Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/07/2026The phone should just be a web viewer. Why is it not? What's the closest setup (hardware, software, manufacturer) that looks like this? My phone should just be a smart browser. My spps, largely running on devices I control, or via the same from friends I trust. 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/06/2026A thought experiment in the form of a simple question that has been yielding lots of weird but useful ideas for me... What if personal computing truly was personal, in the sense that it was completely tuned to what you need without having to worry about anyone or anything else... how might you […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/05/2026If you've got a personal website where you blog, share your learnings, or do other cool stuff, drop it in this thread. It doesn't even need to be software development specific (but if it's not, mention the theme in your reply) The open web of "people doing cool stuff" is something worth […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 511 5
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 26/05/2026People who build software often think of software as an asset or an artifact, regardless of what terms they use for it. But that is increasingly feeling like a flawed mental model. The idea of a "program" is the actual asset, software is just a building material. Seeing it that way isn't at […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/05/2026This is doable, and likely on hardware costing hundreds of dollars at most. For the better part of a year I've been tinkering with architecture based on these ideas with Raspberry Pi, and even with the gobsmackingly inflated pricing due to shortages, the costs are low enough that it puts you in […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/05/2026Think of this like the cloud, but inside out. Instead of spraying data into a million corporate databases, your data would *mostly* live on a single device within your own control, whether hosted in your own home (easy + safe to do with Tailscale so long as it's private access)... or a similar […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 200 2
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/05/2026Real personal computing would probably mean getting rid of applications and services entirely in the traditional way. You'd have your home "computer" -- you'd connect to it from whatever other devices you wanted that are all thin clients to it. And that computer would read/write messages over […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 100 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/05/2026a second personal computing revolution is about the only way other than throwing all electronics into the sea that world will ever heal from the damage tech bros did and continue to do. 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/04/2026If you're interested and within easy commuting distance of New Haven, get in touch. Also likely will do some remote events or have a discussion group setup online that are open to non-local folks so it's ok to reach of if that's you too. Send PMs or email gregory@skillstopractice.com with […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/04/2026Thinking of starting up a "Rapid Application Development" meetup group in New Haven CT. Inclusive of various forms of tech and mostly just seeking to explore the question of "How do we put real working software in the hands of people who benefit from it as quickly and safely as reasonably […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 100 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/04/2026Shear layers to get a better mental model of things you often take for granted. For example, right now I'm building a rapid prototyping tool that so far I've not introduced a database into, it uses direct reads/writes to files instead. This immediate brings some concurrency fundamentals as […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 010 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/04/2026A strange and unintuitive thing is that you can't really be generous or collaborate as equals with others without some degree of self-reliance. This does not mean doing it all yourself. But instead, tapping into the essence of what it means to build and grow anything, with any tools or […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 001 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/04/2026Something I've been thinking a lot about is the idea of "Digital Self-Reliance" If that idea resonates with you or sparks some thoughts, feel free to reply (or send a private message) I'm still working out what it means to me, but I feel like I'm tapping back into the roots of what got me into […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 100 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/03/2026@jvrc.ca Some solid concepts there! I think it still hews close to what the web protocols look like moreso than what web apps look like, and that's not a bad thing, just different than what I am going for. That said, how I need to build the thing I am making very much relies on doing exactly […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 100 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/03/2026@ismaelcelis.com @getajobmike Nice! I am using Hanami router for top level routing for some known patterns, but then doing wildcard matches and passing the raw environment object into objects that handle different concerns in my system. I use regexp there, but since the context is bounded […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 010 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/03/2026@getajobmike I have been building a rapid prototyping toolkit using a similar approach. I do use hanami-router as a convenience but even that isn't truly necessary. 100 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/03/2026One of the best exercises you can do in Ruby to expand your understanding of web development better is to try to build some small toy projects directly on top of Rack. It may seem unapproachable at first, but you'd be surprised. Excellent practice for anyone at least comfortable at an […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 100 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/03/2026Pretty much every web framework I've ever used is not even remotely structured like a web, and I'm increasingly finding that weird. In fact, they're not even web-focused in their architecture. They're organized around databases, assets, dependency management, etc. A web framework should look […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 111 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/01/2026I don't really think much these days about methodologies, whether it's Agile, Lean, or whatever. Instead, I mostly follow some universal principles: -- Cost of Delay (Value and urgency over fixed costs and dates) -- Pareto Efficiencies (Asymmetric bets over micro-optimizations) -- Kaizen […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 001 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/01/2026Sometimes it's easy to give yourself rules like "Don't use monkey patches" and then they become so rigid that you don't even think of the context. No, a monkeypatch is not a reliable way to fix an issue in production code. But as a way to inject logging and to explore what's going wrong in […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/01/2026Today I stumbled across a fun way to debug things when you may have come across a library or framework bug. I usually assume problems are in my code, and they usually are. But in some cases, dependencies are indeed the source of bugs and I'll typically read their source to diagnose. But then I […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 100 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/01/2026S2P-2026-02 You'll break stuff (at any speed) skillstopractice.com/posts/youll-br…skillstopractice.comYou’ll break stuff (at any speed) - Skills to PracticeI hate the “Move fast and break things” expression and believe it’s done a lot of a harm to the tech world. That’s not how we should build companies, and... 