DEV Community: Mike Bybee

Asking for a friend (no, really)

Mike Bybee — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 23:06:23 +0000

Any of my developer connections out there with React Native and serverless FaaS/DBaaS experience, with the bandwidth and risk appetite for a CTO role (currently unpaid, equity-only) in an early stage startup? Similar to Uber/Lyft, but for limos and requiring mobile apps for riders and drivers as well as a web-based fleet management dashboard.

NO AGENCIES

Comment here or DM me and I'll get you connected with the CEO, a connection of mine and a current Y Combinator Startup School attendee like me.

Am I the only one seeing possibilities with React Nil?

Mike Bybee — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 03:14:14 +0000

Have you checked out React Nil yet? Any ideas for what you can build with it?

@kayis's posts on "Fullstack Frontend" fresh on my mind, my thoughts immediately start expanding on what I've already been doing to target multiple frontend platforms with shared codebase (React Native + React Native Web + Electron) for the last few years, in this case envisioning a subsection of shared (non-UI) React components that can also be used to lay out corresponding API endpoints, simplifying the API design process. I'm already sharing some backend logic between Node and Electron, so this just takes it a step further.

What would you like to see in a developer-centric Linux distro?

Mike Bybee — Wed, 02 Sep 2020 21:56:19 +0000

Hi everyone. I've been thinking about creating a custom Linux distro for a while now, because a separate /home partition and shell scripts only get you so far in restoring your setup without repeating work each time.

Must-haves, nice-to-haves, and hard limits

I'll list some of the likely (and likely non-negotiable) as well as potential things I intend to bake in, and things I can't include (but might make it easier to install):

Must-haves

0) Potentially offensive distro name, codename, versioning scheme

These are for multiple reasons; namely, aggressive branding, advocacy of sex positivity, available GitHub org name, and just plain insolence.

1) Ubuntu base

Being a MacBook Pro user, I need as much out-of-box hardware support as possible. Before the Arch/Manjaro users chime in, there's more to hardware support than the latest kennel and *cringe*\ AUR (just ask MBP users about backlight support).

2) PPAs and third party repos

When possible, use PPAs for up-to-date versions of software with better system integration and less chance of breakage (e.g. GIMP, Inkscape, LibreOffice, etc.). Same for FOSS third party repos (e.g. Node.js, Yarn, Docker CE, etc.).

3) Chromium PPA

Instead of throwing a temper tantrum and disabling snapd system-wide for everyone like Clement Lefebvre did with Linux Mint, opt for the easier solution to get a real Chromium deb package (not a wrapper for the snap like in recent versions of Ubuntu) like he should have done.

4) systemd

I don't care about your refusal to learn a new init system or whatever other concerns you may have about systemd. It works, and works extremely well. If you feel like hacking Devuan, have at it.

5) Snap AND Flatpak AND AppImage AND Homebrew

They're all easy enough to enable that I'm not getting involved in this stupid holy war over universal Linux app delivery mechanisms; besides, when available, Homebrew for Linux (aka Linuxbrew) is superior (in size and performance) to the three others most people fight over anyway. GNOME and Linux Mint especially need to grow up about this.

Note: Homebrew for Linux does not support casks.

666) Support for other operating systems via virtualization (but get them yourself)

I've shelled out enough for Apple hardware over the years, only for MacOS installs to eventually fail to install on each system, that I feel zero remorse for running it virtualized on a non-Apple host OS or on non-Apple hardware. Same for Windows licenses, and WSL can't compete with bare metal Linux.

