David Heinemeier HanssonModify

You can just change things! That's the power of open source. But for a lot of people, it might seem like a theoretical power. Can you really change, say, Chrome? Well, yes!

We've made a micro fork of Chromium for Omarchy (our new 37signals Linux distribution). Just to add one feature needed for live theming. And now it's released as a package anyone can install on any flavor of Arch using the AUR (Arch User Repository).

We got it all done in just four days. From idea, to solicitation, to successful patch, to release, to incorporation. And now it'll be part of the next release of Omarchy.

There are no speed limits in open source. Nobody to ask for permission. You have the code, so you can make the change. All you need is skill and will (and maybe, if you need someone else to do it for you, a $5,000 incentive 😄).

This is how Kobi Yamada's book What do you do with a chance? starts. I've been reading that beautiful book to the boys at bedtime since it came out in 2018. It continues:

What a mesmerizing mental image of a chance, fluttering about.

What do you do with a chance? is a great book exactly because it's not just for the boys, but for me too. A poetic reminder of what being open to chance looks like, and what to do when it shows up. 

Right now, Omarchy feels like that chance. Like Linux fluttered into my hands and said "let's take a trip to the moon". 

I joked on X that perhaps it was the new creatine routine I picked up from Pieter Levels, but I only started that a few days ago, so I really do think it's actually Linux!

This exhilaration of The Chance reminds me of the 1986 cult classic Highlander. There's a fantastic montage in the middle where Sean Connery is teaching Christopher Lambert to fight for the prize of immortality, and in it, he talks about The Quickening. Feeling the stag, feeling the opportunity.

That's the feeling I have when I wake up in the morning at the moment: The Quickening. There's something so exciting here, so energizing, that I simply must get to the keyboard and chase wherever it flutters to.

We're going all-in on Omarchy at 37signals. Over the next three years, as the regular churn of hardware invites it, we're switching everyone on our Ops and Ruby programming teams to our own Arch-derived Linux distribution (and of course sharing all the improvements we make along the way with everyone else on Omarchy!).

It's funny how nobody bats an eye when the company mandate is to use Macs or Windows, but when the prescription is Linux, it's suddenly surprising. It really shouldn't be. Your ability to control your own destiny with Linux is far superior to what you'll get from a closed-source, commercial operating system. Of course it is! The code is literally all there!

True, you might face more challenges, and there won't be a vendor to call (unless you hop into the Enterprise Linux camp, which doesn't appeal to me either). But I've never given a damn about that. I started using Ruby to build Basecamp when we could barely fill a room in American with professional Ruby programmers. This is what we do here!

This also means giving up on MacBooks and choosing Framework laptops as the new standard-issue equipment. Along with desktop machines from Framework and Beelink both. PC hardware has gotten incredibly good over the last few years, as AMD in particular has managed to extract many of the same processor improvements from TSMC, as Apple did so well with the M series. At least in terms of performance.

Again, true, there is still a gap on the efficiency front. Nobody can currently beat Apple on the wattage-to-power ratio (but the gap is fast closing!). So battery life on Linux using Framework is currently a bit less. I get about 6 hours of mixed use from my Framework 13, so whenever I suspect that might be a problem, I bring a small 20K mAh Anker battery in the bag, and now I have double the capacity. 

A small concession on a rare occasion, but nothing like the performance AND battery deficit we willingly endured for decades on the Mac before Apple switched to their own chips. Because we wanted to run OSX. It was worth sacrifice a few other concerns for. Just like Linux is today.

On the flip side, we'll get a massive boost in productivity from being able to run our Ruby on Rails test suites locally much faster. For our HEY application, even the fastest Mac, an M4 Max, is almost twice as slow as a Framework Desktop machine running Linux, which can do Docker natively.

It's an exciting new adventure for us. Omarchy is already by far-and-away my favorite computing environment. Right up there in joy and wonder with the old Amiga days or early OSX. It's been a blast learning that so many other early-adopters have found the same feeling. Very reminiscent of the excitement in the early Ruby days. Knowing you'd found something super special that wasn't yet widely distributed (but poised to be).

I spoke about all of this with Kimberly on a bonus episode of The REWORK Podcast. Give it a listen if you're curious about the why, the how, and the inevitable objections.

