’s finally ready, and we’re rolling it out to the first customers starting today 🎉 See, it turns out that lots of people would...
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David Heinemeier...
Native mobile apps are optional for B2B startups in 2024 I continue to see new B2B software startups struggle with native mobile apps. Consumer software...
a year ago
17

Native mobile apps are optional for B2B startups in 2024

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
I continue to see new B2B software startups struggle with native mobile apps. Consumer software makers can usually start by going all-in on a single platform, but for business tools, that’s rarely an option. So they must face the tall task of tackling web, iOS, and Android at the...
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David Heinemeier...
Five big open source gifts from us It’s been an incredibly productive year at 37signals. Perhaps our most productive one yet, in terms...
a year ago
17

Five big open source gifts from us

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
It’s been an incredibly productive year at 37signals. Perhaps our most productive one yet, in terms of total number of product improvements, new product developments, and open source extractions. But it’s only by looking back at the work from a distance that you can really...
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David Heinemeier...
Finished software One of the driving aspirations behind once.com is the notion that not all software needs to evolve...
a year ago
17

Finished software

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
One of the driving aspirations behind once.com is the notion that not all software needs to evolve forever. We’ve become so used to digital services being malleable that we’ve confused the possibility of software updates with their necessity. Some software can simply be finished,...
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David Heinemeier...
Wisdom is not what you know The hallmark of great wisdom is not what you know, but what you know and can put to use. The globe...
a year ago
17

Wisdom is not what you know

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
The hallmark of great wisdom is not what you know, but what you know and can put to use. The globe is full of learned idiots, unable or incapable of following the wisdom they have accumulated. There's no prize for a closet full of axioms or insights, if you leave it all in there,...
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David Heinemeier...
X marks the motivated reasoning I’ve lost track of all the things that Musk has done to Twitter that ought to have brought it down...
a year ago
17

X marks the motivated reasoning

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
I’ve lost track of all the things that Musk has done to Twitter that ought to have brought it down by now. Scarcely a month goes by without some action triggering the incessant bells of doom, ringing from the bellies of bloviating ding dongs. And the ringing seemingly never stops...
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David Heinemeier...
Apple does AI as Microsoft did mobile When the iPhone first appeared in 2007, Microsoft was sitting pretty with their mobile strategy....
3 weeks ago
17

Apple does AI as Microsoft did mobile

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

3 weeks ago
When the iPhone first appeared in 2007, Microsoft was sitting pretty with their mobile strategy. They'd been early to the market with Windows CE, they were fast-following the iPod with their Zune. They also had the dominant operating system, the dominant office package, and...
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David Heinemeier...
Staying in the arena One of the things that can seem difficult to understand for people who merely tolerate having a job...
a year ago
17

Staying in the arena

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
One of the things that can seem difficult to understand for people who merely tolerate having a job is why anyone would continue working if they didn't have to. You often see a version of this incredulity when the peanut gallery weighs in on the choices of billionaires. Why do...
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David Heinemeier...
Learning to accept defeat against reality A great many smart people terminably hamper their ability to better understand the world by refusing...
a year ago
17

Learning to accept defeat against reality

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
A great many smart people terminably hamper their ability to better understand the world by refusing to accept defeat when reality proves them wrong. Armed with an intellect that's at once both too proud to recognize it's own failings and cunningly capable of producing...
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David Heinemeier...
Back to America After spending much of the past three years in Denmark, our family is returning to America full time...
a year ago
17

Back to America

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
After spending much of the past three years in Denmark, our family is returning to America full time this summer. The original reasons for temporarily emigrating – the prolonged school lockdowns and other pandemic madness – have long since evaporated, and we've had a solid chance...
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David Heinemeier...
Design for the web without Figma By all accounts, Figma has been an amazing tool for designers. We've used it extensively at...
a year ago
17

Design for the web without Figma

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
By all accounts, Figma has been an amazing tool for designers. We've used it extensively at 37signals, and I'm sure most every other software shop has too. Adobe didn't pay $20 billion for nothing. But we don't do the bulk of our design work with or in Figma when developing...
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David Heinemeier...
Finishing Hotwire with the introduction of Strada When we announced Hotwire a few years back, it was always meant as a triptych. The center piece is...
a year ago
16

Finishing Hotwire with the introduction of Strada

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
When we announced Hotwire a few years back, it was always meant as a triptych. The center piece is Turbo. That's the drop-in level-up that makes multi-page web apps feel like single-page web apps – without giving up any of the development advantages to server-side programming....
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David Heinemeier...
Et tu, Zoom? The corporate cause for return-to-office just claimed its perhaps most ironic victim: Zoom! The...
a year ago
16

Et tu, Zoom?

