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
Explores the benefits of using email-based git workflows with tools like git send-email, contrasting them with web platforms like GitHub.
A developer shares their simplified Let's Encrypt setup using acme-client and nginx, avoiding the complexity of certbot.
A developer compares GitHub to his alternative platform, sr.ht, discussing design philosophy, features like CI, and a different business model.
A maintainer shares principles for managing volunteer-driven Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) projects, focusing on volunteer well-being and empowering contributors.
Introducing koio, a lightweight tool for embedding files into C programs, enabling static bundling of assets like markup and images.
Explains the decision to replace the wlc library with wlroots for building Wayland compositors, detailing technical limitations and the new design.
Introducing scdoc, a lightweight, dependency-free man page generator written in C, designed for readability and maintainability.
A guide to redirecting stderr of a running process using gdb, with a practical example and explanation.
Analyzes Google's use of the 'embrace, extend, extinguish' strategy against open standards in products like Gmail, AMP, and chat apps.
A developer reports on a collaborative sprint between the Sway and KDE teams to improve Wayland desktop interoperability and protocols.
Argues for decentralized, open-source social platforms as the solution to privacy exploitation by centralized tech giants like Facebook and Google.
An article encouraging programmers to dive into and contribute to open source projects, even when they seem intimidating or unfamiliar.
A comparison of creating bots for Slack versus IRC, highlighting the complexity of proprietary APIs versus the simplicity of open standards.
Third part of a series on building a Wayland compositor with wlroots, focusing on setting up the compositor to render client windows.
A developer shares their journey to earning sustainable income from recurring donations for their open source projects, enabling full-time FOSS work.
Second part of a series on building a Wayland compositor from scratch using wlroots, focusing on enabling client connections.
First part of a series on building a Wayland compositor from scratch using the wlroots library, aimed at developers with C experience.
Explains the POSIX shell standard, its advantages for script portability over Bash, and provides basic guidelines for writing portable shell scripts.
Sway developers challenge GNOME's stance on client-side decorations for Wayland, advocating for a negotiated protocol and server-side options.
A breakdown of transaction, platform, and withdrawal fees for popular donation platforms like Patreon, with a calculator tool to help creators.