Have I told you how much I've come to dislike the 90s? The depressive music, the ironic distance to everything, the deconstructive narratives, the moral relativism, and the total cultural takeover of postmodern ideology. Oh, I did that just last week? Well, allow me another go.

But rather than railing against the 90s, let me tell you about the 80s. They were amazing. America was firing on all cylinders, Reagan had brought the morning back, and the Soviet Union provided a clear black-and-white adversarial image. But it was the popular culture of the era that still fills me with hiraeth.

It was the time of earnest storytelling. When Rocky could just train real hard to avenge the death of his friend by punching Dolph Lundgreen for 10 minutes straight in a montage of blood, sweat, and tears. After which even the Russians couldn't help themselves but cheer for him. Not a shred of irony. Just pure "if you work real hard, you can do the right thing" energy.

Or what about Weird Science from 1985? Two nerds bring Barbie to life, and she teaches them to talk to real girls. It was goofy, it was kitsch, but it was also earnest and honest. Nerdy teenage boys have a hard time talking to girls! But they can learn how, and if they do, it'll all work out.

That movie was actually the earliest memory I have of wanting to move to America. I don't remember exactly when I saw it, but I remember at the end thinking, "I have to go there." Such was the magnetic power of that American 80s earnest optimism!

Or what about the music? Do you have any idea what the 1986 music video for Sabrina's BOYS could do for a young Danish boy who'd only just discovered the appeal of girls? Wonders, is what. Wonders. And again, it depicted this goofy but earnest energy. Boys and girls like each other! They have fun with the chase. The genders are not doomed to opposing trenches on the Eastern Front for all eternity.

So back to today. It feels like we're finally emerging from this constant 90s Seattle drizzle to sunny 80s LA vibes in America. The constant pessimism, the cancellation militias, and the walking-on-eggshells atmosphere have given way to something far brighter, bolder, and, yes, better. An optimism, a levity, a confidence.

First, America has Sweeney fever. The Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans campaign has been dominating the discourse for weeks, but rather than back down with a groveling apology, American Eagle has doubled down with a statement and now the Las Vegas sphere!

And Sweeney herself has also kept her foot on the gas. Now there's a new Baskin-Robbins campaign that's equal parts Weird Science (two nerds!) and "Boys Boys Boys" music video. No self-referential winks to how this might achksually be ProBLeMAtIC. Just a confident IT GIRL grabbing the attention of a nation.

The male role model too has been going through a rehabilitation lately. I absolutely loved F1: The Movie. It's classic Jerry Bruckheimer Top Gun pathos: Real men doing dangerous stuff for the chase, the glory, and the next generation with a love story that involves a competent yet feminine female partner. 

Again, it's an entirely sincere story with great morals. The generational gap is real, but we can learn from each other. Young hotshots have speed but lack experience. Old-timers can be grumpy but their wisdom was hard-won.

Even the diversity in that movie fails to feel forced! It's a woman leading the engineering in a male-dominated world, and she can't quite hack it at first. Her designs are too by-the-book. But then Brad Pitt sells the gamble of a dirty-air fighter design, she steps up her game, and wins the crown by her wits and talent. Tell me that isn't a wholesome story!

David Foster Wallace nailed this all in his critique of postmodernism. He called out the irony, cynicism, and irreverence that had fully permeated the culture from the 90s forward. And frankly, he was bored with it! It's an amazing interview to watch today. Wallace had the diagnosis nailed back in 1997. But it's taken us until these mid-2020s to fully embrace its conclusions.

We need earnest values and virtues. We need sincere stories that are not afraid of grand narratives. That don't constantly have to deconstruct "but what is good really?", and dare embrace a solid defense of "some ways of being really are better." We also need to have fun! We need to throw away these shit-tinted glasses that see everything in the world as a problematic example of some injustice or oppression. We a bit of gratitude for technology and progress!

That's what the Sweeney campaign is doing. That's what Brad Pitt is racing for in F1: The Movie. That's what I'm here for!

Because as much as I love the croissants of the Old World, I find myself craving that uniquely American brand of optimism, enthusiasm, and determination more whenever I've been back in Europe for too long. Give me some Weird Science! Give me some Sabrina at the pool! Give me some American 80s vibes!