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
The corporate cause for return-to-office just claimed its perhaps most ironic victim: Zoom! The company that literally lives to sell us all on the wonders of remote collaboration wants its own people back into the office again. Which I guess is just a regression to the mean of...
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David Heinemeier...
There's no rebound in sight for unprofitable SaaS Anyone reviewing their S&P 500 retirement fund these days will do so with a broader smile than last...
a year ago
16

There's no rebound in sight for unprofitable SaaS

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Anyone reviewing their S&P 500 retirement fund these days will do so with a broader smile than last year. The market as a whole is up, and if you're in the whole market, you're benefitting. But all of that upside, basically, belongs to just a handful of mega tech companies. This...
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David Heinemeier...
The benefit of seniority ought to be bandwidth Juniors are judged on effort, seniors are judged on outcomes. That’s a common and useful heuristic...
a year ago
16

The benefit of seniority ought to be bandwidth

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Juniors are judged on effort, seniors are judged on outcomes. That’s a common and useful heuristic for evaluating employees. It neatly separates productivity from effectiveness, and places a premium on the latter. But the biggest benefit of this distinction ought to be of the...
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David Heinemeier...
Apple actually lost a court case for once, but they refuse to comply in good faith Apple just lost an appeal on the ruling from the Epic case that mandated the company allow app...
a year ago
16

Apple actually lost a court case for once, but they refuse to comply in good faith

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Apple just lost an appeal on the ruling from the Epic case that mandated the company allow app developers the right to link to their own websites. And it seems like Apple had been preparing for this outcome, because immediately thereafter, Apple revealed an elaborate bad-faith...
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David Heinemeier...
Tesla wins When we first got our Tesla Model X four years ago, I wasn't the biggest fan. Build quality was...
a year ago
16

Tesla wins

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
When we first got our Tesla Model X four years ago, I wasn't the biggest fan. Build quality was spotty, brakes didn't match the performance, and handling was at best so-so. But it could carry seven, including luggage, was electric, and the dual-motor acceleration was a hoot. So...
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David Heinemeier...
Workfeed goes to America During my three years in Denmark, I invested in five local startups. All on the premise that we'd...
a year ago
16

Workfeed goes to America

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
During my three years in Denmark, I invested in five local startups. All on the premise that we'd work towards becoming profitable, remaining in the country, and avoiding the VC timebomb. The one that has already fulfilled all the objectives is Workfeed, and now they're ready to...
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David Heinemeier...
One happy Rails World Celebrating twenty years of Ruby on Rails with more than 700 happy developers packed into the...
a year ago
16

One happy Rails World

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Celebrating twenty years of Ruby on Rails with more than 700 happy developers packed into the coolest conference venue possible in Amsterdam was epic. Safe to say, Rails World was a roaring success. Which is deeply satisfying to conclude, because it really wasn't a given outcome...
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David Heinemeier...
You can't fix core competency with a stern conversation When things aren't going well with a new hire, the problem usually falls into one of two categories:...
a year ago
16

You can't fix core competency with a stern conversation

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
When things aren't going well with a new hire, the problem usually falls into one of two categories: competency or engagement. If it's a problem with engagement – their style of collaboration, their communication, their approach – there's a good chance you can fix it with some...
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David Heinemeier...
The curing value of creation It's hard not to see your spirits lifted when you're part of bringing something to life. Be that a...
a year ago
16

The curing value of creation

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
It's hard not to see your spirits lifted when you're part of bringing something to life. Be that a product, an organization, or a community, or all three at once. Like exercise, it's one of those rare avenues of human endeavor that almost invariably will make anyone feel better....
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David Heinemeier...
Stick with the customer One of the biggest mistakes that new startup founders make is trying to get away from the...
a month ago
16

