Ben Balter writes about technology leadership, open source, and modern collaboration at scale. His essays blend engineering mindset with management, community building, remote work, and transparent communication—shaped by years of experience at GitHub and in public-sector tech.
183 articles from this blog
A guide to creating helpful 404 error pages for Jekyll and GitHub Pages sites using JavaScript to suggest relevant pages based on URL similarity.
Explores the benefits of asynchronous work for remote teams, contrasting it with traditional synchronous workflows and highlighting productivity gains.
Explains why leaders must transparently document decision-making processes and reasoning, using tools like GitHub issues, to scale effectively.
A guide to using GitHub Actions to monitor API responses or web pages for changes and receive automated notifications via SMS or other channels.
A developer details their journey to further automate and secure their home network using Docker, Ansible, and AdGuard Home.
Final post in a series on managing open source communities, focusing on moderation strategies like codes of conduct and tiered tools.
A guide offering practical advice for managing large open source communities, covering automation, governance, and moderation.
Practical advice for establishing and operationalizing governance in mature open source projects, covering ownership, security, and contributor roles.
A former Product Manager shares nine key responsibilities of a Technical Program Manager, focusing on communication, coordination, and project tracking.
A GitHub engineer reflects on eight years of impactful projects, including GeoJSON rendering, government outreach, and GitHub Pages improvements.
A curated list of articles explaining GitHub's unique work culture, communication practices, and tips for new hires and interviewees.
A technical analysis of U.S. federal .gov domains, tracking changes in security, CMS usage, and open source adoption over a decade.
A tech enthusiast details their project to build a secure, private home network using prosumer hardware and custom configurations.
A blog's 10-year anniversary retrospective, listing its top 10 most-viewed posts on topics like open source, GitHub, and tech law.
A GitHub product manager argues that user safety and abuse prevention should be prioritized like security vulnerabilities, not dismissed as edge cases.
Discusses the critical importance of budgeting for 'trust and safety' work to combat online abuse, framing it as a necessary 'internet tax' for tech platforms.
A guide for developers on seven essential trust and safety features to proactively build into products to prevent abuse and harassment.
A GitHub Product Manager shares strategies for handling high volumes of GitHub notifications to stay focused and productive.
A GitHub engineer explains how communication tools shape software development, detailing principles like 'default to open' and practical tool usage at GitHub.
Explores automating open source community tasks like code review and issue management using CI tools and bots to scale projects efficiently.