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 06/01/2026Absolutely recommend checking out Alpine.js even if you don't intend to use it in production. Incredibly strong abstractions without sacrificing simplicity. Hope sooner or later something like this is built into the browser. alpinejs.devalpinejs.devAlpine.jsA rugged, minimal framework for composing behavior directly in your markup. 010 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/01/2026S2P-2026-01 Building is not enough. skillstopractice.com/posts/building…skillstopractice.comBuilding is not enough - Skills to PracticeTo get better at building things, build things more often. But on its own, that practice won’t help you build thing people will love. For that you need to make... 100 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 03/01/2026By the end of 2026 I want to write at least 32 short essays on a range of topics... but mostly about how we build things and the human experience of building things. I'll post each essay to this thread when it's ready to share. 111 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/01/2026Things I did in 2025 which I don't regret one bit: 1) Learned Hanami well enough to build a useful side project. 2) Donated to the Python Software Foundation to become a voting member. 3) Started building my own rapid prototyping tool that is language and framework agnostic. All three of […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 010 1
Reposted by Gregory BrownMike Perham :sidekiq: @getajobmike.ruby.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/12/2025Update: @rubycentral has finally released their bylaws. rubycentral.org/ruby-central-bylawsrubycentral.orgRuby Central BylawsRuby Central BylawsRuby Central Bylaws.pdf334 KBdownload-circle 041 4
Reposted by Gregory BrownMike Perham :sidekiq: @getajobmike.ruby.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/12/2025Happy to announce that Gem Fellowship applications are now open! If you're a Ruby open source maintainer, this grant program is for you. 💎 gem.coop/fellowshipgem.coopgem.coop 23224 32
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/11/2025This feels like a starting point that can put Ruby in the right direction over the next five years. gem.coop/fellowship Setting up sustainable governance and stewardship is a bit of a chicken and egg problem. Having targeted funding to move things forward with direct decision making […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/11/2025#TIL to use Alpine in Hanami over a CDN, it looks like you need to use its CSP safe build. alpinejs.dev/advanced/csp Then you need to use a nonce in your javascript_tag, i.e. javascript_tag "cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@alpinejs/csp@…", nonce: true It took me a […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/11/2025Going to occasionally post #TIL type things in this thread about #hanami. Will find a better home for them evenutually, but until now it gives me one place to put them that others can see! 100 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/11/2025@getajobmike Will check that out! I am still hopeful Ruby gets there one way or another, but I see that as a five year timeline. I would pitch in one way or another, but for now... the branching path I am on is to start splitting my time between Ruby and Python and learn more about how things […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 25/11/2025Today I became a supporting member of the Python Software Foundation. It costs $99/year, which feels well worth it to support F/OSS with strong governance and clear principles they stand for. donate.python.orgdonate.python.orgPSF Fundraiser 2025The Python Software Foundation is the charitable organization behind the Python programming language. 101 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 24/11/2025Has anyone tried out Alpine.js with Hanami? It seems like they might be a good match for each other! (I'm quite new to both but increasingly enjoying things that are minimalistic but still well abstracted) 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/11/2025Strongly recommend subscribing by RSS or email to the posts from @timriley if you have even a passing interest in Hanami. To me the way he shares is F/OSS done right. Simple progress reports, giving credit where due to people who are helping out, and giving everyone else a bit of a look behind […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 001 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/11/2025"Human in the loop" is not enough. We need the human at the steering wheel, and in control of the break and the accelerator. The machine is in the loop to support the human, no more, no less. 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/11/2025@jaredwhite I think this is in part because open source "just is" and the most reductive form is that the only relevant human-facing detail is whatever the license terms are. But the web exists in a more tangible way, with named places that are globally accessible... and people operating those […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/11/2025@jaredwhite I agree. I entered the tech world through the free software movement and so my views on open source have always been a bit mixed. But part of what I am thinking about is that the nature of the web is such that it's inherently large/interconnected with the world, and so it is closer […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 100 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/11/2025RE: mathstodon.xyz/@johncarlosbaez/1155… Ecological systems are wild.mathstodon.xyz 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/11/2025The free and open web is a more important concept than free and open source software. I'm still trying to process what that means in practice, but I believe it's true. 100 1
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/11/2025Some time in the next few weeks I'd like to put together an informal Hanami project day. I'd get together a few folks in a Matrix chat for a async-ish day of sharing learnings with each other and helping each other out as we tinker with our own projects. I'm new to the framework but plan to […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/11/2025@adarsh Very much know how that feels. Here's hoping that a sense of being recalled to life sticks. Also, thank you for your efforts in your time at Ruby Central. 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/11/2025Sometimes a thought will pop into my head which I know is likely to be true but don't know what it means and suspect it may take years to figure it out. This morning's coffee thought along those lines was... "Programming begins with the subdivision of space." 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/11/2025Ufuk, Please resign. skillstopractice.com/posts/ufuk-ple… This to me is the necessary next step that must happen for Ruby Central to regain any sense of trust and accountability. See the post for my rationale as to why I believe this is necessary. From here on out, I'll be […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 07/11/2025It's Friday afternoon in the US, Friday late night in Europe... so of course that means it's Ruby Central update time. I've posted the questions they've replied here as individual threads on this Reddit post, should you want to share your thoughts there. (Please do *also* send your replies […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/11/2025If you're going to write code on the weekend, it might as well be strange code. 000 0
Gregory Brown @skillstopractice.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/11/2025@getajobmike @rubycentral I thought that in part it was running conferences to offset infrastructure operations costs, but Ufuk corrected me on Reddit to remind me that post COVID this has not been true, and that the conferences run at a loss or break even. I submitted a question to Ruby […]mastodon.socialOriginal post on mastodon.social 000 0