Linux Dev Time
Technology
About
Professional software developers Amolith and Kevin join Joe and guests to discuss developing with, and for Linux.
Episodes
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 150
Andy has been taking the One Billion Row Challenge , and has been thinking about the broader question of what makes software fast. Andy’s videos on Peertube and YouTube . Support us on Patre…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 149
It’s yet another hot questions episode. Colour schemes, syntax highlighting, code patterns, fonts, and keyboards. Support us on Patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes &nb…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 148
We get into dependency management. The pros and cons of tools like Dependabot, the varying approaches with different languages and standard library sizes, the times when pinning dependencies makes sense, and more. Turn Dependabot Of…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 147
It’s another hot questions episode. Whether we think better on our own or with other people, our non-standard debugging habits, favourite interview questions, coding at night, character encoding, and abolishing time zones. &n…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 146
In the wake of Discord’s recent announcement about age verification, Matrix recently came in for a lot of criticism by a lot of people who said it’s not a viable replacement. Andy works on Matrix for a living and Amolith is invested in the…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 145
The importance of having and sticking to correct development processes, what can go wrong when you don’t, and how to fix the problems you might end up with. Support us on Patreon and get an…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 144
People often like to talk down Electron , but it is really that bad? There may be better ways to use Web technologies to make desktop apps, but isn’t having Linux versions of apps a good thing no matter how they are made? We mention…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 143
The career progression options you have as a software engineer, moving from junior to senior dev, other paths you can go down like architecture or tech lead, and why management isn’t for everyone. …
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 142
Software complexity is a complex topic, so we dig into it. Support us on Patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes See our contact page for ways to get in touch. Subs…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 141
Dealing with a crisis as a developer, how to keep everyone in the loop while you fix systems and code, why pointing the blame isn’t useful, some of our horror stories, and more. Support us on Patre…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 140
What we are likely to be doing when you hear this, and why it’s unlikely to involve much in the way of development. This is a short episode because Joe is having a break for the Christmas period. Support us on P…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 139
How far you can go with eliminating global variables, forcing everything you ever need to be passed in as arguments. Tailscale Tailscale is an easy to deploy, zero-config, no-fuss VPN that allows you to build si…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 138
When the right time to make a big change to your software is, how you get users to test pre-release versions, how long you keep old features around, when that’s not possible, and more. Support us on Patre…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 137
What object-oriented programming is, why it went out of fashion, and how more modern approaches to development incorporate some of its aspects. Support us on Patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episod…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 136
Some of the languages that we love and why we love them. It’s not just Rust, honest! Support us on Patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes See our contact page for ways to get in…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 135
With constant news stories about security issues with developer-published software in package managers like npm, we weigh up the pros and cons of this approach to distributing open source software. Support us on…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 134
What makes a good commit, the tools we use to help us produce good commits, and why we care about this. Support us on Patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes See our conta…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 133
Some of the alternatives to GitHub that we use, why we use them, and how they differ in terms of features and workflows. Support us on Patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes &nb…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 132
A lot of key open source software is paid for by large companies. That has some advantages, but it can also cause some issues. Maybe it would be better if more FOSS development was paid for by smaller companies and contributions from users…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 131
We explore the differences between terms like coder, software developer, engineer, and architect. They are often used interchangeably, but there can be real differences between them. Or at least once upon a time there were differences. &nb…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 130
Not invented here syndrome is very common in open source. We get into why that is, when it makes sense to start your own project from scratch, and how contributing to existing software can sometimes be better for everyone. &n…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 129
With the recent news of Bcachefs (probably) being removed from the Linux kernel, we are joined by Allan Jude from 2.5 Admins and Klara to discuss some of what we think went wrong, how to manage and maintain multiple releases of a project a…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 128
What it takes to sustain a medium-to-large-sized open source project. Support us on Patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes See our contact page for ways to get in touch.…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 127
When and how to use benchmarking in your project, why it’s hard, and why optimising your code can be even harder. Blog post about the speed of ripgrep hyperfine: A command-line benchmarking tool Profile-guided optimization Andy benc…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 126
How we deal with complex projects involving non-technical people as well as developers. How to manage expectations about timing, how to deal with issues, why documenting conversations is important, and more. &nb…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 125
