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Robby Russell

@robbyonrails.com
2.2K followers 189 following 661 posts

F'uncle of six. CEO @PlanetArgon.com. Host @maintainable.fm. Creator of @ohmyz.sh. Guitarist @mightymissoula.com. Host of On Rails podcast. robbyonrails.com/links

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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 1h
I got a job. a job. a job. got a job. www.youtube.com/watch?v=agOO...
youtube.com
MOGWAI feat. IGGY POP - UNDERGROUND (official video)
YouTube video by mogwaiTV
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 20h
A snippet from my keynote last week at #RailsWorld about The Lie.
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 22h
We spend too much time trying to prevent mistakes... I’m increasingly interested in making them cheaper. Preview environments. Staging. Feature flags. Tests. Easy rollbacks. These all help make recovery cheaper.
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 29/09/2026
Some of the @planetargon.com team got a chance to have a post-Rails World retro in Austin. Good vibes... and what a nice-looking bunch of humans.
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 29/09/2026
wuts.wtf
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 28/09/2026
Cynics gonna cynic
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 28/09/2026
Looking through some of the photos from #RailsWorld 2026 now that I’m back home… with plenty to catch up on. Thanks again to everyone I got to spend some time talking with in Austin. And if you’d hoped we’d cross paths but we didn’t manage to… my email is easy enough to guess. Keep showing up.
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 28/09/2026
Your agent can’t tell the difference between a pattern, an old pattern, an abandoned experiment, and something somebody copied six years ago and never touched again. To the agent, it’s all equally plausible prior art. If there’s a right way to do something in your codebase, make it obvious.
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 28/09/2026
Welcome back to your workshop, #RailsWorld attendees. Follow that curiosity. 💙
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 27/09/2026
Latest iOS. Honestly, this isn’t AI generated. This just happened. 😹
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 24/09/2026
Some thoughts after day one of #RailsWorld
reddit.com
From the rails community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the rails community
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 24/09/2026
Thanks for having me, #RailsWorld. Stay curious. Wonder. Unpack. Tinker. Share. And every once in a while… be a Q. wuts.wtf
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 22/09/2026
Early morning run along the river in Austin: dark and humid. 💦 #RailsWorld
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 20/09/2026
Packing for Rails World… More than two months ago, I started writing my keynote by disappearing into the forest near the Oregon coast for a few days. Just me, stacks of notecards, yellow notepads, a lot of trees… and some runs on the beach to let the ideas wander.
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 20/09/2026
Reclaim your weekend. Note to self
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 18/09/2026
We’re just a few days away from Rails World in Austin. Looking forward to catching up with old friends, meeting some new ones, and revisiting Austin. It’s been a few years. I’ll be giving my keynote, “The Most Valuable Engineer Isn’t Shipping Features,” on Tuesday afternoon.
Illustrated portrait of Robby Russell holding a Rails World Austin 2026 tote bag inside Waterloo Records, wearing a tweed jacket, bow tie, and pin. A speech bubble reads, “See you next week in Austin, ActiveNerds.”
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 17/09/2026
People love to hate on Jira. I’m not really one of them… people hate working on tickets in just about any system. My gripe is simpler: why isn’t "Jira" in the domain name?
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 16/09/2026
It's rare that the type of TV series I am really into... ends up winning a ton of awards. Kudos to Widows Bay. Same with music. Morning Phase by Beck is an amazing album... and I never thought I'd agree with the Grammys on anything.
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 16/09/2026
Curious: What’s the statute of limitations on being in high school and having classmates pay someone to solder in modchips ordered from some Taiwanese mail-order operation so their PlayStation 1s could play ripped CD-Rs…
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 15/09/2026
Looking forward to Austin next week.
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 14/09/2026
The longer a team compensates for friction, the more likely it is to mistake those workarounds for expertise.
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 13/09/2026
Anyone have a photo printer they recommend? Not looking for anything bigger than 8x10 or so
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 13/09/2026
Andre is an Idiot was a good Saturday afternoon documentary. www.rottentomatoes.com/m/andre_is_a...
rottentomatoes.com
André Is an Idiot | Rotten Tomatoes
Discover reviews, ratings, and trailers for André Is an Idiot on Rotten Tomatoes. Stay updated with critic and audience scores today!
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 11/09/2026
Remember when we connected with everyone we met at a conference or client meeting… on Facebook? 15 years later, you’re browsing some guy named Peter’s summer photos. Haven’t spoken since 2011. Meanwhile… good to see your uncle is out of jail.
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 11/09/2026
We’ve been working through a bunch of new features and updates for @ohmyz.sh lately. One of the latest: a new cooldown option for the updater. Our release strategy has always been pretty simple… git pull from the primary branch.
Code example showing an Oh My Zsh .zshrc configuration with automatic updates enabled and a 10-day update cooldown, which waits 10 days before pulling new commits.
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 10/09/2026
How many months do you keep renewing a CL lost&found post for a fancy pocket knife you found on an Oregon coast beach that seemed like someone would have definitely missed it?
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 10/09/2026
Shipped a herdr plugin for @ohmyz.sh today. Just enable it after your next % omz update. Can do things like use herdr session/window details in your zsh theme... autocomplete those new-to-you commands, and some aliases to shave some keystrokes. Have fun! github.com/ohmyzsh/ohmy...