Stick with the customer

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a month ago
One of the biggest mistakes that new startup founders make is trying to get away from the customer-facing roles too early. Whether it's customer support or it's sales, it's an incredible advantage to have the founders doing that work directly, and for much longer than they find...
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David Heinemeier...
Microsoft taught Apple nothing Apple is protecting its App Store racket with the same kind of indignant entitlement that...
a year ago
16

Microsoft taught Apple nothing

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Apple is protecting its App Store racket with the same kind of indignant entitlement that characterized Microsoft during its darkest monopoly days. They’re in full “cut off the air supply” mode in Cupertino, pursuing Epic for a $73m legal bill in a lawsuit they partially lost....
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David Heinemeier...
Rails World sold out in less than 45 minutes There hasn't been a major, dedicated Rails conference in Europe since 2008, so perhaps it's no...
a year ago
16

Rails World sold out in less than 45 minutes

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
There hasn't been a major, dedicated Rails conference in Europe since 2008, so perhaps it's no surprise that there was pent-up demand. But I was still shocked to see the forthcoming Rails World visit to Amsterdam sell out in less than 45 minutes yesterday! What an awesome...
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David Heinemeier...
Negative visualization in practice The most counterintuitive of the Stoic mental exercises is that of negative visualization. Willfully...
a year ago
16

Negative visualization in practice

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
The most counterintuitive of the Stoic mental exercises is that of negative visualization. Willfully imagining all manner of terrible things that might befall you, but haven't yet. Described like this, it sorta sounds like a fancy word of anxiety, but if you look closer, it's in...
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David Heinemeier...
Human service is luxury Maybe one day AI will answer every customer question flawlessly, but we're nowhere near that reality...
a month ago
16

Human service is luxury

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a month ago
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",...
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David Heinemeier...
The New York Times gives liberals The Danish Permission to pivot on mass immigration One of the key roles The New York Times plays in American society is as guardians of the liberal...
a month ago
16

The New York Times gives liberals The Danish Permission to pivot on mass immigration

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a month ago
One of the key roles The New York Times plays in American society is as guardians of the liberal Overton window. Its editorial line sets the terms for what's permissible to discuss in polite circles on the center left. Whether it's covid mask efficiency, trans kids, or, now, mass...
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David Heinemeier...
Keeping the lights on while leaving the cloud It was a big year for ops at 37signals. In 2023, we moved seven major applications out of the cloud....
a year ago
16

Keeping the lights on while leaving the cloud

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
It was a big year for ops at 37signals. In 2023, we moved seven major applications out of the cloud. Including HEY, our email service, which had been born there, and has an extremely high level of uptime criticality. Moving out of the cloud could not interfere with that...
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David Heinemeier...
Turns out nobody cared about panel gaps One of the most fascinating aspects of Tesla's rise to dominance has been how they discarded many of...
a year ago
16

Turns out nobody cared about panel gaps

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
One of the most fascinating aspects of Tesla's rise to dominance has been how they discarded many of the traditional values of car making. While the rest of the industry was stuck competing on the size of their panel gaps, and other aspects of precision and quality assembly,...
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David Heinemeier...
Challenging the guardians of the paradigm I swear the intention isn’t to constantly start fights with guardians of every sacred paradigm in...
a year ago
16

Challenging the guardians of the paradigm

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
I swear the intention isn’t to constantly start fights with guardians of every sacred paradigm in the tech world. To be honest, it’s been a bit exhausting at times to concurrently argue on at least three major flanks. But that’s just how this year has turned out, given the work...
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David Heinemeier...
AMD in everything Back in the mid 90s, I had a friend who was really into raytracing, but needed to nurture his hobby...
a month ago
16

AMD in everything

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a month ago
Back in the mid 90s, I had a friend who was really into raytracing, but needed to nurture his hobby on a budget. So instead of getting a top-of-the-line Intel Pentium machine, he bought two AMD K5 boxes, and got a faster rendering flow for less money. All I cared about in the 90s...
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David Heinemeier...
We tried that, didn’t work In our quest for making programming simpler, faster, and prettier, no logical fallacy provides as...
a year ago
15

We tried that, didn’t work

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
In our quest for making programming simpler, faster, and prettier, no logical fallacy provides as much of an obstacle as “we tried that, didn’t work”. The fallacy that past failed attempts dictates the scope of what's possible. That just because someone, somewhere, one time...
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David Heinemeier...
Pick promise over proof After hiring people for twenty years, I've come to accept that it's impossible to know up front what...
a year ago
15