What are the fundamental ideas and components of development and programming? Support us on Patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes See our contact page for ways to get in touch.…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 124
It’s another hot questions episode. Tabs vs spaces, whether we have imposter syndrome, why software keeps getting heavier, the correct length of functions and files, and what every programmer should know. Some things we mentioned: I…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 123
Andy is convinced that functional programming isn’t boring. Listen to find out if he’s right! Functional Programming & Haskell Beautiful Racket Functional Programming & Haskell – Computerphile Support us…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 122
We’ve done hot takes episodes in the past but this is different, it’s hot questions . Would we rather have bad managers who can code or good managers who can’t? Too many comments or none? 80 columns or as long as you like? What editor do w…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 121
Joe accidentally tried vibe coding and it was as much of a disaster as you’d imagine. Amolith has also tried it, and does his best to defend the use of LLMs with development. Kevin and Andy are mostly bemused. We all have concerns about th…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 120
Our advice on how to move into a career in software development including making and contributing to projects, advocating for your work, collaborating, avoiding exploitation, learning Git, and loads more. …
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 119
Andy is only publishing his games on F-Droid and not the Google Play Store from now on, and he tells us why. Rabbit Escape Box Stacker Smolpxl Games Adresilo Sepia Search Support us on Patre…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 118
We dig into the technical details of the Linux Kernel Rust drama. Support us on Patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed with early episodes sometimes See our contact page for ways to get in touch. Subscribe to the R…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 117
Mark from Linux Matters who’s a web developer joins us to talk about working in PHP – a language that’s mature and well established, and how that compares with working with newer “cooler” languages like Rust and Go. Moodle Mark’s Ba…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 116
Where is the balance between efficiency and openness when it comes to saved file formats? If everything was based on plain text it would make the files readable for years to come, but at what cost? Support us on…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 115
We dig into SQLite – an interesting and unusual project that is widely used but has an uncommon licence, a proprietary test suite, and doesn’t take external contributions. Plus printf() vs “proper” debugging. &n…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 114
We explore the line between developer and sysadmin and come to the conclusion that despite the clear difference between the roles, there is a lot of crossover when it comes to skills and character traits. The Six Dumbest Ideas in Co…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 113
We are joined by popey from Linux Matters to talk about how software packaging has changed over the years. The tooling has improved massively, containerisation has made a huge impact, but Andy still prefers the old distro repo model.  …
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 112
More of our development hot takes including excessive energy use, optimising your code, the importance of licences, Matrix and Jabber being on the same side, the myth of secure code, and why self-hosting is hard. watt-wiser &…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 111
Some of the work-adjacent things that we do including writing code that we shouldn’t like writing Rust in Rust, fun projects that turned into paid work, and career progression. Plus some of our go to resources for learning about developmen…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 110
Our development hot takes including “rewrite it in Rust”, lack of documentation, single vs multiple monitors, dependency numbers, light vs dark mode, and distro package repos. Support us on Patreon and get an ad-free RSS feed…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 109
You need to be able to write good code to be a successful developer, but how important are other “soft” skills like communication, relating to and motivating others, and time management? Kevin mentioned a blog post about burnout in the Rus…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 108
Campbell Barton joins us to talk about porting Blender , the hugely popular professional 3D software, to Wayland. Wayland support in blender task Wayland Support on Linux Support us on Patreon and get an…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 107
What is it about Linux that draws us to it as a development platform? Plus why we choose the specific distros that we use. 1Password Extended Access Management: Secure every sign-in for every app on every…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 106
Following on from our episode about dealing with a horrible codebase, Andy argues that completely rewriting a project is almost always a bad idea. Things You Should Never Do, Part I Support us on Patreon and get…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 105
Kevin and Andy talk about their project extremes: the oldest and newest projects they’ve worked on, the biggest and smallest codebases, the ugliest hack, the most elegant, the most popular, the most trivial, and the most important. …
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 104
How to deal with a horrible codebase that you’ve inherited. Getting started, breaking the problem into smaller pieces, understanding what’s actually wrong, the importance of testing (as usual), and why technical debt isn’t necessarily the…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 103
Developing as part of an in-person team vs working remotely, synchronous vs asynchronous development, how to make a hybrid team work effectively, and how code review fits into it all. 1Password Extended Access M…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 102
What agile software development is exactly, why planning and being willing to adapt the plan are key, the pros and cons of all the process that’s involved, the role that scrum plays, and why it’s all about communication. Study finds…
- Linux Dev Time – Episode 101
Andy is annoyed that so much free and open source software is hosted on a proprietary platform that’s owned by Microsoft. There are plenty of alternatives to GitHub, but ultimately the network effect is why so many people host their code t…