After careful consideration, several cups of tea, and absolutely no pressure whatsoever from anyone, I have decided to stand in the forthcoming by-election in Clacton to become a Member of Parliament.
Human beings have always achieved more when they work together.
Every great advancement, from scientific discoveries to engineering achievements, has been built on the knowledge, creativity, and experience of many people. Even the ideas we often associate with individuals are usually the result of countless influences, conversations, discoveries, and improvements made by others before them.
If open source is about anything, it is about people working together to build something none of them could create alone. That makes governance and leadership central to the health of any project, even though they are often discussed as if they are secondary concerns. The Benevolent Dictator For Life (BDFL) model has become a familiar shorthand for successful projects led by strong individuals, but I have never found it a comfortable fit for how I believe communities should function or endure.
For years we've been told that the easiest way to build an online presence is to use someone else's platform. Whether it's a website builder, an online marketplace, a social network, or a hosted service, the promise is always the same: less work, less hassle, and faster results.
What often gets overlooked is the cost of that convenience. When your business depends on a platform you don't control, your future depends on decisions made by someone else.
You spent hours choosing the perfect font. But can your users tell the difference between a one, a lowercase l, and an uppercase L? If not, your beautiful typography may be getting in the way of communication.
We like to believe that recruitment is a fair process where the best candidate rises to the top. The reality is far less comforting and far more efficient.
Everyone loves a story about some genius swooping in and changing the world overnight. It’s neat. It’s inspiring. And it’s utter nonsense. Real progress is messy, boring at times, and absolutely depends on ordinary people actually doing the work and dealing with each other without throwing a tantrum.
There are many irritating phrases in the English language, but one sits firmly at the top of my list: "no offence but". It is the most dishonest phrase in everyday conversation.
You know the one. It arrives politely at the start of a sentence, pretending to be considerate. It tries to disguise itself as empathy. In reality it means exactly the opposite.
The web was supposed to be the most open publishing platform ever created, a system where anyone with a server and a connection could publish ideas, build services, and participate in a global conversation without needing permission from anyone.
Congratulations, you discovered a hidden secret!