Thoughts from
the workbench.
On developer tools, agents, and making things—digital and physical.
Sloppy Perfectionism
The views expressed here are my own and do not represent those of OpenAI. The examples are illustrative and do not describe OpenAI’s internal practice The easiest way to make bad work today is to…
Read article →From craft to mass production: Software as an industrial system
Faster code generation changes where software delivery gets stuck. Christian treats development as a production system spanning planning, implementation, verification, review, and release, arguing that teams should improve the flow of finished work across those stages. As execution becomes cheaper, human judgment increasingly centers on intent, constraints, quality, and deciding what deserves to be built.
Read article →In search for parallel flow
What should an interface feel like when several coding agents are working at once? Christian explains Ona’s approach through a stable task sidebar, progressively deeper views of agent activity and code, and quick ways to stop or recover work. The aim is to make parallel development understandable while keeping the cost of switching attention low.
Read article →Time between disengagements: the rise of the software conductor
Borrowing a measure from autonomous driving, Chris proposes evaluating coding agents by how long they can work before needing human intervention. He examines security, context, and interface design as constraints on that autonomy, then describes an engineering role focused on directing several agents while moving fluidly between high-level decisions and implementation details.
Read article →We’re leaving Kubernetes
After six years operating cloud development environments, Christian and Alejandro explain why Kubernetes became a difficult fit for their workload. They trace lessons in resource allocation, storage, startup performance, and isolation, including experiments with micro-VMs. The article introduces the architectural reasoning behind Gitpod Flex and distinguishes development environments from conventional production applications.
Read article →Personal fabrication with aluminium
Experiments in making aluminium objects with tools available in a FabLab: Voronoi patterns, etch-resistant masks, and lessons from two attempts.
Read article →Milling and drilling on a MendelMax
Using a Dremel-equipped MendelMax to mill wood and drill circuit boards, with the G-code conversions that make it work.
Read article →From bent wire to 3D printed cookie cutters
Designing cookie cutters by bending wire, photographing the shape, and turning it into a printable model with OpenCV and OpenSCAD.
Read article →Cookie 3D printing
An experiment in printing cookie dough, and what happens when the printed shapes meet the oven.
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