https://thehumaninprogress.blog notes on code, terminals, homelabs, drums, and tape. en https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/why-i-love-suckless-software-and-why-im-going-back-to-omarchy/ Suckless software is elegant, minimal, and mine. But when every customization means recompiling your terminal, even the most devoted tinkerer has to ask: is this worth it? Sun, 19 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/why-i-love-suckless-software-and-why-im-going-back-to-omarchy/ programming https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/why-am-i-obsessed-with-a-mouse-less-workflow/ After 30 years of hunting-and-pecking, I'm finally chasing the zero-latency dream between thought and code. Here's my messy journey into Vim, touch typing, and why the mouse has got to go. Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/why-am-i-obsessed-with-a-mouse-less-workflow/ programming https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/minimal-linux-dev-box/ I gave myself the weekend to build a minimal Linux dev machine with Arch and Suckless tools. I ended up learning more about productivity traps than I did about Linux. Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/minimal-linux-dev-box/ programming https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/tiling-window-managers-rewired-my-brain/ I've been working in software for a long time. I never thought a window manager could change the way I think about my work. Sun, 28 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/tiling-window-managers-rewired-my-brain/ programming https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/letting-go-of-shame/ I've head that calling out your shame, can help in letting go and ultimately letting go of that shame. Sun, 21 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/letting-go-of-shame/ life https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/the-sunday-post-lousy-context-window/ I asked an AI to help me redesign my blog. Twenty-seven iterations, three PRDs, one Express.js detour, and a lot of mutual name-calling later, I had a site. The AI got the last laugh. I got the context window. Mon, 15 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/the-sunday-post-lousy-context-window/ programming https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/building-a-personal-operating-system-part-two-the-grind-cli/ I took the concepts from my oh-my-zsh functions and aliases, and built it into a full-on CLI. Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/building-a-personal-operating-system-part-two-the-grind-cli/ programming https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/building-a-personal-operating-system-for-creative-work/ As boring as that sounds, I am tired of half-finished projects littering my hard drives. I'm tired of just floundering between projects with no real sense of... finishing. Mon, 19 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/building-a-personal-operating-system-for-creative-work/ programming https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/i-hate-tailwindcss-and-i-hate-myself-for-loving-it/ It makes the little designer in me cringe everytime I use it, but it's winning the web so I'd better get used to it. Thu, 25 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/i-hate-tailwindcss-and-i-hate-myself-for-loving-it/ programming https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/should-I-be-nicer-to-my-things/ I've noticed that the way I allow myself to talk to inanimate objects tends to spill over into how I treat people in the world. Even my closest friends and family. Tue, 25 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/should-I-be-nicer-to-my-things/ programming https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/when-did-open-to-work-require-a-marketing-team/ I've been looking for work for a few months now. I think I've sent hundreds of resumes, even had an interview or two. But still... silence. To be honest, I was pretty hurt. It made me feel like I must've lost every marketable skill I ever had. The fact is, the rules changed and no one told me. Sun, 23 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/when-did-open-to-work-require-a-marketing-team/ programming https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/hold-on-to-the-bad-times/ I was watching a video recently, and the guy said that when he asked people to tell him about a time that made them who they are as a human being, they never recounted good stories. There were hard times that changed them; the loss of a friend or family member, an illness or an accident. Not once did they credit comfort. It was always suffering. Sun, 31 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/hold-on-to-the-bad-times/ life https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/building-a-dream-or-avoiding-a-job/ Sometimes it's hard to tell whether you're doing something to gain a result or avoid a consequence. The line can get super blurry at 3am. Mon, 04 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/building-a-dream-or-avoiding-a-job/ programming https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/creative-work-and-doubt/ That lonely sound of feet on pavement. When the cheers of the starting line have faded, and the only sound is the sound of your own breath. Your own thoughts. **Now** is when the _real_ work begins; and it separates the runners from the racers. Tue, 22 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/creative-work-and-doubt/ life https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/how-much-ai-is-too-much/ I have a confession to make: I've been using AI to help create videos for this channel. I use it to help with the books I'm writing as well. Is that a _confession_? Is that **bad**? Should I be ashamed? Am I even a _creative_? Mon, 14 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/how-much-ai-is-too-much/ programming https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/what-happened-to-software/ When I started in software development (1997), it was exciting. Everybody was just figuring it out as they went. There really was a kind of \"magic\" in it. Everybody worked together to find and fix issues, and they were all learning and building together. Thu, 10 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/what-happened-to-software/ programming https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/stop-trying-to-steer-the-ball/ How a little thing my father used to say to me, changed my life forty years later. Sun, 15 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://thehumaninprogress.blog/posts/stop-trying-to-steer-the-ball/ life