Soulless code

Posted on by Morgan

Code isn’t just a tool—it’s a reflection of the coder’s mind, a part of their soul turned into logic. When I write code, it becomes mine. I take care of it, I understand it, I think about it. Even when I stop working, the code stays with me, like a thought I can’t let go. It feels alive, like something I’ve created, something that matters.

But when the code comes from an LLM or someone else, it’s different. I might use it, but I don’t really make it mine. I don’t take the time to fully understand it. I let others—or the machine—do the hard work. And often, it feels easier to just start over or forget it.

This kind of code feels distant, like it has no home. It’s less work for me, and that can feel good, like letting go of something heavy. But at the same time, it feels empty—like something is missing.

Maybe when we stop owning our code, we lose more than just control. Maybe we lose a piece of what makes coding human.

// Functionally correct. Morally bankrupt.  
// Just like the rest of us.

Writing

Posted on by Morgan

Today is international logic day, and I really want to read logicomix comic strip someone offered me for Christmas.

I realize as a logician that I can perfectly organize some stuff and as ADHD I feel completely stuck with some tasks yet to have my attention drained by completely unrelated events.

Often the fix or the way to disconnect from my mental paralysis is to write, walk, climb, talk, tell, draw or code.

It's a form of calm expression of self, an escape from news, emails, todo lists, code problems, mental load and daily stress for all the code and life bugs I can't unsee.

Like this blog where I write without caring if anyone is reading, and with no other purpose but the act of writing.

Flow

Posted on by Morgan
  • Cannot really stop coding while in a task. Coding is fun.
  • Cannot really stop improving after solving a task. I'm in the flow and each improvement unlocks another.
  • Cannot really stop bug fixing before solving it. Interruption is frustrating and I need to kill this problem.

Related

Continuous improvement is addictive because of the desire to reach perfection and repair the broken window (cfr Broken window theory).

Thanks to Vincent L. for the thoughts that inspired this blog.

Sans

Posted on by Morgan

Can you live a day at work and at home "sans"?

Sans smartphone?

We used to boot a computer and even a modem and be actually productive and enjoy life without checking for news, notifications, or email every 15 minutes.

Sans version control conflicture crap due to using Git-ware conflict-friendly patterns?

We used to just work together on code and discuss code, without focusing on the version control tooling.

Sans CI/CD tools to validate your work?

We used to validate our work before committing, in the old days.

Sans markdown?

We used to be able to read and write text without non-sense formatting, HTML was even a thing.

Sans proprietary note taking digital tools (Obsidian, Notion)?

We used to take notes on paper or in our own text editors in the past and format our notes in "raw" HTML.

Sans LLM for coding?

We used to reason about code and go read a programming language book or ask for help from colleagues in case of doubt.

Sans daily upgrades and ads and other modern web crap?

We used to have nice experience with computers.

In a world that used to be simple, what other "sans" would you can think of?

Blog Questions Challenge

Posted on by Morgan

Influenced by https://kevquirk.com/blog/blog-questions-challenge based on an original idea from https://brandons-journal.com/bear-blog-questions-challenge/.

This is a meta post you will find on various blogs nowadays, anyway I find the answers so interesting when shared by other people, hence are mine.

The questions are:

  1. Why did you start blogging in the first place?
  2. What platform are you using to manage your blog and why did you choose it?
  3. Have you blogged on other platforms before?
  4. How do you write your posts? For example, in a local editing tool, or in a panel/dashboard that's part of your blog?
  5. When do you feel most inspired to write?
  6. Do you publish immediately after writing, or do you let it simmer a bit as a draft?
  7. What's your favourite post on your blog?
  8. Any future plans for your blog? Maybe a redesign, a move to another platform, or adding a new feature?1.

1. Why did you start blogging in the first place?

I wanted to share cool links to free games and free apps, in french, and mostly because I couldn't find such specialized blogs in the French speaking community.

2. What platform are you using to manage your blog and why did you choose it?

My first blog was hosted at Jeuxvideo.com, it was about free and open source video games and apps. Then I pivoted to blogotext hosted on free.fr to write about some productivity tools.

Following the hype I tried static site generators such as Hugo and Zola without much success as it was painful to feel like debugging whenever I wanted to maintain the tooling or customize my blog.

I've migrated the content of my blogotext to a WordPress hosted on OVH and that got me back into writing, for a time at least.

Nowadays I'm using WordPress managed on my Cloudron instance and hosted at Contabo on my own VPS. I like the stability of WordPress and the ease to just be able to write anywhere using any device, any browser. Without caring about the maintenance of any tooling, upgrades etc.

3. Do you publish immediately after writing, or do you let it simmer a bit as a draft?

I tend to write best when I don't overthink, yet I suffer ADHD and I have 51 blog posts in draft state, I can't help.

4. Have you blogged on other platforms before?

I've only posted on a hosted platform in the past which was jeuxvideo.com. I do not believe anymore in the longevity of platforms after exiting a few social networks and few forums and communities. I've also observed the death of platforms I had invested time into.

5. How do you write your posts? For example, in a local editing tool, or in a panel/dashboard that's part of your blog?

Right in the WordPress editor, in my browser (btw, it's Brave).

6. When do you feel most inspired to write?

When I need to escape my thoughts and surrounding. When I'm expressing a problem or rant or anxiety. Or when I have to think clearly about a topic or elaborate my answer to an existing thread.

7. What's your favourite post on your blog?

Not posts but likely the 😵‍💫 Guilty page which is about things I like too much.

8. Any future plans for your blog? Maybe a redesign, a move to another platform, or adding a new feature?

I'd like to keep the tooling minimal with HTML or plaintext. I do not like Markdown much, likely I'm a nostalgic.