Chris McDonough ✅

Python hacker. Recent obsessions: NixOS, MicroPython. Virginia, US.

Public Key

npub1mzkxujz0j355ra8kmh3ftnr05evm5xh2g2gyqavwe3pg3qlr34jqpxlzj4

NIP-05 Address

chrism@chattingdarkly-org.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsd3trwfp8eg62p7nmdmc54e3h6vkd6rt4y9yzqwk8vcs5gs03c6eqpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerfw36x7tnsw43qz9thwden5te0wfjkccte9ekk7um5wgh8qatzqyvhwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnndp5hgen0wf3k2tn0dejsz8thwden5te0dehhxarj946hxtnrda5kuen4dejxjapwvdhk6ytus0y

Publishing to

relay.ditto.pub

relay.mostr.pub

relay.shitforce.one

nostr-us.coinfundit.com

Author Public Key

npub1mzkxujz0j355ra8kmh3ftnr05evm5xh2g2gyqavwe3pg3qlr34jqpxlzj4

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Last Notes

2026-10-03 10:29:47 UTC

If fish discovered utltimate truth, we would never know.

2026-08-31 23:00:45 UTC

How to lose my trust: speak confidently about how to use AI.

2026-06-29 15:14:00 UTC

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@nprofile…cz4w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIcUgyLxNBA

2026-06-29 13:29:23 UTC

As a Gen X'er, I live with the collective fault that the only things that make me laugh are comedic faux violence and cancellable jokes.

2026-06-08 11:46:51 UTC

Claude is excellent at being a software design conversation partner. Always willing to discuss more, always ending a turn with a provocative question.
Humans are generally terrible at rubberducking. Claude is a great simulacrum.

2026-06-07 23:41:47 UTC

LLMs don't bother me because I've become accustomed to other developers confidently asserting bullshit.

2026-06-01 10:20:55 UTC

Devenv intro vid
#nix #nixos
https://youtu.be/Oj9AxyiaVvU

2026-05-08 07:10:51 UTC

I have a homelab. It's called production.

2026-02-11 18:31:36 UTC

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@nprofile…cz4w til the alcohol is gone pretty much

2026-02-11 00:22:36 UTC

Bender prep: 18 pack of Miller Lite, box of wine, and 2oz catnip for cat.

2025-05-25 09:12:48 UTC

NixOS 102: NixOS on a Digital Ocean Droplet
All hail nixos-generators!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1E8yBqDGFk
#nix #nixos

2025-05-25 05:29:30 UTC

I was encouraged by the new "--flake" option that got slipped in to an update to nixos-generate-config. Maybe 30 releases from now I'll be able to make videos which don't apologize for using them.
#nix #nixos
https://nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/chattingdarkly-files/media_attachments/files/114/566/815/955/598/080/original/ea731695268a9668.png

2025-05-22 00:32:19 UTC

Nice to see that there have been at least 20 #Nix / #NixOS videos published on YouTube within the last 5 days. It was getting pretty sparse for a while.

2025-05-21 23:47:24 UTC

NixOS 101: Using nix-serve as a Local Binary Cache
Our own @nprofile…sfl5 is mentioned at the end.
https://youtu.be/-Ck0c9bpzjw
#nix #nixos

2025-05-18 12:11:52 UTC

NixOS 100: Defining and Using Custom NixOS Options
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5vyoBqYfuE
#nix #nixos

2025-05-07 17:40:10 UTC

This is the only practical written advice I've seen about composing #NixOS configuration:
https://nixos-and-flakes.thiscute.world/nixos-with-flakes/modularize-the-configuration

2025-05-04 18:15:21 UTC

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@nprofile…ygpv yeah

2025-05-02 00:24:08 UTC

NixOS 98: Flox vs Devenv
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovYw7cEG8hs
#Nix #NixOS #Flox #Devenv

2025-04-25 06:05:48 UTC

As someone with a vaguely anti-pronounceable name, don't apologize before you try to say it. It's not about you, it's literally about me..

2025-04-16 07:14:14 UTC

When evaluating a new piece of software, I put it in the "suspect" bucket if most of the folks writing about it are on Medium.

2025-04-13 13:24:43 UTC

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@nprofile…wk38 @nprofile…647r @nprofile…f7j7 @nprofile…pl06 look i'm not sayin just sayin i was like #8 or some shit way before it was cool

2025-04-11 17:17:58 UTC

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@nprofile…wk38 @nprofile…647r @nprofile…f7j7 @nprofile…pl06 congrats Michael!

