I’ve been putting this post off for a while. Do you remember the CloudFlare security problem that happened a few months ago? This is the one that disclosed huge amounts of sensitive information for huge numbers websites. When this happened, your accounts on thousands of websites were potentially com...

I recently saw a post on Hacker News: “Build yourself a Linux”, a cool project that guides you through building a simple Linux system. It’s similar to Linux from Scratch in that it helps you build a simple Linux system for personal use. I’d like to supplement this with some insight into my experienc...

I recently saw a post on Hacker News: “Build yourself a Linux”, a cool project that guides you through building a simple Linux system. It’s similar to Linux from Scratch in that it helps you build a simple Linux system for personal use. I’d like to supplement this with some insight into my experienc...

Development on Sway continues. I thought we would have slowed down a lot more by now, but every release still comes with new features - Sway 0.12 added redshift support and binary space partitioning layouts. Sway 0.13.0 is coming soon and includes, among other things, nvidia proprietary driver suppo...

Development on Sway continues. I thought we would have slowed down a lot more by now, but every release still comes with new features - Sway 0.12 added redshift support and binary space partitioning layouts. Sway 0.13.0 is coming soon and includes, among other things, nvidia proprietary driver suppo...

I heard about CVE-2016-10229 earlier today. In a nutshell, it allows for arbitrary code execution via UDP traffic if userspace programs are using MSG_PEEK in their recv calls. I quickly updated my kernels and rebooted any boxes where necessary, but when I read the discussions on this matter I saw pe...

I heard about CVE-2016-10229 earlier today. In a nutshell, it allows for arbitrary code execution via UDP traffic if userspace programs are using MSG_PEEK in their recv calls. I quickly updated my kernels and rebooted any boxes where necessary, but when I read the discussions on this matter I saw pe...

In the words of Doug Gwyn, “Unix was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things, because that would also stop you from doing clever things”. C is a very powerful tool, but it is to be used with care and discipline. Learning this discipline is well worth the effort, because C is one of the bes...

In the words of Doug Gwyn, “Unix was not designed to stop you from doing stupid things, because that would also stop you from doing clever things”. C is a very powerful tool, but it is to be used with care and discipline. Learning this discipline is well worth the effort, because C is one of the bes...

I have a number of long-term projects that I plan for on long timelines, on the order of decades or more. One of these projects is cozy, a C toolchain. I haven’t talked about this project in public before, so I’ll start by introducing you to the project. The main C toolchains in the “actually usable...

I have a number of long-term projects that I plan for on long timelines, on the order of decades or more. One of these projects is cozy, a C toolchain. I haven’t talked about this project in public before, so I’ll start by introducing you to the project. The main C toolchains in the “actually usable...

C is my favorite language, though I acknowledge that it has its warts. I’ve tried looking at languages people hope will replace C (Rust, Go, etc), and though they’ve improved on some things they won’t be supplanting C in my life any time soon. I’ll share with you what makes C a great language to me....

C is my favorite language, though I acknowledge that it has its warts. I’ve tried looking at languages people hope will replace C (Rust, Go, etc), and though they’ve improved on some things they won’t be supplanting C in my life any time soon. I’ll share with you what makes C a great language to me....

I’ve found myself explaining Python 3’s str to people online more and more often lately. There’s this ridiculous claim about that Python 3’s string handling is broken or somehow worse than Python 2, and today I intend to put that myth to rest. Python 2 strings are broken, and Python 3 strings are sa...

I’ve found myself explaining Python 3’s str to people online more and more often lately. There’s this ridiculous claim about that Python 3’s string handling is broken or somehow worse than Python 2, and today I intend to put that myth to rest. Python 2 strings are broken, and Python 3 strings are sa...

I maintain a lot of open source projects. In order to do so, I have to effectively manage my time. Most of my projects follow this philosophy: if you want something changed, send a patch. If you are running into an annoying bug, fix it and send a patch. If you want a new feature, implement it and se...

I maintain a lot of open source projects. In order to do so, I have to effectively manage my time. Most of my projects follow this philosophy: if you want something changed, send a patch. If you are running into an annoying bug, fix it and send a patch. If you want a new feature, implement it and se...

Earlier today I released sway 0.11, which (along with lots of the usual new features and bug fixes) introduces support for security policies that can help realize the promise of a secure Wayland desktop. We also just started a bounty program that lets you sponsor the things you want done and rewards...

Earlier today I released sway 0.11, which (along with lots of the usual new features and bug fixes) introduces support for security policies that can help realize the promise of a secure Wayland desktop. We also just started a bounty program that lets you sponsor the things you want done and rewards...

Disclaimer: I am not a network engineer. That’s the point of this blog post, though - I want to share with non-networking people enough information about networking to get by. Hopefully by the end of this post you’ll know enough about networking to keep up with a conversation on networking, or know ...

Disclaimer: I am not a network engineer. That’s the point of this blog post, though - I want to share with non-networking people enough information about networking to get by. Hopefully by the end of this post you’ll know enough about networking to keep up with a conversation on networking, or know ...

Yeah, I know that “considered harmful” essays are allegedly considered harmful. If it surprises you that I’m writing one, though, you must be a new reader. Welcome! Let’s get started. If you’re unfamiliar with Electron, it’s some hot new tech that lets you make desktop applications with HTML+CSS+Jav...

Yeah, I know that “considered harmful” essays are allegedly considered harmful. If it surprises you that I’m writing one, though, you must be a new reader. Welcome! Let’s get started. If you’re unfamiliar with Electron, it’s some hot new tech that lets you make desktop applications with HTML+CSS+Jav...

I used Google for a long time, but have waned myself off of it over the past few years, and I finally deleted my account a little over a month ago. I feel so much better about my privacy now that I’ve removed Google from the equation, and self hosting my things affords me a lot of flexibility and us...

I used Google for a long time, but have waned myself off of it over the past few years, and I finally deleted my account a little over a month ago. I feel so much better about my privacy now that I’ve removed Google from the equation, and self hosting my things affords me a lot of flexibility and us...

I recently quit my job at Linode and started looking for something else to do. For the first time in my career, I’m seriously considering opportunities abroad. Sorry for the politically charged post - I promise to get back to tech stuff right away. On November 8th, I’m going to step into the voting ...

I recently quit my job at Linode and started looking for something else to do. For the first time in my career, I’m seriously considering opportunities abroad. Sorry for the politically charged post - I promise to get back to tech stuff right away.On November 8th, I’m going to step into the voting b...

One of the most important choices you’ll make for the software you write is what you write it in, what frameworks you use, the design methodologies to subscribe to, and so on. This choice doesn’t seem to get the respect it’s due. These are some of the only choices you’ll make that you cannot change....

One of the most important choices you’ll make for the software you write is what you write it in, what frameworks you use, the design methodologies to subscribe to, and so on. This choice doesn’t seem to get the respect it’s due. These are some of the only choices you’ll make that you cannot change....

We face an important choice in our lives as technophiles, hackers, geeks: the choice between proprietary software and free/open source software. What platforms we choose to use are important. We have a choice between Windows, OS X, and Linux (not to mention the several less popular choices). We choo...