Pick promise over proof

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
After hiring people for twenty years, I've come to accept that it's impossible to know up front what someone is truly capable of. Sure, we try our best to make good, educated guesses during the hiring process, and this is why asking finalists to do sample work projects is so...
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David Heinemeier...
Turbo 8 is dropping TypeScript By all accounts, TypeScript has been a big success for Microsoft. I've seen loads of people sparkle...
a year ago
15

Turbo 8 is dropping TypeScript

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
By all accounts, TypeScript has been a big success for Microsoft. I've seen loads of people sparkle with joy from dousing JavaScript with explicit types that can be checked by a compiler. But I've never been a fan. Not after giving it five minutes, not after giving it five years....
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David Heinemeier...
Air purifiers are a simple answer to allergies I developed seasonal allergies relatively late in life. From my late twenties onward, I spent many...
4 weeks ago
15

Air purifiers are a simple answer to allergies

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

4 weeks ago
I developed seasonal allergies relatively late in life. From my late twenties onward, I spent many miserable days in the throes of sneezing, headache, and runny eyes. I tried everything the doctors recommended for relief. About a million different types of medicine, several bouts...
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David Heinemeier...
There are no secrets left First-time entrepreneurs are often insecure about all the things they believe they don’t know. Maybe...
a year ago
15

There are no secrets left

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
First-time entrepreneurs are often insecure about all the things they believe they don’t know. Maybe if they just get this one investor involved, they’ll know everything they need to do to crack product-market fit. Maybe if they just compose a board full of smart people, they’ll...
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David Heinemeier...
Our cloud exit has already yielded $1m/year in savings Getting our applications out of the cloud provided the main celebration for our exit, but seeing the...
a year ago
15

Our cloud exit has already yielded $1m/year in savings

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Getting our applications out of the cloud provided the main celebration for our exit, but seeing the actual spend tumble is the prize. See, the only way to get pricing in the cloud down from obscene to merely offensive is through reserved instances. This is where you sign up for...
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David Heinemeier...
Clear the barnacles The easiest way to squander your focus is by paying attention to a million inconsequential things at...
a year ago
15

Clear the barnacles

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
The easiest way to squander your focus is by paying attention to a million inconsequential things at once. These little mental barnacles add up in imperceptible ways until you suddenly feel like you're getting nowhere, no matter how hard you push. You must keep scrubbing your...
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David Heinemeier...
Kamal 1.0 I count my lucky stars that SUSE's pricing for Rancher and Harvester was so ridiculous over the top...
a year ago
15

Kamal 1.0

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
I count my lucky stars that SUSE's pricing for Rancher and Harvester was so ridiculous over the top for our situation. If they hadn't reached for those million-dollar contracts, we'd probably be stuck in enterprise vendor hell forever, buying over-priced consulting services for...
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David Heinemeier...
Picking a purpose Victor Frankl wrote Man’s Search for Meaning after surviving a concentration camp during World War...
a year ago
14

Picking a purpose

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Victor Frankl wrote Man’s Search for Meaning after surviving a concentration camp during World War II. He observed the outer  extreme of what happens to people who no longer have a WHY to live for. They’d wither and die in the camp. Even the most dire rations and punishing labor...
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David Heinemeier...
Apple approves the HEY Calendar I’ll admit it was a bit cheeky to make our new HEY Calendar app “do something” by including Apple’s...
a year ago
14

Apple approves the HEY Calendar

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
I’ll admit it was a bit cheeky to make our new HEY Calendar app “do something” by including Apple’s own history as a preview for people who don’t have an account. And I didn’t give the gambit better than 30% odds of succeeding, but lo and behold, it did! Apple has approved our...
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David Heinemeier...
Patek levels of finishing We’re in the final phase of getting the first ONCE product out the door. As with any new...
a year ago
14

Patek levels of finishing

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
We’re in the final phase of getting the first ONCE product out the door. As with any new development, there are a million little details we need to nail for a successful launch that’s up to our standards. That’s usually where the temptation to cut corners on internal quality...
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David Heinemeier...
The Big Cloud Exit FAQ Just over a year ago, we announced our intention to leave the cloud. We then shared our complete...
a year ago
14