7) VERY opinionated desktop defaults

My desktop is very Unity-like (but not) in nature:

Unity/MacOS style top panel
- Window Buttons show on hover when maximized on left
- App Title and Global Menu at left-middle
- Notification Area, Clock, and Show Desktop button on right
Window buttons on the left (I hated this at first in Unity, but eventually came to agree that it is a more efficient use of space)
Window titlebar hidden when maximized (since buttons and title are in top panel)
Dark mode by default
Left panel/"Dock"
- "Start"/"Launchpad" button, window list button, and Icon-only Task Manager (with Windows 7-10 style window previews on hover) at top
- Trash, Activity Switcher, and Virtual Desktop Switcher at bottom
Hot corners (clockwise, top left to bottom left):
- Show "Start"/"Launchpad" menu (also activated with "Windows"/"Command" button, and by clicking visible menu button)
- "Show Desktop"/"Hide All Windows" (also by clicking button right of clock applet in top bar)
- "Show All Windows"
- "Desktop Grid" (virtual desktops, also switchable by hotkeys or clicking on applet)

If I could squeeze everything into one top panel, I would (I could without Global Menu, but I love it too much).

Sure, I could just keep those settings in my separate /home partition (and I do), but I want to share this desktop paradigm with anyone else who might be interested.

8) Synaptic and/or Muon

Discover or [sudo] apt [install|search|etc] is fine for most things, but sometimes you need a better way to search, browse by category/repo, or view dependencies and installed files. Sadly, none of the modern package installer frontends do this well. Muon is beautiful and full-featured, but buggy, so ugly old granddaddy Synaptic may still be the way to go.

Nice-to-haves

1) Rolling release

I know what you're thinking:

1) Ubuntu base

Yes, I did say that, but the "Rolling Rhino" discussion (and subsequent GitHub repo) show how it's possible to switch to the devel release.

This will break sudo apt-add-repository [PPA], but that can be worked around if devel branch is otherwise stable enough.

2) Nitrux utilities

This allows things like:

using pacman (and Arch repos) for package management. Still exploring the value in this.
Other nice utilities I'm still exploring.

3) KDE Neon base

Combined with apt pinning, so I can get the best of both worlds: Neon's rolling release KDE Plasma, plus the rolling release base of "Rolling Rhino"

4) KXStudio repos

A personal preference, since I want to get back into making music and will need WineASIO

5) Pentesting tools

The easiest way to accomplish this would be to base off of Kali Linux or Parrot Security OS, but those are unstable on their own and adding their repos will destroy anything Ubuntu-based. If Nitrux's pacman implementation works stably enough, I can try adding the BlackArch repos.

6) (maybe) Yet another software center app, or plugins for e.g. Discover

To make it easy to see all app install options (APT, Snap, Flatpak, AppImage, Homebrew [and maybe pacman?]) in one place.

Hard limits (`notabug`/`wontfix`)

1) No proprietary software out of the box (aka "Not tryna get sued")

Third party repositories like Google Chrome, Brave, Opera, VS Code, Slack and others will be enabled, but you'll have to install those apps yourself (I will work on adding quick access to their installs in a welcome app - provided you have internet access, of course).

2) No to any DE other than KDE Plasma

You can always install [insert inferior DE here] yourself, or create something based on this distro with your preferred DE. What you can't do is find a better combination of polish, performance, and configurability than recent versions of Plasma. Does that limit you to X11? Probably, for the time being, but in my experience Wayland still isn't ready for prime time even on (the much heavier and less configurable) GNOME.

3) No MacOS or Windows theme/icon/window decoration ripoffs

Just because I side with one or the other on a few design choices, that doesn't mean I want to imitate either in actual design. The beauty of Linux is that you can make it anything you want it to be, so why pretend it's some other OS which assumes I'm too stupid to make those choices?

How do you want it?

I also want to make sure I'm not missing features/apps/etc. which are easy to implement, won't add too much bloat, and would benefit myself and/or other users.

I may not add them to the default install, especially for languages I don't use and wouldn't begin to know how to test, but I'd like to make them as easy to add as possible.

Comment below, and I'll update this post with an issues link once I set it up.

I'm (Not Really) Podcast Famous!

