Anyone used Linux on the desktop recently? It’s got pretty good. And I’m surprised. So surprised, that I just bought a Framework laptop and am about to install Ubuntu on it. This is crazy!

This is something I never thought I’d do. Back in the late 2000’s I switched from Windows to Mac. It was a great decision. I’ve loved my MacBook Pro’s and iMac. Sure, everything Apple has a price premium, but it was and for a lot of people, still is, well worth it. It just worked and the software is still just better quality. But then Apple started porting iOS features back to the Mac. This sounds like a great idea, but in practice, it’s made the Mac worse. The Mac is now a second-class citizen to the cash cow that is iPhone. The Mac, once a bastion of adult computing and developer productivity, is becoming more and more child-like and more locked down. As a developer, this just doesn’t work for me.

With Apple’s increasing control over the Mac and the Mac ecosystem, along with Apple’s obstinance around the DMA, it all hints at “Apple the corporation” doing what normal corporations do. Apple used to have a friendly veneer. The once underdog Apple is starting to appear a little ugly, arrogant and entitled. Remember Biff from Back to the Future?

There is a lot to dislike about the DMA, but there is actually a lot to like too. When a corporation gets to the point where they’re completely in control of an ecosystem, then that breeds some poor behaviour. Think what happened to Microsoft in the 90’s. Apple is now in that position. Google is in that position in search too. What this does is give the commercial entity a sense of entitlement that they can do what they like and everyone just has to suck it up. Do I think Apple should be able to make money out of their platform, absolutely. Do I think that other commercial entities, such as, lets say, Epic Games, should be able to not pay Apple anything for using their platform, no. It’s Apple’s platform, so you should have to pay to use it. I don’t have an answer, but 30% as a platform fee has always left a bad smell.

Apple as a commercial entity is required to defend its patch, make money and keep shareholders happy. The way it does this used to be by delighting it’s users. I just feel that with the decisions now, money is the focus, not the user experience and not the quality of the product for the price I’m paying. And developers that build for their platform are users too.

I never thought I’d have any reason to look in another direction. But the corporate entity’s behaviour made me look up and check out what else was going around. And I did.

Windows was never a consideration - promotional material in the OS? Fck that sht. So, it was Linux that I looked at once again, not really thinking that this year could be the year of the Linux desktop. But it looks like it is. And I’m excited to see where it goes.

I don’t like TypeScript. There you go, I said it, “I don’t like TypeScript”.

If you’re a diehard TypeScript lover, good for you. Luckily there are many more languages out there that one can use and just because I like JavaScript, and not TypeScript doesn’t mean you need to grab your pitchforks and torches.

There are many reasons TypeScript just doesn’t work for me:

1. If I wanted a strongly typed language, I’d probably just use Go.
2. If I want to protect my application from type defects, I’d use one of the many type-libraries out there that can be used with JavaScript at runtime, such as Zod, Superstruct, Joi or Yup.
3. TypeScript’s type system feels like it’s been retrofitted into JavaScript, well, because it has.
4. Type gymnastics can be an arse to deal with and offer nothing more than a headache - which is where JavaScript runtime type checking libraries really shine.
5. I get than on large “enterprise” projects, having TypeScript can be useful because not all developers are made equal, but I’m not working on large “enterprise” projects these days.
6. I get than on large “enterprise” projects, TypeScript can be useful, but I’d prefer runtime checking as well, which can do what TypeScript does, but better.
7. The joy of JavaScript is that it’s not statically typed! It’s dynamic and flexible and that’s what I love about it. Otherwise, see #1 above.

Really, as a group of developers we should all just chill out and use the technology that we enjoy the most, notwithstanding the constraints we have. And most of all, the user is what counts, not what we develop in. If you’re in a job using tech you don’t like, guess what, go somewhere else. TypeScript is another language that lets people do shit, just like Ruby, Java, Python, C#, C, Rust and JavaScript. If TypeScript is your bag, great. But, just because I like and write JavaScript, doesn’t mean that I have to write TypeScript and that JavaScript is bad. JavaScript keeps getting better and better and it works great for me. JavaScript with Superstruct is f*cking awesome.

I had a blog way back when, running on Ruby and some long forgotten blog framework. This one currently runs on Astro. It will likely be moved to Remix in the not too distant future. That’s only because I’m a big fan of Remix and while some might say that SSG is faster, well, caching is pretty good too so it won’t really make a difference at the end of the day. Plus, let’s be honest, there’s probably only going to be a single reader.

Every now and then I’ll likely post a complete AI-generated post, just for shits and giggles. I will mark it as such, however. Over time, I guess we’ll see how good AI-generated content gets.

I’ll talk about all sorts of shit; from food, to politics, to sport, to nerd shit and whatever else takes my fancy. At the end of the day, politically I’m a centrist, so will take the piss out of the extremes of the right and left because they all-to-often make no f*cking sense. Racism and misogyny are for lizard brains. If you’re woke, well, sleep a little bit more and don’t be so damned offended or get a f*cking hobby. And if you believe the earth is flat, well, you’re a dumbf*ck.