Systematic approaches to eliminating repetitive tasks through intelligent scripting and workflow optimization.
Discover the satisfaction of watching machines handle the mundane while you tackle the meaningful. Every automation story here started with frustration at repetition and ended with scripts that feel like trusted colleagues working the night shift.10 min read
Environment reproducibility: Docker vs. Nix vs. Vagrant
Production threw segmentation faults in unchanged code. Four hours revealed the cause: Node.js 18.16.0 versus 18.17.1—a patch version difference in native addon handling exposing a memory corruption issue. Environment drift creates space for bugs to hide. Docker, Nix, and Vagrant solve reproducibility at different levels with distinct trade-offs.
9 min read
Reproducible development environments: the Nix approach
Dozens of Go microservices in Docker, almost a dozen Node.js UI applications, PostgreSQL, Redis. Extensive setup process. Docker Desktop, Go 1.21 specifically, Node.js 18 specifically, PostgreSQL 14, build tools differing between macOS and Linux. When it breaks, debugging requires understanding which layer failed. Developers spend 10% of working time fighting environment issues.
10 min read
The hidden cost of free tooling: when open source becomes technical debt
Adding file compression should have taken a day. Three packages needed different versions of the same streaming library. Three days of dependency archaeology, GitHub issue spelunking, and version juggling later, we manually patched node_modules with a post-install script. Open source is free to download but expensive to maintain.
10 min read
Terminal multiplexing: beyond the basics
Network drops during critical database migrations. SSH connections terminate mid-deployment. Terminal crashes destroy hours of workspace setup. tmux decouples your terminal interface from persistent sessions that continue running independently—network failures become irrelevant interruptions rather than catastrophic losses, whilst organised workspaces survive crashes and reconnections.
7 min read
SSH dotfiles: unlocking efficiency
Managing dozens of SSH connections means remembering complex hostnames, multiple keys, and elaborate commands you copy from text files. The .ssh/config file transforms this chaos into memorable aliases that map mental shortcuts to complete configurations, reducing cognitive load so you can focus on actual work rather than SSH incantations.
11 min read
Dotfiles: why and how
Working on someone else's machine feels like writing with their hands—common commands fail, shortcuts vanish, and everything feels wrong. Dotfiles transform this by capturing your accumulated workflow optimisation in version-controlled configuration files, turning any terminal into your terminal within minutes rather than days of manual reconfiguration.
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