Software engineering has an identity problem. Some software engineers want to be craftspeople and artisans, while others want to be more like the traditional engineers, while others just want to write some code. In this episode, Kris and Matt talk about the state of software engineering today and the areas that they think could use improvement.

For this week's episode of break, we're pulling one out of the archives! Sometimes we record an episode and don't ship it for quite a while, and this one was recorded all the way back on July 30th! Kris and Matt talk about their (at the time) yet to be recorded episode with Mitchell, Oxide's Series B announcement, and have another conversation about software artisans. Watch it on YouTube or listen with your favorite podcasting app! Learn more by going to https://break.show/15.

And we've got bonus content for our supporters, where you'll hear the duo's feelings about project management, the industry's lack of planning, and Kris' recent change in view around artificial intelligence. Not a supporter yet? Fix that today by heading over to https://fallthrough.fm/subscribe where you'll get not only extra content but also higher quality audio. Sign up today!

Thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

Table of Contents:

• Prologue (00:00:00)
• Chapter 1: The Current State of Software Engineering (00:02:28)
• Chapter 2: MVPs and the Challenge of Shipping Software (00:17:05)
• Chapter 3: Project Management and Workflows [Extended] (00:26:01)
• Chapter 4: The Invisible Things (00:26:24)
• Chapter 5: Path Dependency and Asking Why (00:31:26)
• Chapter 6: Engineering Is About Design (00:46:11)
• Chapter 7: We Need Better Planning [Extended] (00:58:42)
• Chapter 8: Matt wants to write less code (00:59:02)
• Chapter 9: Kris' view of AI has shifted [Extended] (01:02:38)
• Epilogue (01:03:06)

Hosts

• Website
• Bluesky
• Threads
• X/Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

• (00:00) - Prologue

First it was GCP in June. Then it was AWS in October. Then it was Azure a week later. It seems that our cloud providers are having outages far more often, and for far longer, than any of us would like. In this episode, Kris, Ian, and Matthew discuss the two most recent outages along with some of their thoughts on the current state of the industry and the future of software.

We continue this discussion in this week's episode of Break! The panel talks about whether seeking a career with a FAANG company is worth it anymore, why building software for your local community is important, and their frustrations with point of sale systems. Watch it on YouTube or listen with your favorite podcasting app! Learn more by going to https://break.show.

EXTRA! EXTRA! There's lots of bonus content in this episode! And if you're a supporter you're getting all of it. In this week's extra chapters the panel talks about whether we all need to be on large cloud providers, frustrations with food delivery app PINs, whether timeouts and retries should be our go to, and why it feels like software is constantly getting worse. Not a supporter yet? Fix that today by heading over to https://fallthrough.fm/subscribe where you'll get not only extra content but also higher quality audio. Sign up today!

Thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

Show Notes:

• AWS Outage Summary: https://aws.amazon.com/message/101925/
• Azure Outage Summary: https://azure.status.microsoft/en-us/status/history/

Table of Contents:

• Prologue (00:00:00)
• Chapter 1: The AWS Outage (00:03:03)
• Chapter 2: Overdependence on Timeouts and Retries [Extended] (00:27:15)
• Chapter 3: Food Delivery app PINs should be Local First [Extended] (00:27:41)
• Chapter 4: The Azure Outage (00:28:11)
• Chapter 5: Do We Actually Need All These Cloud Services? [Extended] (00:39:37)
• Chapter 6: We Are Trapped By Our Own Path Dependence [Extended] (00:40:07)
• Chapter 7: What Is Popular Is Not Necessarily What Is Good (00:40:54)
• Appendix UNPOP: Unpopular Opinions and Panic & Recover (00:42:42)
• Epilogue (01:02:34)

Hosts

• Website
• Bluesky
• Threads
• X/Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

• (00:00) - Prologue

Jujutsu is a new version control system that's gaining in popularity. Its swappable backends allow users to continue using version control systems like Git without other users even noticing. Steve Klabnik aims to be a big part of it. Much like with Rust, he's getting involved early and making some big swings. In this episode, he joins Kris and Matt to discuss JJ and his recent announcement that he'll be joining East River Source Control to work on JJ and related projects full time.

