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  Rules are **tools**. They are guidelines that usually lead to the goal(s). Goals are the important part. Goals have value. When a rule in a particular situation **doesn't** lead you towards the goal, it's the rule that must bend, not your movement towards the goal. A very simplified example. There's a speed limit on the highway. The goal is "be safe". If the speed limit is 70mph, but traffic is going 85 ... do you obey the rule? Or do you try to satisfy...

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  @cartocalypse When you define things in Python, either you want others to see them or not. A single initial underscore is one of the things that gently communicates "this is not for you". Omitting it from __init__.py is another. No protection is afforded by the Python itself. If you require enforcement, you’re in the wrong language, sorry. Given that, now the ball is in the consumer’s court: do they know what you meant. In general, an initial underscore tells them the thing the...

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  For decades, I loved and used 1Password across multiple OSs and platforms. It’s the first thing I install when I bring up a new system. I gave them several weeks to fix their decisions. They doubled-down. Life requires compromise; but that is **not** something that extends to my personal values. I will not tolerate their acceptance of nor involvement in evil. I’m switching, starting today. Seems like BitWarden might be my new choice, but I’m open. I’m not telling anybody else what to do. Your...

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  My day job is all about #Python (which I love). Here are some personal rules, specific to working with Python projects: * Do **not** install or modify global tools, especially Python itself or any packages. This means a given system might not even **have** a global Python * Always use virtual environments (`uv` agrees with me, and doesn't need this but). I always set the global environment variable `PIP_REQUIRE_VIRTUALENV`. * The two rules above mean my virtual environment contains (not...

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  If I recall correctly, it was Akkana Peck @akkana who first introduced me to Python, probably around 1998 or 1997 (so something in the neighborhood of Python v1.5) while working together at Netscape (I had a different name back then). **That** turned out to be a life-changing event; so thanks, Akkana! #Python #Netscape

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  I’ve fully switched to OmniFocus (The Omni Group) from Things (Cultured Code). The two driving factors were that OF can handle some more complex relationships than can Things; and better external access into OF’s data (in this case through an MCP). Both are great. Things is perfect for most people. If not for my new needs, I would probably still be there. #OmniFocus #Things3 #MCP #Productivity #TaskManager

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  I love Bash. I used to write tons of Bash. There is a lot of Bash in my life, even to this day. But here's my life now: * Bash holds some stuff together (small stuff: usually setting variables, aliases, and/or piping together a few CLI tools. See https://github.com/wolf/dotfiles/tree/main/shells/dot-config/shells/topics for examples) * Zsh is good at doing stuff when I type, so that's my login shell * If I have to do something interesting, why not just a Python script? In mod...

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  Today my work machine graduated from Windows 11 to Ubuntu 24.04. The hardware hasn’t changed. I would have preferred Kubuntu. They gave me ext4 instead of btrfs. But my wishes there are nice-to-haves. What they gave me is a huge step! #Linux #Windows #Ubuntu #Ext4 #Btrfs #Upgrade

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  Yesterday was just a fantastic day for me. I planned to post on it. Just overjoyed. Strongly tempered today by the acquisition of Astral, and therefore the uncertain future of #uv and #ty (and transitively, #pixi). I’m gonna focus on yesterday.

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  I’m incredibly tired of people posting with a (programming) language tag just to hate on that language. Their **words** are always: why said language is wrong and awful and no one should use it, or how the hell did this language become so popular when mine is obviously superior; but their motivations are never that sophisticated. **Their** language thinks about the problem in some particular way, and they’re so familiar with that way of thinking that it has become part of their identity. The ta...

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  There are scary personal actions in this world: stepping off the ledge of an airplane for your first jump, kissing your romantic interest without knowing yet how they feel about you, trying to live the next day when death has taken a loved one from you. I just did a scary thing. I asked for a promotion. I love my job. It’s great people working on meaningful solutions. I don’t have any plans to leave it. I’m not in any way looking elsewhere. But my title and compensation do not reflect my impact...