Mike Bybee — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 20:11:27 +0000

Got my shout-out! Tune in to React Native Nerds not only to hear Spencer and Jon give me some props (see what I did there?), but because it's an awesome, very accessible podcast on all things RN: https://www.reactnativenerds.com/e/e-013-testing-your-apps/

I'm Officially Old

Mike Bybee — Sat, 08 Aug 2020 05:02:28 +0000

...barefoot, in the snow, uphill both ways!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

It's This For That

Mike Bybee — Sat, 01 Aug 2020 07:00:15 +0000

The post in the cover image screenshot showed up in my LinkedIn feed. Here's what I commented:

Which one? In the cringiest "it's like this for that" format, to avoid giving away too much:

It's Zoom for intimacy.

It's Ring for coffee.

It's Wix for everything.

It's (a tiny part of) Snapchat for dining.

It's a product lab for developer education and societal/criminal justice reform and underprivileged/underrepresented opportunity and bucking industry obsession with degrees (actually, it's exactly that, but that's not telling half of the story).

In one sentence (for each, feel free to share multiple), what's yours? Something you're actually working on or just an idea you've got on the back burner (trust me, I have plenty of the latter including some in here), it doesn't matter.

While you don't have to use my "it's like this for that" format, it's a pretty fun exercise and might help you avoid giving away too many details.

Acknowledgement

Mike Bybee — Tue, 28 Jul 2020 21:25:31 +0000

Just got a huge smile from the Amazon driver as he was walking back to his Sprinter, by telling him:

"In case nobody told you today, you're a hero, man."

He even pulled down his mask (20 feet away) to show me that he was beaming.

And they truly are heroes. Make sure they know it.

Thoughts On "Getting Paid More As A Software Developer"

Mike Bybee — Mon, 27 Jul 2020 09:05:45 +0000

This video recently appeared in my phone's Google News feed: "Getting Paid More As A Software Developer"

For those quick to attack this, actually watch it and note he's proposing that developers add more value than they're paid for, no matter what they're being paid. He covers simply stating that he was ready to move on to something bigger, more challenging, and that he frankly could make more money elsewhere, which led to a 20% increase in his extension offer without any negotiation,

"because me leaving would have left an Eric-sized hole in their team."

"When I work for somebody, I'm 100% in their service... I don't renegotiate on a contract... but I expect, and I demand, to be paid enough; and if I'm not, if I feel like I'm being taken advantage of, I know what my options are, and I always move to those other jobs... You're constantly improving yourself, and demanding the value that you deserve."

My resume shows that I'm clearly not afraid of contract work, but I don't see it as the silver bullet he promotes it as (for me, it has just been a sign of the industry since the Great Recession - and one of the economic canaries in the coal mine that I've warned about ever since, no matter how strong the Dow is nor which party is in power); I do, however, support the underlying point he's promoting: That workers need to (borrowing from pro sports, when referring to players who take short-term "prove it" deals) "bet on themselves."

"...you still have to be constantly looking. I would say that if you're being paid [absurdly low salary], you are still on the job market; I don't care if you have a job, you should still be looking; in fact, I think, no matter how much you get paid, you should still be looking... And when I talk about that, a lot of times people will say, 'Well, what about employee loyalty?' ...You're only responsible to... yourself and your family."

Loyalty goes, and is earned, both ways. Undervaluing isn't loyalty, nor worthy of it. If you can't afford to pay what they're worth, be honest about it and do what you can to make it up in other ways (rather than insulting intelligence and banking on low self-esteem); even then, though, don't be surprised when they leave for greener pastures.

"...I was done with them; they were dead to me..."
"I realized after the fact that the only reason... they would have increased my pay, was if I had other options...."
"...I swore to myself, that I would never put myself in that position again..."

Again, should an employer ever be surprised at this?

"...there are gonna be companies out there that are gonna want to pay you less than you're worth... After the pandemic, there's gonna be a lot of them... And some of these companies can't afford to pay you what you're worth, but you still have to make that case..."