The Big Cloud Exit FAQ

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Just over a year ago, we announced our intention to leave the cloud. We then shared our complete $3.2 million cloud budget for 2022, and the fact that we were going to build our own tooling rather than pay for overpriced enterprise service contracts. The mission was set! A month...
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David Heinemeier...
Beans and vibes in even measure Bean counters have a bad rep for a reason. And it’s not because paying attention to the numbers is...
4 weeks ago
14

Beans and vibes in even measure

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

4 weeks ago
Bean counters have a bad rep for a reason. And it’s not because paying attention to the numbers is inherently unreasonable. It’s because weighing everything exclusively by its quantifiable properties is an impoverished way to view business (and the world!). Nobody presents this...
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David Heinemeier...
We’ve resubmitted the HEY Calendar app to Apple Apple waited until end of business on Friday to send us the formal rejection of the HEY Calendar...
a year ago
14

We’ve resubmitted the HEY Calendar app to Apple

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Apple waited until end of business on Friday to send us the formal rejection of the HEY Calendar app. It seems they love to play these little games to try to drown any controversy with the cover of a weekend. But we don’t roll over that easy, so the team worked through the...
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David Heinemeier...
Don't lose your unreasonable sense of urgency Getting anything new off the ground usually requires a tremendous amount of urgency. It's hard to...
a year ago
14

Don't lose your unreasonable sense of urgency

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Getting anything new off the ground usually requires a tremendous amount of urgency. It's hard to launch something  from nothing into reality without being incredibly impatient for progress. Thus most founders begin 🎶Their Journey🎶 sprinting from one pressing problem to the...
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David Heinemeier...
The law of the land Affirmative action is right up there with abortion and gun control among the highest-profile,...
a year ago
13

The law of the land

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
Affirmative action is right up there with abortion and gun control among the highest-profile, longest-running social fissures in America. So of course the recent ruling from the Supreme Court making its use in college admissions illegal was going to light a political fire. The...
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David Heinemeier...
Five big open source gifts from us in 2023 It’s been an incredibly productive year at 37signals. Perhaps our most productive one yet, in terms...
a year ago
13

Five big open source gifts from us in 2023

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
It’s been an incredibly productive year at 37signals. Perhaps our most productive one yet, in terms of total number of product improvements, new product developments, and open source extractions. But it’s only by looking back at the work from a distance that you can really...
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David Heinemeier...
Working remotely is a competitive hiring advantage again As more and more companies, especially large ones, have started demanding remote workers return to...
a year ago
13

Working remotely is a competitive hiring advantage again

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
As more and more companies, especially large ones, have started demanding remote workers return to the office, the competitive hiring advantage for remote-first companies is back. And it's even bigger than before the pandemic, now that so many workers have had a taste of what...
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David Heinemeier...
Pessimism is on the retreat I feel it in the feed. I feel it in the discourse. I smell it in the vibes.  Much of the pessimism...
a year ago
12

Pessimism is on the retreat

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a year ago
I feel it in the feed. I feel it in the discourse. I smell it in the vibes.  Much of the pessimism that once was is lost, for none now wish to remember it. We’ve lived through some strange years in the recent past. Much stranger than any I can remember since my earliest, solid...
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David Heinemeier...
Closing the borders alone won't fix the problems Denmark has been reaping lots of delayed accolades from its relatively strict immigration policy...
3 weeks ago
11

Closing the borders alone won't fix the problems

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

3 weeks ago
Denmark has been reaping lots of delayed accolades from its relatively strict immigration policy lately. The Swedes and the Germans in particular are now eager to take inspiration from The Danish Model, given their predicaments. The very same countries that until recently...
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David Heinemeier...
The most interesting people We didn’t used to need an explanation for having kids. That was just life. That’s just what you did....
2 weeks ago
11

The most interesting people

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

2 weeks ago
We didn’t used to need an explanation for having kids. That was just life. That’s just what you did. But now we do, because now we don’t. So allow me: Having kids means making the most interesting people in the world. Not because toddlers or even teenagers are intellectual...
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David Heinemeier...
To hell with forever Immortality always sounded like a curse to me. But especially now, having passed the halfway point...
a week ago
11

