Drew DeVault’s blog features sharp commentary on open source, software engineering, programming languages, ethics in tech, and the social impact of technology.
354 articles from this blog
A critique of the dogmatic adherence to Test-Driven Development (TDD), comparing its 'cult-like' following to trends in software engineering.
A developer details the redesign of their microkernel, Hermes, from scratch, focusing on improved design and SMP support.
A critical analysis of FUTO's funding practices, questioning their use of 'open source' and alleged promotion of problematic figures.
A critique of JavaScript's dependency management after a major supply-chain attack, arguing for systemic change but predicting stagnation.
A developer explores embedding the Wren scripting language into Hare programs, detailing the process and showcasing the resulting hare-wren library.
Overview of Himitsu 0.9, a secret storage manager for Linux, covering its new GTK4 prompter and Secret Service API integration.
A guide for FOSS community leaders on handling reactionary agitators, contrasting ineffective and effective response strategies.
A tech worker argues that unionization is essential for survival in the tech industry, citing economic threats and mass layoffs.
A developer analyzes the in-flight map software on British Airways, examining its technical implementation and how it displays international borders.
A call to action for tech workers to resist the rise of fascism, which is increasingly enabled by technology and the tech industry.
A Firefox addon that compares prices relative to different incomes worldwide, highlighting purchasing power and wealth inequality.
The author discusses using linkhut, a bookmarking service, to share interesting links and projects as an alternative to social media, and encourages others to join.
A developer's frustration with aggressive LLM crawlers causing outages and consuming resources, detailing past abuse like crypto mining and Go module mirror issues.
A call to discuss transparency and governance issues at FOSDEM '25 following the cancellation of a controversial sponsored keynote talk.
A protest is planned at FOSDEM '25 to disrupt Jack Dorsey's talk, citing objections to his company's sponsorship and advocating for more transparent event processes.
A critique of Jack Dorsey's keynote at FOSDEM, arguing billionaires and their harmful ventures are unwelcome in the free software community.
Analyzes the flawed argument that criticizing Richard Stallman's harmful views is ableist due to his alleged neurodivergence, within the free software community.
A retrospective analysis of the Rust-for-Linux project's progress, challenges, and developer burnout, two years after its initial proposal.
Analyzes the economic challenges for businesses trying to monetize open source software, highlighting the inherent conflict between collaboration and competition.
A developer recounts their month-long project to create Bunnix, a Unix-like operating system for x86_64, detailing its features and components.