I've been running the Framework Desktop for a few months here in Copenhagen now. It's an incredible machine. It's completely quiet, even under heavy, stress-all-cores load. It's tiny too, at just 4.5L of volume, especially compared to my old beautiful but bulky North tower running the 7950X — yet it's faster! And finally, it's simply funky, quirky, and fun!

In some ways, the Framework Desktop is a curious machine. Desktop PCs are already very user-repairable! So why is Framework even bringing their talents to this domain? In the laptop realm, they're basically alone with that concept, but in the desktop space, it's rather crowded already. Yet it somehow still makes sense.

Partly because Framework has gone with the AMD Ryzen AI Max 395+, which is technically a laptop CPU. You can find it in the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 and the HP ZBook Ultra. Which means it'll fit in a tiny footprint, and Framework apparently just wanted to see what they could do in that form factor. They clearly had fun with it. Look at mine:

There are 21 little tiles on the front that you can get in a bunch of different colors or with logos from Framework. Or you can 3D print your own! It's a welcome change in aesthetic from the brushed aluminum or gamer-focused RGBs approach that most of the competition is taking.

But let's cut to the benchmarks. That's really why you'd buy a machine like the Framework Desktop. There are significantly cheaper mini PCs available from Beelink and others, but so far, Framework has the only AMD 395+ unit on sale that's completely silent (the GMKTec very much is not, nor is the Z3 Flow). And for me, that's just a dealbreaker. I can't listen to roaring fans anymore.

Here's the key benchmark for me:

That's the only type of multi-core workload I really sit around waiting on these days, and the Framework Desktop absolutely crushes it. It's almost twice as fast as the Beelink SER8 and still a solid third faster than the Beelink SER9 too. Of course, it's also a lot more expensive, but you're clearly getting some multi-core bang for your buck here!

It's even a more dramatic difference to the Macs. It's a solid 40% faster than the M4 Max and 50% faster than the M4 Pro! Now some will say "that's just because Docker is faster on Linux," and they're not entirely wrong. Docker runs natively on Linux, so for this test, where the MySQL/Redis/ElasticSearch data stores run in Docker while Ruby and the app code runs natively, that's part of the answer. Last I checked, it was about 25% of the difference.

But so what? Docker is an integral part of the workflow for tons of developers. We use it to be able to run different versions of MySQL, Redis, and ElasticSearch for different applications on the same machine at the same time. You can't really do that without Docker. So this is what Real World benchmarks reveal.

It's not just about having a Docker advantage, though. The AMD 395+ is also incredibly potent in RAW CPU performance. Those 16 Zen5 cores are running at 5.1GHz, and in Geekbench 6 multicore, this is how they stack up:

Basically matching the M4 Max! And a good chunk faster than the M4 Pro (as well as other AMDs and Intel's 14900K!). No wonder that it's crazy quick with a full-core stress test like running 30,000 assertions for our HEY test suite.

To be fair, the M4s are faster in single-core performance. Apple holds the crown there. It's about 20%. And you'll see that in benchmarks like Speedometer, which mostly measures JavaScript single-core performance. The Framework Desktop puts out 670 vs 744 on the M4 Pro on Speedometer 2.1. On SP 3.1, it's an even bigger difference with 35 vs 50.

But I've found that all these computers feel fast enough in single-core performance these days. I can't actually feel the difference browsing on a machine that does 670 vs 744 on SP2.1. Hell, I can barely feel the difference between the SER8, which does 506, and the M4 Pro! The only time I actually feel like I'm waiting on anything is in multi-core workloads like the HEY test suite, and here the AMD 395+ is very near the fastest you can get for a consumer desktop machine today at any price.

It gets even better when you bring price into the equation, though. The Framework Desktop with 64GB RAM + 2TB NVMe is $1,876. To get a Mac Studio with similar specs — M4 Max, 64GB RAM, 2TB NVMe — you'll literally spend nearly twice as much at $3,299! If you go for 128GB RAM, you'll spend $2,276 on the Framework, but $4,099 on the Mac. And it'll still be way slower for development work using Docker! The Framework Desktop is simply a great deal.

