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
The article argues that current web analytics practices fail to meet ethical standards of informed consent and calls for industry reform.
A developer shares practical strategies for making a living from free and open-source software, covering employment and monetizing personal projects.
A critique of DuckDuckGo's privacy and technical flaws, arguing for a new, truly open-source search engine with its own crawler.
A developer's status update covering SourceHut's anniversary, Gemini server progress, BARE implementations, and a new Wayland server.
Argues that professional programming tools should prioritize utility and power over ease of use, accepting a steeper learning curve for long-term productivity.
An introduction to the Gemini protocol, a simple, modern alternative to the web for exchanging hypertext documents, and why the author is excited about it.
The original maintainer of the sway window manager and wlroots library is handing over project maintenance to Simon Ser.
A critical analysis of Firefox and Mozilla's decline, citing layoffs, executive pay raises, and strategic failures, arguing the web is a lost cause.
Developer updates on new workstation, SourceHut API 2.0 progress, Gemini protocol projects, and other software developments.
The article outlines four core principles for building quality software: robustness, reliability, stability, and simplicity.
A critique of Hacktoberfest, arguing it creates spammy pull requests and burdens open-source maintainers for corporate marketing.
A developer compares musl libc and glibc implementations after a segfault bug in scdoc, highlighting differences in isalnum behavior.
Explains the Trust-On-First-Use (TOFU) algorithm implemented for the gmni Gemini client, detailing certificate validation and trust management.
Explores federation as a scalable, decentralized alternative to centralized and P2P systems for internet communication and governance.
A developer's monthly update on progress with SourceHut's GraphQL APIs, OAuth 2.0, and other free software projects.
Explores the deeply distributed nature of Linux kernel development, using the MAINTAINERS file and DRM subsystem as examples.
Critique of Microsoft's 'Embrace, Extend, Extinguish' strategy regarding GitHub, git, and open source, promoting alternative platforms like sourcehut.
An article exploring the concept of 'yak shaving' in software engineering, encouraging engineers to tackle complex, nested problems methodically.
A developer's monthly update covering BARE encoding progress, SourceHut infrastructure improvements, and a snippet of low-level I/O code.
A critique arguing that web browsers have become bloated with unnecessary features and APIs, calling for a focus on performance and stability instead.