github.com
feat(herdr): add plugin for herdr by robbyrussell · Pull Request #14079 · ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh
Standards checklist: The PR title is descriptive. The PR doesn't replicate another PR which is already open. I have read the contribution guide and followed all the instructions. The code ...
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 08/09/2026
Wish I had the discipline to track my cuppings like @brigleb.com
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 08/09/2026
Got to catch up with an old #caboose pal on @maintainable.fm. #iykyk
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 08/09/2026
A few things to help me get acclimated to using herdr github.com/robbyrussell...
github.com
GitHub - robbyrussell/herdr-ohmyzsh: Oh My Zsh plugin for Herdr: slow commands in the sidebar, done notifications, shell helpers, and one key to reload Oh My Zsh in every idle pane
Oh My Zsh plugin for Herdr: slow commands in the sidebar, done notifications, shell helpers, and one key to reload Oh My Zsh in every idle pane - robbyrussell/herdr-ohmyzsh
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 06/09/2026
. @ohmyz.sh recently turned 17. 🥳 2,500+ contributors later, I wrote a little thank-you to everyone who has contributed code, reported bugs, helped other users, sponsored the project… and especially the folks who keep it running day-to-day. opencollective.com/ohmyzsh/upda...
opencollective.com
Oh My Zsh recently turned 17. - Oh My Zsh
Seventeen years is a slightly ridiculous amount of time for a little open source project that started as me sharing my Zsh configuration with some friends. Since then, more than 2,500 contributors hav...
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 04/09/2026
Let's say you had $3k to throw at some ads/marketing for @commitgoods.com... how would you deploy it?
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 04/09/2026
We’ve probably spent too much time optimizing the least performant parts of our code and workflows… and not enough time asking how much better we could make the parts that already perform well. And it doesn’t need to be an either/or. We’re living in a both/and era.
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 04/09/2026
Second date make-or-break topic territory.
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 04/09/2026
I rarely grab a bagel at the coffee shop after my daily run, but when I do, I’m usually happy to share a few bites with my wife… Today is one of those days when only you and I need to know that I got a bagel. 🥯 🤫
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 02/09/2026
I've been turning down podcast guest and meetup speaking invites for the last several months, but I will have more availability this autumn/winter. Feel free to get in touch. www.planetargon.com/speaking
planetargon.com
Speaking & Media | Planet Argon
Robby Russell speaks on maintaining legacy software, open source sustainability, and Ruby on Rails. Tell us about your event or show.
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 01/09/2026
It's.. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs06...
youtube.com
Earth, Wind & Fire - September (Official HD Video)
YouTube video by EarthWindandFireVEVO
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 01/09/2026
ProTip: Task Claude Design to spin up a collection of Slack themes to share with your team or private group by feeding it your style guide.
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 01/09/2026
When folks ask about my favorite @ohmyzsh plugins, I can easily rattle off a short list. One of the bigger unlocks when most of your team is using Oh My Zsh, though… build your own!
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 01/09/2026
Apparently, spending enough time thinking about the fundamentals eventually leads to naming things. Looking forward to sharing one of those in Austin in three weeks. 👀 rubyonrails.org/world/2026/s...
rubyonrails.org
Rails World 2026 — Robby Russell
A full-stack web application framework written in Ruby, following the Model View Controller pattern, that includes everything you need to build modern database-backed web apps.
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 31/08/2026
Pronouns: tree/hugger
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 31/08/2026
Podcast preparation during the summer... - Turn off the AC unit - Turn off the air filter - Get ready to sweat a little
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 24/08/2026
24 years ago this week, @planetargon.com got started. This photo was taken around that time. You don’t have to know how something is going to pan out before you start. Sometimes you just start… and see where it takes you.
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 24/08/2026
Photo of me as a kid... wishing I had more AA batteries on our camping trip in the Sierra Nevadas so I could listen to Dre's The Chronic on my Sony Discman.
Photo of Robby Russell, as a kid (around 12) wearing a San Francisco Giant's sweater, standing on a rock, in the mountains
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 21/08/2026
2027: The Year of Zero Icons on the Desktop
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 21/08/2026
Believe I figured out why Thom Yorke has so many side projects. Sure… experimenting, collaborating, following different ideas. But really? Create a Radiohead station in Apple Music and 80% of the time the next song is Thom Yorke from another project. Feed the algorithm!
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 20/08/2026
Our fiscal year ended June 30th… and it was @planetargon.com's highest-revenue year in 24 years of business. I personally billed clients a grand total of $517.50. That feels like a milestone worth remembering. 🧵
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 19/08/2026
Got interviewed by a local high school student about entrepreneurship, software, AI… and somehow my mid-90s sticker business made the cut. Wrote a few thoughts about it here: robbyonrails.com/articles/202...
robbyonrails.com
Interviewed by a High School Entrepreneur
[2 min read] Earlier this summer, I heard from Ojal Kulkarni, a local high school student who found Planet Argon through the Portland Startup Community Sla...
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 18/08/2026
Local models. Local CI. Local git branches. Local coffee shops. Local bookstores. Hot singles in your area.
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Robby Russell @robbyonrails.com · 18/08/2026
Does anyone have a portable second monitor they don't hate lugging around? Asking for a friend (honestly!)
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