We continue this discussion in this week's episode of Break! We get into some of the topics briefly mentioned during the main episode. Watch it on YouTube or listen with your favorite podcasting app! Learn more by going to https://break.show.

Love extra content? Well if you're a supporter you're getting some. This week's extended edition includes bonus content includes a chapter on the need for new layers and another chapter on potential plans for a JJHub. Not a supporter yet? You can fix that by heading over to https://fallthrough.fm/subscribe where you'll get not only extra content but also higher quality audio. Sign up today!

Thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

Table of Contents:

• Prologue (00:00:00)
• Chapter 1: Farewell, Oxide! Hello, East River Source Control! (00:03:44)
• Chapter 2: JJ Backends (00:13:54)
• Chapter 3: When To Choose New Tools (00:17:58)
• Chapter 4: We're Not Going Back (00:29:16)
• Chapter 5: Why Use JJ? (00:31:05)
• Chapter 6: Creating New Layers [Extended] (00:45:33)
• Chapter 7: JJHub? [Extended] (00:46:08)
• Chapter 8: Forking Is About More Than Just The Code (00:46:56)
• Appendix Unpop: Unpopular Opinions (00:50:02)
• Epilogue (00:56:10)

Hosts

• Website
• Bluesky
• Threads
• X/Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

• (00:00) - Prologue

In this episode, hosts Angelica Hill and Matthew Sanabria are joined by special guest Cory O'Daniel to dive deep into DevOps. They chat through some of the big questions shaping the industry: Is the "cloud promise" still holding up? What role does on-prem infrastructure play now? And perhaps most importantly, what does "DevOps" even mean today?

We continue this discussion in this week's episode of Break! We get into some of the topics briefly mentioned during the main episode. Watch it on YouTube or listen with your favorite podcasting app! Learn more by going to https://break.show.

We've got a ton of supporter content in this episode, so our supporters can hear Cory's thoughts on why technology choices should be kept simple, why we aren't thinking things through, and why the C-Suite forgets the pain of being an IC. Not a supporter yet? You can fix that by heading over to https://fallthrough.fm/subscribe where you'll get not only extra content but also higher quality audio. Sign up today!

Thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

Table of Contents:

• Prologue (00:00:00)
• Chapter 1: What Is DevOps? (00:05:50)
• Chapter 2: Structuring DevOps (00:20:27)
• Chapter 3: Software Engineering is a Craft (00:46:10)
• Chapter 4: Keep Technology Choices Simple [Extended Only] (00:58:18)
• Chapter 5: Why Are We Not Thinking Things Through? [Extended Only] (00:58:45)
• Chapter 6: What Makes The C-Suite Forget The Pain? [Extended Only] (00:59:26)
• Chapter 7: OpenTofu (01:00:16)
• Epilogue (01:03:12)

Hosts

• Website
• Bluesky
• Threads
• X/Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

• (00:00) - Prologue

Mitchell once again joins Matt and Kris to give us an update about Ghostty, a new library he's working on called libxev, and some of his thoughts around AI.

We continue this discussion in this week's episode of Break! We get into some of the topics briefly mentioned during the main episode. Watch it on YouTube or listen with your favorite podcasting app! Learn more by going to https://break.show.

For our supporters, we have extra chapters on Mitchell's talk on open source governance and requiring AI disclosures for Ghostty contributions. Not a supporter yet? You can fix that by heading over to https://fallthrough.fm/subscribe where you'll get not only extra content but also higher quality audio. Sign up today!

Thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

Table of Contents:

• Prologue (00:00:00)
• Chapter 1: What's New With Ghostty? (00:01:44)
• Chapter 2: Mitchell's Take On Open Source Governance [Extended Only] (00:34:14)
• Chapter 3: libxev (00:34:35)
• Chapter 4: AI Contribution Disclosures in Ghostty [Extended Only] (00:55:31)

Hosts

• Website
• Bluesky
• Threads
• X/Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

• (00:00) - Prologue

Open source project leaders have faced heavy challenges over the last decade and a half. It seems every language community has had conflicts with its leadership: Python with the struggles of the Python 2 to 3 migration; Node.JS and the community's conflict with Joyent; Rust and their handling of trademarks and IP; Wordpress and their conflict with WPEngine; and of course Go and their conflict around dependency management (and error handling). Now we've added another: the recent conflict between Ruby Central and the community.

