The Hacks

2021 was a crazy year. Chunga called it a "transformational year" for him personally. It was a year full of challenges, growth, and change. The same could be said for Tom!  After all, he got married this past year and bought a new house. 

What about the tech industry? Was it a year full of challenges, growth, and change? In this episode of The Hacks, Chunga talks with Tom about the biggest surprises in tech over the past 12-months. Tom also gives his overall review of the past year within the tech industry. Does he view 2021 as a positive? Will we all look back on it favorably?  Listen now to find out!

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Happy New Year!  The Hacks have returned from their holiday break!  

Speaking of which, over the New Year holiday, Tom decided to take a short trip to Las Vegas and hang out with his old pal Chunga for a few days! One of the reasons he wanted to do this was to fulfill his promise to get Chunga all set up and using Linux. As you all know, Tom is a huge fan of Linux and KDE. He's definitely someone who thinks Linux is superior in many ways to both Apple and Windows. Chunga is curious about that. After all, if Linux was really that good, then why wouldn't everyone be using it? Tom explains that it's most likely due to a variety of popular and completely false misconceptions. In this episode of The Hacks, Tom and Chunga discuss these misconceptions and the actual truth in contrast. Listen now!

As 2021 comes to a close, it's commonplace for news outlets, TV shows, and podcasts to do "Year In Review" type episodes and The Hacks is no different!

As everyone's big holiday break approaches, Tom and Chunga are talking about tech that you won't see 2022. Chunga thinks this topic is way too broad but Tom is confident that he's narrowed it down to tech that everyone has been begging and hoping for, but still won't happen within the next year. Is Tom right, or is he completely wrong? Listen now to see what you think!

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A story has been playing out in the media recently that Chunga calls his "nightmare scenario". It's happening with a popular programming language and open source community called "Rust". a few days ago, the entire Rust open source moderation team resigned--all at once. The reason for this is they claim that the Rust core team has no accountability and can basically do whatever they want without any checks and balances.

Tom says when things like this happen, it's complicated and it's almost always because the open source entity is operating from a "foundational" business model, rather than from a BDFL model. What does BDFL mean?  Listen now to learn about the key differences!

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A few weeks ago, Tom and Chunga did an episode of The Hacks that focused on 3-different management styles.  To date, it's one of the most popular episodes in the history of the show!

You have also asked for more episodes that focus on navigating the pitfalls of the modern corporate environment.  So in this episode of The Hacks, Tom and Chunga are taking some time to talk about solid leadership and when it's necessary to be the office tough guy.

Tom says accountability is becoming more and more of an issue in the workplace, making it easier for toxic people to keep their jobs while behaving poorly. Because of this, being an office tough guy is a more valuable role now than ever before!

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It's Thanksgiving week!  The holidays are upon us and The Hacks are feeling festive!  Tom and Chunga have both had an amazing year and they have an awful lot to be excited about. 

In this episode of The Hacks, they're going to get a little personal, and Chunga is going to ask Tom about the technology that he's most thankful for. Now, technology is a very broad term, so Chunga isn't limiting Tom to just computer tech!  After all, technology is everywhere and some of Tom's answers may really surprise you!  Listen now and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

It's a fun, and lighthearted episode of The Hacks!

Tom and Chunga are exhausted. Now that SaltConf21 is over, they both need a small amount of time to talk about something that doesn't make their heads hurt! Well, the holidays are rapidly approaching, and as many of you already know, both Tom and Chunga are huge gamers. The timing seems perfect to do an episode on video games!

In this episode, they'll talk about the history of video games, their impact on culture and society as well as the future and security of video games as an industry!

Watch sessions from SaltConf21!

SaltConf21 has ended and it was a huge success! It took place on November 3rd and 4th, and featured over 40 different events and sessions!

Every year, SaltConf focuses on new ideas and the latest Salt updates and offerings. This year was no different.  However, this years SaltConf seemed to be more focused on innovation than previous years!  Because of this, Tom and Chunga wanted to spend some time in this episode of The Hacks talking about the Top-5 innovations that impressed and surprised Tom the most!

Watch SaltConf21 breakout sessions!

SaltConf21 "Bigger, Better, Faster, Stronger" is coming your way on November 3rd and 4th, and you're all invited to attend for FREE! Register HERE to get your free SaltConf21 T-shirt!

In this episode of The Hacks, Tom and Chunga give you the rundown on what's happening at this year's SaltConf, what brand new innovations are going to be announced, who's going to be presenting, and what the sessions are going to look like!

Tom and Chunga also give you a sneak peek at an amazing new product, created by Tom that will be unveiled at SaltConf21! Again, be sure to get signed up and grab your snappy new SaltConf T-shirt!

Register for SaltConf21!  It's FREE!

Tom Hatch has always wanted to be a stand-up comic. He thinks he'd be amazing! Chunga, on the other hand, is far less confident in Toms's comedic abilities. That said, he still thinks they should have Tom do an hour of tech based stand-up comedy at SaltConf on November 3rd and 4th! Be sure to get your free registration at saltconf.com

Over the past few months, Tom & Chunga have devoted a few episodes to the business of tech and the management of people. These episodes have been extremely popular, and you have asked for more! Consider it done!

In this episode of The Hacks, Tom & Chunga are talking about 2 things that they feel are a massive problem in today's professional workspace; those 2 issues are silos and personal accountability. Do you feel that silos are creating a toxic, ultra-competitive work environment? Do think it's simply too easy to make excuses for poor work and get away with it every time?  You're not alone! Listen to this episode of The Hacks to learn how you can help break down silos and overcome workplace drama and poorly performing team members.

Register NOW for SaltConf21!