They're not going to make it for you. It's up to you to put forth a body of work which proves that you are the better candidate initially, and that it would ultimately cost more to hire someone else for less than to pay you what you're worth.

"I don't care what they would say... 'Oh, but the benefits, you've got medical, you've got life insurance' and all this stuff... I was like, 'pay me enough and I'll get that stuff on my own.'"

...Yeah, approach that again like a pro athlete: Your primary concern should always be the "guaranteed money." Not benefits you may not use, not bonuses that may never come no matter how well the company does (not that they're not nice to have, you just can't count on them to feed you and yours, nor to keep a roof over your heads).

"I could kick myself for going into that office and asking for a raise with nothing to back it up; with no sense of my own value... not even knowing what else was out there on the job market, and I will never do that again... You're not getting paid enough... You may not be in a good bargaining position at the moment, but you need to get yourself into that position, and I will say that to any software developer. Don't fall for the employee loyalty trap..."

Since the end of an extremely toxic relationship that lasted for far too long, I've refused to ever compromise again on the things necessary for a good relationship. The same applies to jobs; I can't reasonably expect you to value me in the long term if you can't show it at the onset.

As I did in my last tech talk, he compares work to romance (because they should work the same, as a mutually beneficial exchange):

"...any kind of relationship; even if you have a girlfriend or a boyfriend, and they're constantly improving themselves and have other options... and you have other options... and you're constantly improving yourself; but you stay together... because of the value that you bring each other, then that is pure and that is the way that it should be."

Exactly. I told the woman with whom I had BY FAR the easiest relationship of all (and any with long-term potential since) this: "You're free to walk away at any time, for any reason, and so am I. If this isn't about mutual joy, then it's completely pointless."

"...the assumption should always be that they're looking out for their best interests, over your best interests, and you should always be looking out for your own interests over theirs."

Of course, and an employer is foolish not to assume the same of you. But isn't that selfish? Yes, of course. That's natural, rational, and not the horrible thing society has led us to believe. Run as fast as you can from the employer (or employee) who preaches selflessness and sacrifice. That is the rhetoric of someone who expects to receive a value in exchange for a lesser or non-value.

Don't Be A Douche, Vol. 1

Mike Bybee — Sat, 25 Jul 2020 06:27:53 +0000

I've been intending to detail my approach to business for a while. Google (still?) has "Don't be evil" (I think?). My approach is, while very outspoken, hopefully in keeping with my own philosophy:

Don't be a douche. I mean, sometimes I may be a douche, but hopefully only to douches.

In keeping with that, here's a response to a prevalent thought that had gone through my mind a ton since the lockdowns:

Video meetings are the new norm...

They shouldn't be right now. Seriously. Think about your neighbors. Think about their kids ready to revolt if they can't watch their streams (I get it, luxury item, but is it really right now?).

Think about the documents and code commits and all the other things which actually need to be uploaded. Your face isn't one of them.

Think about your team. There's a reason "Zoom fatigue" keeps coming up in the news. It's exhausting to feel like you're in a fishbowl all day, every day, for everyone to see.

You don't need to stare at the same faces on the screen every day. Turn off your camera. Encourage your team to do the same.

Your phone plan likely has unlimited voice. Call in. Encourage your team to do the same.

And then there's the daily standup. It's 2020. Set up a DailyBot or similar, and share those details via email/Slack/etc., with actionable dashboards from the results.

This isn't hard.

This includes interviews. Pick up the damned phone instead of sending a meeting link.

TUNES For Braining

Mike Bybee — Fri, 24 Jul 2020 06:55:45 +0000

I've seen a lot of posts asking what others listen to while coding. Prog(ressive) metal/rock stimulates my mind. Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree, Opeth, Soen, and others make me feel like I just leveled up 50 IQ points when I hear them. Every single member of every act mentioned above and below is stupidly, disgustingly talented.

Haken (rhymes with "bacon") was already HEAVY in that rotation, but today is the day. After three delays, their new album Virus is here... and it's freaking amazing.