In this episode, Kris, Matt, and Steve discuss these conflicts and what they tell us about the way we've come to see leadership within open source projects, where the blame actually lies, and what changes we can make to avoid these issues in the future.

We continue this discussion in this week's episode of Break! We get into some of the topics briefly mentioned during the main episode. Watch it on YouTube or listen with your favorite podcasting app! Learn more by going to https://break.show.

For our supporters, we have extra chapters about the sustainability of the current model and where we should place blame for the current problems. Not a supporter yet? You can fix that by heading over to https://fallthrough.fm/subscribe where you'll get not only extra content but also higher quality audio. Sign up today!

Thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

Show Notes:

• Bryan Cantrill Platform as a Reflection of Values
• Low Level Rust is causing a lot of problems
• If WordPress is to survive, Matt Mullenweg must be removed
• ‘This Is Just How We Do Things Now’: The Quiet Collapse of Standards

Table of Contents:

• Prologue (00:00:00)
• Chapter 1: How Did We Get Here? (00:02:07)
• Chapter 2: Why Does Open Source Like Dictators? (00:41:04)
• Chapter 3: So what happened with Ruby? (00:45:21)
• Chapter 4: How Sustainable Is All Of This? [Extended Only] (01:01:49)
• Chapter 5: Blame Lies Everywhere [Extended Only] (01:02:19)
• Chapter 6: It's Not The Individual, It's The System (01:03:06)
• Chapter 7: We Actually Can All Get Along (01:13:41)
• Chapter 8: Nuance Was Had (01:24:24)

Hosts

• Website
• Bluesky
• Threads
• X/Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

• (00:00) - Prologue

This week we've got a grab bag episode! Kris and Matt discuss a variety of topics, including a GopherCon debrief (featuring some RustConf comparisons!), why people can't be mad all the time, the need for better abstractions, and so much more!

We continue this discussion in this week's episode of Break! We get into some of the topics briefly mentioned during the main episode. Watch it on YouTube or listen with your favorite podcasting app! Learn more by going to https://break.show.

For our supporters, we've got two great chapters about carefully selected criticism and a new Linux distro. Not a supporter yet? You can fix that by heading over to https://fallthrough.fm/subscribe where you'll get not only extra content but also higher quality audio. Sign up today!

Thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

Show Notes:

• The Future of Programming - Bret Victor

Table of Contents:

• Prologue (00:00:00)
• Chapter 1: GopherCon Debrief (00:02:26)
• Chapter 2: Corporations Are Followers (00:34:10)
• Chapter 3: Carefully Crafted Narratives [Supporter Only] (00:44:09)
• Chapter 4: You Can't Be Mad All The Time (00:45:47)
• Chapter 5: We Need New Abstractions (00:55:40)
• Chapter 6: Omarchy [Supporter Only] (01:11:45)
• Epilogue (01:13:27)

Hosts

• Website
• Bluesky
• Threads
• X/Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

• (00:00) - Prologue

From AI winters to Tiny Go, Ron Evans has a long and storied career. In this episode he joins Angelica and Matt to discuss his journey, what past AI winters can tell us about our current AI moment, the importance of Tiny Go, and so much more.

This week's episode has a Break aftershow! Watch it on YouTube or listen with your favorite podcasting app! Learn more by going to https://break.show.

For our supporters, we've got two great chapters about epistemology and how AI affects newcomers to programming. Not a supporter yet? You can fix that by heading over to https://fallthrough.fm/subscribe where you'll get not only extra content but also higher quality audio. Sign up today!

Thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

Show Notes:

• TinyGo
• Amara’s Law and Its Place in the Future of Tech
• Cory Doctorow
• GopherCon 2024: Go Back to the Future - Ron Evans
• Skynet
• Program or Be Programmed Eleven Commands for the AI Future DOUGLAS RUSHKOFF
• The Demon-Haunted World

Table of Contents:

• Prologue (00:00:00)
• Chapter 1: Who Is Ron Evans? (00:03:00)
• Chapter 2: The Next AI Winter? (00:06:03)
• Chapter 3: Epistemology [Supporter Only] (00:36:39)
• Chapter 4: Ron's Long Game (00:39:20)
• Chapter 5: There Are Always Things To Do (00:50:22)
• Chapter 6: How Is AI/ML Impacting People New To The Industry? [Supporter Only] (00:59:27)
• Chapter 7: Anything Left Unsaid? (01:02:19)
• Appendix UNPOP: Unpopular Opinions (01:07:28)

Hosts

• Website
• Bluesky
• Threads
• X/Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

• (00:00) - Prologue

We've all experienced the dreaded rewrite. A system that was promised to last for years has grown so full of technical debt and cruft that we feel we need to throw it out and start over again. How can we avoid this? In this episode, Angelica and Matt are joined by Jon Sabados, where they discuss how to build software that can last long into the future.

This week's episode does not have a companion break episode, but check out our backlog if you haven't watched them already! Watch it on YouTube or listen with your favorite podcasting app! Learn more by going to https://break.show.

This week's episode features a bonus chapter for supporters! Not a supporter yet? You can fix that by heading over to https://fallthrough.fm/subscribe where you'll get not only extra content but also higher quality audio. Sign up today!

Thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

Table of Contents:

• Prologue (00:00:00)
• Chapter 1: Why Should We Build For The Future? (00:03:13)
• Chapter 2: Business Value & Future Planning (00:10:18)
• Chapter 3: Where Do You Start? (00:13:21)
• Chapter 4: How To Make Decisions Effectively (00:27:35)
• Chapter 5: Crafting A Solution (00:39:55)
• Chapter 6: What Does It Actually Mean To Build For The Future? [Supporter Only] (00:47:50)
• Chapter 7: A Case Study (00:49:57)
• Chapter 8: Incorporating New Technologies (01:05:07)
• Chapter 9: Building For The Future Outage (01:08:19)
• Chapter 10: Final Advice (01:16:34)
• Appendix UNPOP: Unpopular Opinions (01:20:03)
• Epilogue (01:35:12)

Hosts

• Website
• Bluesky
• Threads
• X/Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

• (00:00) - Prologue

Ever wondered what it really takes to build a successful online presence? How about if you were doing it as a couple? In this episode, Angelica and Matt are joined by Sophie and Rory of the "Media Couple" podcast as they pull back the curtain on their current projects and share the unfiltered reality of being content creators, the tools and tech they use, and how it's going.

This week's episode does not have a companion break episode, but check out our backlog if you haven't watched them already! Watch it on YouTube or listen with your favorite podcasting app! Learn more by going to https://break.show.

Not a supporter yet? You can fix that by heading over to https://fallthrough.fm/subscribe where you'll get not only extra content but also higher quality audio. Sign up today!

Thanks for tuning in and happy listening!

Table of Contents:

• Prologue (00:00:00)
• Chapter 1: What Is The Media Couple? (00:08:20)
• Chapter 2: Getting Started with Content Creation (00:12:55)
• Chapter 3: How's The Media Couple Going? (00:20:34)
• Interlude: Dealing With Your Inner Critic [Supporter Only] (00:24:19)
• Chapter 4: Choosing A Format (00:25:14)
• Chapter 5: Who Is Your Audience? (00:33:13)
• Chapter 6: The Tech Behind It All (00:47:30)
• Interlude: Vibe Coding Through Life (01:05:54)
• Chapter 7: Where Do You Start With Branding? (01:09:51)
• Chapter 8: Preventing Boredom (01:12:53)
• Chapter 9: Generating New Content Ideas (01:22:27)
• Chapter 10: Feedback [Supporter Only] (01:30:15)
• Chapter 11: A Few Good Productions (01:32:18)
• Appendix UNPOP: Unpopular Opinions (01:39:52)
• Epilogue (01:55:35)

Hosts

• Website
• Bluesky
• Threads
• X/Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

• (00:00) - Prologue