The Browser Desktop, developer tools
I find myself working in a Windows environment due to some temporary problems with my Linux installation. In terms of user experience Windows is not terrible. But more notable, things mostly just feel...
View ArticleSurveillance, Security, Privacy, Politics
I hang around people who talk about security and privacy and activists quite a bit. When talking security beyond the typical attackers — people committing identity theft, simple vandals, spammers,...
View ArticleNet Neutrality: forcing companies to pay attention to their networks
When it comes to software licensing, I get annoyed at GPL critics. Mostly they argue that a permissive license is more hassle-free. But all licensing hassles come from proprietary licenses. All of...
View ArticleDoctest.js & Callbacks
Many years ago I wrote a fairly straight-forward port of Python’s doctest to Javascript. I thought it was cool, but I didn’t really talk about it that much. Especially because I knew it had one fatal...
View ArticleJavascript on the server AND the client is not a big deal
All the cool kids love Node.js. I’ve used it a little, and it’s fine; I was able to do what I wanted to do, and it wasn’t particularly painful. It’s fun to use something new, and it’s relatively...
View ArticleA Python Web Application Package and Format (we should make one)
At PyCon there was an open space about deployment, and the idea of drop-in applications (Java-WAR-style). I generally get pessimistic about 80% solutions, and dropping in a WAR file feels like an 80%...
View ArticleMy Unsolicited Advice For PyPy
I think the most interesting work in programming languages right now is about the runtime, not syntax or even the languages themselves. Which places PyPy in an interesting position, as they have put a...
View ArticleGit-as-sync, not source-control-as-deployment
I don’t like systems that use git push for deployment (Heroku et al). Why? I do a lot of this: $ git push deploy ... realize I forgot a domain name ... $ git commit -m "fix domain name" -a ; git push...
View ArticlePython Application Package
I’ve been thinking some more about deployment of Python web applications, and deployment in general (in part leading up to the Web Summit). And I’ve got an idea. I wrote about this about a year ago...
View ArticleWhy doctest.js is better than Python’s doctest
I’ve been trying, not too successfully I’m afraid, to get more people to use doctest.js. There’s probably a few reasons people don’t. They are all wrong! Doctest.js is the best! One issue in...
View ArticleNew Blog Software
Since I want to start blogging again, of course I have to also change my software. That’s just out these things work.And to start a new blog I need at least one post, otherwise things are breaky. So of...
View Article“new” Considered Harmful
Javascript objects and classes aren’t hard. This whole “prototype” thing is blamed for too much: prototype-based programming isn’t hard. this is really weird, but prototypes aren’t.What’s...
View ArticleThe overuse of functions
A programming quandry (related to some thoughts I’ve had on locality):The prevailing wisdom says that you should keep your functions small and concise, refactoring and extracting functions as...
View ArticleWebTest HTTP testing
I’ve yet to see another testing system for local web testing that I like as much as WebTest… which is perhaps personal bias for something I wrote, but then I don’t have that same bias towards...
View ArticleCore Competencies, Silver Lining, Packaging
I’ve been leaning heavily on Ubuntu and Debian packages for Silver Lining. Lots of “configuration management” problems are easy when you rely on the system packages… not for any magical reason, but...
View ArticleSilver Lining: More People!
OK… so I said before Silver Lining is for collaborators not users. And that’s still true… it’s not a polished experience where you can confidently ignore the innards of the tool. But it does stuff, and...
View ArticleThe Browser Desktop, developer tools
I find myself working in a Windows environment due to some temporary problems with my Linux installation. In terms of user experience Windows is not terrible. But more notable, things mostly just feel...
View ArticleSurveillance, Security, Privacy, Politics
I hang around people who talk about security and privacy and activists quite a bit. When talking security beyond the typical attackers — people committing identity theft, simple vandals, spammers, etc....
View ArticleNet Neutrality: forcing companies to pay attention to their networks
When it comes to software licensing, I get annoyed at GPL critics. Mostly they argue that a permissive license is more hassle-free. But all licensing hassles come from proprietary licenses. All of...
View ArticleDoctest.js & Callbacks
Many years ago I wrote a fairly straight-forward port of Python’s doctest to Javascript. I thought it was cool, but I didn’t really talk about it that much. Especially because I knew it had one fatal...
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