Speaking of 64GB vs 128GB, I've been running the 64GB version, and I almost never get anywhere close to the limits. I think the highest I've seen in regular use is about 20GB of RAM in action. Linux is really efficient. Especially when you're using a window manager like Hyprland, as we do in Omarchy.

The only reason you really want to go for the full 128GB RAM is to run local LLM models. The AMD 395+ uses unified memory, like Apple, so nearly all of it is addressable to be used by the GPU. That means you can run monster models, like the new 120b gpt-oss from OpenAI. Framework has a video showing them pushing out 40 tokens/second doing just that. That seems about in range of the numbers I've seen from the M4 Max, which also seem in the 40-50 token/second range, but I'll defer to folks who benchmark local LLMs for the exact details on that.

I tried running the new gpt-oss-20b on my 64GB machine, though, and I wasn't exactly blown away by the accuracy. In fact, I'd say it was pretty bad. I mean, exceptionally cool that it's doable, but very far off the frontier models we have access to as SaaS. So personally, this isn't yet something I actually use all that much in day-to-day development. I want the best models running at full speed, and right now that means SaaS.

So if you just want the best, small computer that runs Linux superbly well out of the box, you should buy the Framework Desktop. It's completely quiet, fantastically fast, and super fun to look at.

But I think it's also fair to mention that you can get something like a Beelink SER9 for half the price! Yes, it's also only 2/3 the performance in multi-core, but it's just as fast in single-core. Most developers could totally get away with the SER9, and barely notice what they were missing. But there are just as many people for whom the extra $1,000 is worth the price to run the test suite 40 seconds quicker! You know who you are.

Oh, before I close, I also need to mention that this thing is a gaming powerhouse. It basically punches about as hard as an RTX 4060! With an iGPU! That's kinda crazy. Totally new territory on the PC side for integrated graphics. ETA Prime has a video showing the same chip in the GMK Tech running premier games at 1440p High Settings at great frame rates. You can run most games under Linux these days too (thanks Valve and Steam Deck!), but if you need to dual boot with Windows, the dual NVMe slots in the Framework Desktop come very handy.

Framework did good with this one. AMD really blew it out of the water with the 395+. We're spoiled to have such incredible hardware available for Linux at such appealing discounts over similar stuff from Cupertino. What a great time to love open source software and tinker-friendly hardware!

I often give Google a lot of shit for shutting down services whenever they're bored, hire a new executive, or face a three-day weekend. The company seems institutionally incapable of standing behind the majority of the products they launch for longer than a KPI cycle. But when the company does decide that something is pivotal to the business, it's an entirely different story. And that's the tale of YouTube: The King of Internet Archives (Video Edition).

I've just revived my YouTube channel after realizing just how often video has become my go-to for learning. This entire Linux adventure I've gotten myself into started by watching YouTube creators like ThePrimeagen, Typecraft, and Bread on Penguins. I learned about mechanical keyboards from Hipyo Tech. Devoured endless mini PC reviews from Level1Techs and Robtech. Oh, and took a side quest into retro gaming handhelds with Retro Game Corps.

But it was when putting together the playlists for my own channel that YouTube's royal role in internet archival really stood out. Like with the original Rails Demo from 19 years ago(!), the infamous talk at Startup School from 2009, or my very first RailsConf keynote from 2006. You'd be hard-pressed to find any video content on the internet from those days anywhere else. I notice that with podcast appearances from even just a few years ago that have gone missing already. Decentralization is wonderful in many ways, but it's very much subject to link rot and disappearing content.

I love how you can pull in videos from other channels onto your own page as well. I've gathered up a bunch of the many podcast appearances I've done, and even dedicated an entire playlist to the 69(!!) clips from the Lex Fridman interview. The majority of the RailsConf and Rails World keynotes are on a list. So is the old On Writing Software Well series that I keep meaning to bring back.

When you're working in small tech, it's really easy to become so jaded with big tech that you become ideologically blind to the benefits they do bring. I find no inconsistency in cheering much of the antitrust agenda against Google while also celebrating their work on Chrome or their stewardship of YouTube. Any company as large as Google is bound to be full of contradictions, ambitions, and behaviors. We ought to have the capacity to cheer for the good parts and boo at the bad parts without feeling like frauds.

So today, I choose to cheer for YouTube. It's an international treasure of learning, enthusiasm, and discovery.