Michael Winters

FOSDEM 2026

feedback@mwinters.net (Michael Winters) — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve never been to a FOSS conference. I’ve never been to Europe. I’ve never contributed to a Linux distro (only apps). I’ve never heard of the Beefy Miracle, and I have no idea what the mustard signifies…

I guess this is the year I do all the things!

Wednesday #

Delta #

Like all classic epics, our story starts with a hero sitting in an airport terminal, staring at a screen that simply says, “Delayed”. It turns out that you need pilots for airplanes, and if you don’t have one then nobody gets to go. Somebody should tell Delta!

Fedora, Community Health, and the birth of Hatlas

feedback@mwinters.net (Michael Winters) — Tue, 13 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

`Fedora()` #

I’ve been quite busy the past many months, contributing to the Fedora project in ways that I never planned.

I initially thought that I would join to help the ops folk modernize a few things and brush up on my Ansible. But I quickly discovered that Fedora Infra is quite a difficult beast to get one’s hands around, even if you have decades of professional infra skills behind you. There are a large number of reasons for this, and none of them are, “someone is an incompetent jerk”, which makes it a difficult problem to solve. (As with most complex systems, emergent feedback loops are tricky.)

Two Types of Software Engineers

feedback@mwinters.net (Michael Winters) — Fri, 03 May 2024 16:31:55 +0000

I recently came across Thorsten Ball’s post about there being two types of software engineers. To paraphrase his thoughts, Type 1 sees system changes as being isolated within that system, whereas Type 2 sees system changes as being inescapably interrelated to other systems.

To illustrate, Type 1 engineers often believe that a change in a human process is sufficient to solve a problem. Type 2 engineers see a change in process as requiring adjustments from humans who are their own complex systems. Type 2 engineers recognize that the interaction between these complex systems makes process changes and process-oriented solutions prone to failure.

Start Small

feedback@mwinters.net (Michael Winters) — Wed, 01 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

You’re new. People want you to deliver results. “Move the needle.” You know how to do that really well, and you’re eager. What’s your first step?

Hint: the first step is not to move the needle. Nor is it to determine that you will move the needle by means X and Y, or to commit to moving it by N% in the next Z quarters.

The first step is to establish trust. Because without trust nothing good can happen.

Tools, Not Metallurgy

feedback@mwinters.net (Michael Winters) — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 08:00:00 -0500

Imagine if every time you wanted to acquire a wrench, you had to use a forge. And not just any forge, but the exact type of forge that the wrench designer preferred, plus all of the exact tools that they preferred when inventing this wrench.

Your 10-lb hammer will not suffice if the wrenchsmith preferred a 9.5-lb hammer. And if the 9.5-lb hammer was not made in the exact type of forge you already have, then you will need to acquire a forge that produces 9.5-lb hammers as well as all the tools needed to run that forge, as determined by the original creator of 9.5-lb hammers.

MuskX

feedback@mwinters.net (Michael Winters) — Tue, 09 Apr 2024 16:44:19 -0500

If a frog turns right and catches a fly, and then turns left and catches a fly, and then turns around backward and catches a fly, the purpose of the frog has to do not with turning left or right or backward but with catching flies.

- Donella H. Meadows, Thinking in Systems

Billionaires have more free will than most.
Therefore, they also have the most existential angst.
- This is amplified by the shallowness & distrust in their social relationships, and the inherent hollowness of the pursuit of money for its own sake past the point of luxury.
When billionaires (or demagogues) run our system, the purpose of the system becomes the same purpose of the billionaire, which is to seek relief from the existential angst.
Since gratification will never extinguish this angst, the purpose slowly becomes to commit suicide as the only means of relief.