2025-03-18 07:38:25 UTC

Nothing worse than an optimist programmer.

2025-03-08 23:19:28 UTC

I am currently contracted to the US federal government. It's likely that soon my contract will vanish.
I am looking for a company or a contract that needs a remote/US-DC-area senior developer/architect with very deep Python, UNIX and networking experience, and extensive cloud experience.
I am also very interested in #nix and #nixos.
Boosts appreciated!
#getfedihired
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chmcdonough/
https://github.com/mcdonc

2025-03-04 06:04:28 UTC

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@nprofile…ygpv i found it, it was in "add-ons" on the billing page.

2025-01-18 21:08:07 UTC

When has telling anyone to relax made them relax?

2025-01-01 00:55:40 UTC

When someone offers you help, it's wise to accept it. They're often acting in their own self-interest: it's possible that you're insufferable without help.

2024-12-21 17:57:14 UTC

I'm so old that the WWE was the WWF.

2024-12-08 11:53:39 UTC

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@nprofile…ygpv i don't know any filipino socialists to be honest. but I guess you're right, my point really is that these days, you really aren't going to find many socialists amongst the poor wherever you may be.

2024-12-08 07:30:16 UTC

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@nprofile…ygpv i'll simplify it. most socialists in the US are quite wealthy. most capitalists in the Phillippines are very, very poor.

2024-12-08 07:00:16 UTC

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@nprofile…ygpv former

2024-12-08 04:32:30 UTC

The only class of folks in the West whom are socialists are the rich, the only class of people who are capitalists in the East are the poor.

2024-12-02 03:49:50 UTC

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@nprofile…cuvj I didn't either, but I've consumed hundreds of hours of Feynman-related content on YouTube.
I can empathize with her point of view, but I think to the extent her critique reflects on Feynman himself it may be a case of judging someone in the past with today's standards.
Passions require champions, and he certainly lit a fire under many folks. We might bemoan the fire it lit, but somebody had to do it, and anybody who lit the fire in the past was bound to get it wrong by today's ilk.

2024-12-02 02:37:07 UTC

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@nprofile…ygpv pretty sure Bob Geldof wouldn't be showing any maps of Israel unless they were only of Gaza

2024-12-01 18:37:16 UTC

TIL that Phil Collins played drums on Do They Know It's Christmas.
https://youtu.be/V6_6PzRQ9sQ?si=IeBQ-TLMI09rURt5

2024-11-24 23:20:14 UTC

Be brave, call bullshit.

2024-11-14 11:49:56 UTC

While gen Z will scold you, millennials will be disappointed with you, and boomers will look down on you, you can be assured that gen X will always mock you.

2024-11-12 00:07:47 UTC

Everything you trust and respect was created by someone with a passion who did it in contravention of the rules.

2024-08-17 16:04:18 UTC

My first true introduction to the culture was to ask my co-worker Ken Manheimer "do we need to wear a suit?" He looked at me with pity and said "no man, we're hackers."

2024-08-11 06:41:11 UTC

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@npub1tgk…4t9m I'm not falling for that! :)

2024-07-17 15:53:47 UTC

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@npub1tgk…4t9m are you trying to get my OnlyFans

2024-07-17 04:29:30 UTC

I lived at 16th and Q in DC in 1995. The whateveritis church was there, and that's where the Clintons attended every Sunday morning. I would always forget, and descend the elevator to remember that I would need to run a Secret Service gauntlet. One agent was omnipresent and we became colleagues at some point; he would smile and nod and call all the other goons off to let me exit and we both knew I would be killed if I did anything weird. I have a feeling that things have since gone slack.

2024-07-15 00:32:48 UTC

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@npub1e7v…flg9 dunno man I worked at a gas station for quite a long time before my so-called "career"

2024-07-03 11:58:34 UTC

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@npub1tgk…4t9m ok... i presume authentic judaism would have an army.

2024-07-03 10:33:03 UTC

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@npub1tgk…4t9m this might be more palatable to you (same lady):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTFV1t9_AuQ&pp=ygUTbWljaGFsIGNvdGxlci13dW5zaA%3D%3D

2024-07-02 19:32:53 UTC

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@npub16mt…pnwy i fear it's not, at least on rpi. but you could use nix-the-package-manager on top of ubuntu and get some of the benefits.