I know what you're thinking. The name is purely coincidental and the album is loosely conceptually tied to their last album, Vector.

GO LISTEN RIGHT NOW. You're welcome.

(preview) What Not To Put Up With

Mike Bybee — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 22:45:51 +0000

I've been putting together thoughts on "what not to put up with" (mostly in your job search, but in some cases on the job), for a while.

For example, I often post or comment on LinkedIn about not EVER consenting to preemptive reference checks (before the offer stage of the hiring process - as has been the industry standard etiquette for decades - let alone before you've even gotten an interview), because they exponentially increase your references' exposure to calls (and at that, often just as shady lead gen tactics by account managers, disguised as reference checks). You depend on these people, so you need to protect their time whether staffing agencies respect it or not. They should reasonably expect one reference check call (maybe two, absolute max) per job SEARCH, not per job APPLIED TO.

A post on LinkedIn today, about those offering advice for job seekers, reminded me that I need to put together a more comprehensive guide on these thoughts, as such practices are only going to get worse as the pandemic rolls on. This is my way of reminding myself to finally get around to just that.

There will be tales of rockets, and buggy code, and lives saved, and... You'll never look at the staffing industry the same.

Perhaps I Should Start a RaaS Platform (Reference as a Service)

Mike Bybee — Sat, 18 Jul 2020 21:16:46 +0000

Tired of losing references because they're being EXPONENTIALLY more exposed by PREEMPTIVE REFERENCE CHECKS, and asked to do CRAZY THINGS like FILL OUT ONLINE FORMS OR WORD DOCS, or called by STAFFING AGENCY ACCOUNT MANAGERS who care more about SELLING than ACTUALLY CHECKING your bona fides?

Try REFBOT, and spare the professionals you actually depend on!

PRICING

CANCEL AT ANY TIME

STARTER

Monthly: $20
Annual: $100

10 reference checks/month (includes preemptive checks BEFORE YOU'RE EVEN SCHEDULED FOR AN INTERVIEW, and listening to staffing firm account managers' sales pitches)

RECOMMENDED OPTION

PREMIUM

Monthly: $40
Annual: $180 (TOP SAVINGS!!!)

30 reference checks/month
EVERYTHING INCLUDED IN STARTER
Answering emails, filling out Word docs or online forms (when ref checkers think calling is too hard on them and not burdensome enough on references)

DEV Community: Mike Bybee

Asking for a friend (no, really)

Am I the only one seeing possibilities with React Nil?

What would you like to see in a developer-centric Linux distro?

Must-haves, nice-to-haves, and hard limits

Must-haves

0) Potentially offensive distro name, codename, versioning scheme

1) Ubuntu base

2) PPAs and third party repos

3) Chromium PPA

4) systemd

5) Snap AND Flatpak AND AppImage AND Homebrew

666) Support for other operating systems via virtualization (but get them yourself)

7) VERY opinionated desktop defaults

8) Synaptic and/or Muon

Nice-to-haves

1) Rolling release

1) Ubuntu base

2) Nitrux utilities

3) KDE Neon base

4) KXStudio repos

5) Pentesting tools

6) (maybe) Yet another software center app, or plugins for e.g. Discover

Hard limits (notabug/wontfix)

1) No proprietary software out of the box (aka "Not tryna get sued")

2) No to any DE other than KDE Plasma

3) No MacOS or Windows theme/icon/window decoration ripoffs

How do you want it?

I'm (Not Really) Podcast Famous!

I'm Officially Old

It's This For That

Acknowledgement

Thoughts On "Getting Paid More As A Software Developer"

Don't Be A Douche, Vol. 1

TUNES For Braining

(preview) What Not To Put Up With

Perhaps I Should Start a RaaS Platform (Reference as a Service)

PRICING

CANCEL AT ANY TIME

STARTER

RECOMMENDED OPTION

PREMIUM

Hard limits (`notabug`/`wontfix`)