To hell with forever

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a week ago
Immortality always sounded like a curse to me. But especially now, having passed the halfway point of the average wealthy male life expectancy. Another scoop of life as big as the one I've already been served seems more than enough, thank you very much. Does that strike you as...
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David Heinemeier...
We wash our trash to repent for killing God Denmark is technically and officially still a Christian nation. Lutheranism is written into the...
3 weeks ago
10

We wash our trash to repent for killing God

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

3 weeks ago
Denmark is technically and officially still a Christian nation. Lutheranism is written into the constitution. The government has a ministry for the church. Most Danes pay 1% of their earnings directly to fund the State religion. But God is as dead here as anywhere in the Western...
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David Heinemeier...
Our switch to Kamal is complete In a fit of frustration, I wrote the first version of Kamal in six weeks at the start of 2023. Our...
3 weeks ago
10

Our switch to Kamal is complete

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

3 weeks ago
In a fit of frustration, I wrote the first version of Kamal in six weeks at the start of 2023. Our plan to get out of the cloud was getting bogged down in enterprisey pricing and Kubernetes complexity. And I refused to accept that running our own hardware had to be that expensive...
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David Heinemeier...
Apple needs a new asshole in charge When things are going well, managers can fool themselves into thinking that people trying their best...
2 weeks ago
9

Apple needs a new asshole in charge

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

2 weeks ago
When things are going well, managers can fool themselves into thinking that people trying their best is all that matters. Poor outcomes are just another opportunity for learning! But that delusion stops working when the wheels finally start coming off — like they have now for...
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David Heinemeier...
The 80s are still alive in Denmark I grew up in the 80s in Copenhagen and roamed the city on my own from an early age. My parents...
2 weeks ago
9

The 80s are still alive in Denmark

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

2 weeks ago
I grew up in the 80s in Copenhagen and roamed the city on my own from an early age. My parents rarely had any idea where I went after school, as long as I was home by dinner. They certainly didn’t have direct relationships with the parents of my friends. We just figured things...
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David Heinemeier...
Age is a problem at Apple The average age of Apple's board members is 68! Nearly half are over 70, and the youngest is 63....
2 weeks ago
8

Age is a problem at Apple

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

2 weeks ago
The average age of Apple's board members is 68! Nearly half are over 70, and the youngest is 63. It’s not much better with the executive team, where the average age hovers around 60. I’m all for the wisdom of our elders, but it’s ridiculous that the world’s premier tech company...
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David Heinemeier...
It's five grand a day to miss our S3 exit We're spending just shy of $1.5 million/year on AWS S3 at the moment to host files for Basecamp,...
a week ago
8

It's five grand a day to miss our S3 exit

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a week ago
We're spending just shy of $1.5 million/year on AWS S3 at the moment to host files for Basecamp, HEY, and everything else. The only way we were able to get the pricing that low was by signing a four-year contract. That contract expires this summer, June 30, so that's our...
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David Heinemeier...
The Year on Linux I've been running Linux, Neovim, and Framework for a year now, but it easily feels like a decade or...
6 days ago
6

The Year on Linux

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

6 days ago
I've been running Linux, Neovim, and Framework for a year now, but it easily feels like a decade or more. That's the funny thing about habits: They can be so hard to break, but once you do, they're also easily forgotten. That's how it feels having left the Apple realm after two...
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David Heinemeier...
Singularity & Serenity The singularity is the point where artificial intelligence goes parabolic, surpassing humans writ...
a week ago
6

Singularity & Serenity

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

a week ago
The singularity is the point where artificial intelligence goes parabolic, surpassing humans writ large, and leads to rapid, unpredictable change. The intellectual seed of this concept was planted back in the '50s by early computer pioneer John von Neumann. So it’s been here...
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David Heinemeier...
Great AI Steals Picasso got it right: Great artists steal. Even if he didn’t actually say it, and we all just repeat...
4 days ago
4

Great AI Steals

from David Heinemeier Hansson [alt+shift+b] in programming

4 days ago
Picasso got it right: Great artists steal. Even if he didn’t actually say it, and we all just repeat the quote because Steve Jobs used it. Because it strikes at the heart of creativity: None of it happens in a vacuum. Everything is inspired by something. The best ideas, angles,...
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