2024-07-02 19:25:22 UTC

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@npub16mt…pnwy ubuntu should be fine too

2024-07-02 16:46:16 UTC

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@npub16mt…pnwy i made a series of 3 videos on this, and in the end i decided to stick with raspbian
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W6znVpxn1c

2024-06-29 15:47:50 UTC

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@npub1sys…ckr3
https://nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/chattingdarkly-files/media_attachments/files/112/700/690/840/029/082/original/c8f8b45029644ad6.gif

2024-06-23 06:44:24 UTC

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@npub1avr…pnem sounds like a good strategy! (except for the obvious echo chamber connotations)

2024-06-23 06:12:02 UTC

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@npub1avr…pnem oh don't worry, you won't have to find it, it will find you.

2024-06-23 06:06:04 UTC

When your interactions with humans are limited to the virtual, every emoticon becomes a prelude to violence, every disagreement a rationale to libel someone, any suggestion of self-betterment a mockery, every interaction a potential path for domination.
People are strange 2024.

2024-05-23 16:55:37 UTC

Hello. Today I hope you've taken your daily stock of just whom has wronged you most, because that's important. They must be punished. Once that's done, let's work on advertising your weaknesses.

2024-05-22 15:52:54 UTC

The best way to attract users and developers to your project is through continual exhibits of humorlessness. Nothing says "come hack with us" like a scolding email.

2024-05-16 03:14:41 UTC

Why a Generic Open Source Project Can't Also Be a Successful Civil Rights Project
https://chrismcdonough.substack.com/p/why-a-generic-open-source-project
#nix #nixos

2024-05-12 04:28:09 UTC

Report on NixOS Governance Discussions
https://chrismcdonough.substack.com/p/report-on-nixos-governance-discussions
#nix #nixos

2024-05-09 05:50:31 UTC

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@npub1tgk…4t9m pics or it didn't happen 😀

2024-05-08 21:04:31 UTC

My involvement in the #nixos governance discussions has (also) come to an end.
https://shealevy.com/blog/2024/05/08/broken-promises-the-nix-governance-discussions/

2024-05-08 16:17:31 UTC

@npub1g37…3act https://youtu.be/NDqJ93p-h7E?si=XJLzLYtrP0yKGgYJ

2024-05-06 01:48:27 UTC

Spent a good chunk of the day fleshing out and trying to understand others' positions wrt governance in #nixos at https://nixpkgs.zulipchat.com/ Not the waters in which I normally swim.
So far, the wheels haven't come off. Most everyone is operating in good faith.

2024-05-03 01:20:01 UTC

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@npub1e7v…flg9 US is #5 in death penalty killings without conflating the two. What are we doing here, should I hate America or not?

2024-05-02 15:18:09 UTC

If you have skin in the game for #nix and #nixos you should participate in this.
https://discourse.nixos.org/t/zulip-for-governance-discussions/44684

2024-04-23 13:19:19 UTC

This tactic of using the language of safetyism to achieve a hard-nosed technopolitical end is reprehensible. See if for what it is; a coup attempt.
https://save-nix-together.org/
#nix #nixos

2023-09-02 08:04:44 UTC

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@npub1sys…ckr3 oh but they are David in somebody's mind

2023-09-01 22:10:41 UTC

It boggles my mind that Python 3 assert is still a statement and print isn't. What a decade-long fire drill.

2023-08-09 20:21:09 UTC

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@npub10sm…hjqm boy this seems like a lot of grafts for a new install of Guix...
https://nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/chattingdarkly-files/media_attachments/files/110/861/514/579/229/530/original/1bbbff020941497d.png

2023-08-09 17:24:59 UTC

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@npub10sm…hjqm I have no clue what grafting is

2023-08-02 12:36:39 UTC

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@npub1sys…ckr3 sorry what i was too busy adding type hints to all my software

2023-08-02 12:24:53 UTC

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@npub1sys…ckr3 heretic

2023-08-02 12:23:52 UTC

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@npub1sys…ckr3 all my defs are async David

2023-07-20 21:25:16 UTC

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@npub10sm…hjqm wasn't cutting it for cuda stuff heh

2023-07-20 21:22:59 UTC

One of the best #nixos build debugging tools to have at hand is an Ubuntu system.

2023-06-16 00:21:37 UTC

Lumpers throw everything into a few big buckets and put notes on the things in the bucket. Splitters put each narrowly similar item in its own bucket and label the bucket.
Lumped things are generally a little easier to understand at a broad level because it's easier to get a general sense of what the whole effort is about if there are only ten buckets instead of a thousand. It's also easier to contribute to a lumped thing, because chances are you won't have to create a new bucket.