Exploring the human factors that make software engineering so unique, so difficult, so important and all consuming. Learning to work with the systems, not against them.
Software Delivery Club Newsletter 2023-02-03
We made it out of January!
Welcome to the end of the week. What did we learn this week? That ChatCPT is going commercial, and so is the Twitter API.
https://openai.com/blog/chatgpt-plus/
The new subscription plan, ChatGPT Plus, will be available for $20/month, and subscribers will receive a number of benefits:
- General access to ChatGPT, even during peak times
- Faster response times
- Priority access to new features and improvements
Twitter is removing the Free Tier completely and this will undoubtedly have a big effect on the connected app ecosystem. If you're using any form of Twitter integrated tooling - this could hurt. It could end up hurting Twitter too. I imagine the phones to Twitter HQ are pretty hot right now!
I've been preparing for FOSDEM this week - I'll be talking about Rosegarden on Sunday. Please join me either in person or online.
Have a great weekend,
Richard
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The Why of Building Software
Published on February 2, 2023
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I’ve been writing my upcoming talk for FOSDEM and it’s made me confront the last twenty-five years or so that I’ve been professionally developing software. From the early days of learning the UNIX command line, shell scripting, vi, C and X11 primitives through being a paid software developer for the first time, an Open Source… Read More »The Why of Building Software
What can we learn from a WordPress upgrade?
Published on February 1, 2023
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I’ve been using WordPress for about ten years now. Installing the backend, fiddling with the front-end, making child themes, writing plugins and improving my CSS. In that time, the editor has gone through a lot of changes. The original Gutenberg editor, the many others in between. The themes get steadily more and more powerful over… Read More »What can we learn from a WordPress upgrade?
The Human Engineer
Exploring the human factors that make software engineering so unique, so difficult, so important and all consuming. Learning to work with the systems, not against them.
REBRAND ALERT!! So it's been a while since I renamed this newsletter but I feel it's due a slight sidestep following the launch of my book. So welcome to episode 286 overall, but episode #1 of The Human Engineer. Despite me constantly rename this newsletter, over these years the subject has never really varied too much. I talk about software systems and how they relate to human systems. I find my work increasingly focusses on the human side of the this divide - because it is a divide right?...
Last couple of weeks, I've been rebuilding some Windows base images in order to comply with corporate patching policies. The new images are CIS hardened which means they follows guidelines set out by the Center for Internet Security benchmark. This ultimately means that the images are restricted in what they can do, what they can access, what is installed upon them by default. These security measures work in opposition to the automation we already have in place for our customers. This is the...
Aside from being a writer, I'm also an avid film and TV watcher. This week we were blessed by the arrival of Pluribus on AppleTV. It's a speculative science fiction series written by Vince Gilligan, co-creator of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. He's someone who knows what they are doing when it comes to writing, producing and directing these incredibly successful series. More than that though, he picks the best people and directs them with ease. Here's a bit on when Vince Gilligan knew...