Skip to content
HomeVideosBooksBlogs
AllTop postsTopics
Podcasts
HistoryListsWatch laterLiked videosFollowing

The videos, books, blogs and podcasts Hacker News keeps recommending, all in one place.

VideosBooksBlogsPodcastsAboutPrivacySettings

Data from Hacker News, HackerTube, HackerBooks, HackerBlogs and Open Library. Credits · Not affiliated with Y Combinator.

HomeVideosBooksBlogsPodcasts
Ctrl K
    C

    Caleb Hearth

    calebhearth.com · Personal blog · on HN since 2020

    Caleb Hearth, a software developer, writes about Git, CSS, SwiftUI, and his experience working on software that ended up supporting drone strikes.

    Visit blogRSSHN submissions
    ProgrammingWeb DevelopmentCulture & Society
    What HN says

    HN commenters repeatedly link his essay 'Don't Get Distracted', about unknowingly taking a job building software used to kill people, when military technology comes up.

    Stats for nerds
    26HN people shared it
    31linked in comments
    468story points
    Aug 2026last shared
    2020people per year2026

    Top posts on HN

    1. 1
      Signing Git commits with your SSH key (2021)
      7 people · 217 points · first shared 2021 · 85 comments on HN
    2. 2
      Don't Get Distracted (2017)
      16 people · 211 points · first shared 2022 · 158 comments on HN
    3. 3
      Clamp() for Responsive Design
      1 person · 3 points · first shared 2020 · Discussion on HN
    4. 4
      Drawing a Hex Grid in SwiftUI
      1 person · 3 points · first shared 2024 · Discussion on HN
    5. 5
      Highlighting Text in Links with Text Fragments
      2 people · 2 points · first shared 2024 · 1 comments on HN
    6. 6
      Build Colors from Colors with CSS Relative Color Syntax
      1 person · 2 points · first shared 2024 · 2 comments on HN
    7. 7
      I (View)Model SwiftUI Views
      1 person · 2 points · first shared 2024 · Discussion on HN
    8. 8
      Moving from Jekyll to Rails
      1 person · 2 points · first shared 2020 · Discussion on HN
    9. 9
      Use Curl and Jq to Send Webmentions from Hacker News
      1 person · 2 points · first shared 2024 · 1 comments on HN
    10. 10
      How to Send a Webmention with h-entry
      1 person · 2 points · first shared 2024 · Discussion on HN

    What HN people wrote when they linked it

    • bayindirhDec 2020

      Development of programming languages by corporations is not something I object but, all of the stuff told about Oracle here is correct.

      They're not a nice entity unless you pay money to them and they're greedy. They always want more. Also, their hardware can fail in strange ways and they'd shrug it off.

      I've met with some nice people who migrated from Sun but they all say that the terms they work are draconian.

      I like Java too but, developing a nice language doesn't make Oracle good. Don't get distracted [0].

      > I guess the "community" would love to keep using Java frozen in version 6.

      Python doesn't stop. C++ doesn't drop. Even brainfuck doesn't stop. It'd have prevailed. OpenJDK is one fruit of the project. After removing patent encumbered image processing stuff, OpenJDK just took off. Yes, it's still part of Oracle in a sense but, OracleJDK is compiled from OpenJDK, not vice versa. Again, don't get distracted [0].

      [0]: https://calebhearth.com/talks/dont-get-distracted

    • halostatueJun 2022

      Sorry, I had missed this.

      The format is

      [gpg]
      format = ssh

      [user]
      signingKey = key::SSH-PUBKEY

      In my case, since I have an ssh-ed25519 key, it is

      [user]
      signingKey = key::ssh-ed25519 AAAAC…

      You can pretty much copy the `.pub` key and paste it after `key::` (instructions like the ones at https://calebhearth.com/sign-git-with-ssh will show this without the `key::` prefix; according to the latest git documentation, the non-prefixed SSH key format is not preferred, as the `signingKey` value can be either a raw SSH public key, a GPG key ID, or a path to the signing key).

      One thing of note that I haven’t checked to see if it matters. I have the matching `.pub` key in `~/.ssh`, but I don’t think that is making a difference.

      I do remember having some struggles getting it sorted out at the very beginning, but I didn’t take very good notes of what different things I tried.

    • metalmanJan 2026

      moto g15 in hand, deguggled as much as possible right out of the box, no guggle accounts or big tech apps, bank through a browser, but there is defintly a lot of outright fraud as to bieng able to turn off google apps, it is an arcane procedure to turn off notifications, insisting that nothing will work without "play store" installed, though it is clear that going to a linux phone will become the only way to avoid adversurvielance security and tracking from taking over my device completly.
      keep in mind that our techno facist elite did provide the "intel" that led to ICE bieng sent to a particular area code in minaipolis, where they executed a mild mannered chearfull poet, who's last words, somehow knowing, were, "i dont hate you".
      "tech" is central to whatever comes next

      https://calebhearth.com/dont-get-distracted

    • soraminazukiMar 2022

      I feel that trying to make SSH keys short-lived is becoming more painful each year because there's an increase of tools that use SSH keys for purposes other than SSH logins. For example, age [1] encrypts files with SSH keys, agenix [2] does secrets management with it, Git can now sign commits with it [3], and even ssh-keygen can now sign arbitrary data [4]. All of these become useless the moment you start using short-lived keys.

      [1]: https://github.com/FiloSottile/age

      [2]: https://github.com/ryantm/agenix

      [3]: https://calebhearth.com/sign-git-with-ssh

      [4]: https://www.man7.org/linux/man-pages/man1/ssh-keygen.1.html

    • functionmouseMar 2026

      I feel like the primary use case for such a technology is manipulating and profiling people over video chat, maybe even autonomously. Hiring managers, HR, landlords, and police are obvious customers.

      The response I anticipate will be "But this will help doctors over telehealth and stuff!" - Please see https://calebhearth.com/dont-get-distracted

    • rexpopApr 2026

      > I'm going to tell you about how I took a job building software to kill people. But don't get distracted by that; I didn't know at the time.
      — Caleb Hearth

      1. https://calebhearth.com/dont-get-distracted

      2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBdBoWAtLNI

    Related

    Atlassian Developer Blogdeveloper.atlassian.com115 people

    A better pull request

    Atlassian Developer Blog
    Company · last shared 2026
    Aldo Cortesicorte.si88 people

    Visualizing binaries with space-filling curves

    Aldo Cortesi
    Personal · last shared 2026
    rc3.orgrc3.org37 people

    The Grammar of Vim

    rc3.org
    Personal · last shared 2022
    Tim Popetbaggery.com51 people

    A Note About Git Commit Messages

    Tim Pope
    Personal · last shared 2026
    Atlassian Blogblogs.atlassian.com154 people

    Git? tig

    Atlassian Blog
    Company · last shared 2023
    Wingologwingolog.org237 people

    FFS SSL

    Wingolog
    Personal · last shared 2026
    Matthew Bryantthehackerblog.com48 people

    Taking control of all .io domains with a targeted registration

    Matthew Bryant
    Personal · last shared 2024
    Jake Archibaldjakearchibald.com191 people

    I discovered a browser bug

    Jake Archibald
    Personal · last shared 2026