🧱 What Exactly Is a Build System?
One of the clearest and most rigorous modern takes on build systems. A must-read for developers curious about the theory behind Bazel, Shake, or Cargo.
A deep conceptual tour of build systems—the tools that transform inputs into outputs, track dependencies, and ensure reproducibility. It explains inter- vs. intra-process builds, applicative vs. monadic dependency graphs, and explores core traits like sandboxing, determinism, and incremental compilation. The article positions build systems as part of a broader ecosystem that connects compilers, CI pipelines, and even spreadsheets.
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⚙️ Stop Writing If Statements for Your CLI Flags
A compelling case for using TypeScript’s type system to make CLI tools safer and self-documenting.
Hong Minhee advocates for expressing CLI flag relationships through type systems instead of conditional logic. Using TypeScript and the Optique library, he shows how to define dependencies so that invalid flag combinations are caught at compile time. Real-world examples demonstrate modeling options for reporters and databases.
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🖋️ Editors Should Offer an Opt-In for Less Assistance
A witty yet serious reflection on how overhelpful tools can undermine the consistency developers depend on.
David Buchanan critiques modern editors for excessive automation that breaks user rhythm and predictability. He introduces the term ‘auto-input’ for intrusive behaviors like smart quotes and proposes a universal NO_AUTOINPUT variable to disable them. While he appreciates auto-indentation, he advocates for restraint in ‘smart’ features.
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💻 Using nvi as a Minimal and Fast Text Editor
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🌍 VPN Location Claims Often Don’t Match Reality
An eye-opening audit of VPN transparency that underscores how data measurement outshines marketing claims.
A comprehensive IPinfo report reveals that most major VPN providers misrepresent their exit points, with many servers hosted in different countries than advertised. The study identifies 38 ‘virtual-only’ regions and praises providers like Mullvad and IVPN for accuracy. ProbeNet’s latency-based analysis exposes the real physical locations behind VPN networks.
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🦊 I Tried Gleam for Advent of Code
An insightful real-world perspective on Gleam’s maturity and practicality for functional programming enthusiasts.
A developer shares their experience solving Advent of Code 2025 entirely in Gleam, praising its expressive functional syntax, safety, and ergonomics. The post highlights strengths like pipelines and strong typing, while noting weaker areas such as I/O and regex handling.
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🕵️♂️ Europeans’ Health Data Sold to US Firm Tied to Ex-Israeli Spies
A sharp exposé of the geopolitical tensions underlying data ownership and international corporate acquisitions.
An investigation by Follow the Money reveals that Dutch security firm Zivver, serving hospitals and courts across Europe, has been acquired by the U.S. company Kiteworks—led by former Israeli cyber-intelligence officers. Though Zivver claims full encryption, the report suggests it can still access client data, raising serious concerns about data sovereignty and transatlantic oversight.
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