@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Mar 05, 2026

Great post here from Andrew, particularly on why Homebrew doesn’t need a NPM-style cooldown.

https://nesbitt.io/2026/03/04/package-managers-need-to-cool-down.html#language-vs-system-package-managers

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Mar 05, 2026

Should be obvious but seems it’s not: don’t spam OSS maintainers or coworkers with AI code you’ve not reviewed yourself.

For coworkers only, sometimes fine explaining your testing and why reviewed isn’t necessary e.g. a one-time script.

https://simonwillison.net/guides/agentic-engineering-patterns/anti-patterns/

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Mar 02, 2026

The author and I are convinced AI is net positive in engineering today but worth engaging seriously with the downsides.

https://tomwojcik.com/posts/2026-02-15/finding-the-right-amount-of-ai/

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Feb 22, 2026

Google continues to take money for malware pretending to be Homebrew installation. There’s nothing Homebrew can do about this. Google needs to fix it. Please put me in contact with someone at Google high enough level to actually fix it. https://github.com/Homebrew/install/issues/1074

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Feb 13, 2026

Andrew nails here many parts of what actually makes OSS maintaining hard work.

Empathy is needed more for OSS sustainability than money.

https://nesbitt.io/2026/02/13/respectful-open-source.html

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Feb 07, 2026

“This new technology will replace developers!” is not a new thing.

Nice look at what some previous claims were (and how they resulted in more developers and more software).

https://www.caimito.net/en/blog/2025/12/07/the-recurring-dream-of-replacing-developers.html

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Feb 07, 2026

Great take about the cultural requirements to create “10x engineers”

https://randsinrepose.com/archives/sometimes-your-job-is-to-stay-the-hell-out-of-the-way/

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Jan 31, 2026

I gave a talk: What happened to RubyGems and what can we learn?

Lessons for non-Ruby projects on non-profits, governance, money and access in open source, drawn from the RubyGems dispute.

https://mikemcquaid.com/talks/what-happened-to-rubygems-and-what-can-we-learn/

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Jan 31, 2026

I gave a talk: Package Management Learnings from Homebrew

Homebrew 5.0.0 released in 2025. Walk through the major changes in 5.0.0, improving expectations based on other package managers and what they can learn from Homebrew's approach.

https://mikemcquaid.com/talks/package-management-learnings-from-homebrew/

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Jan 28, 2026

How Homebrew Became Mac’s Package Manager with Mike McQuaid

Interviewed by Screaming in the Cloud.

https://www.lastweekinaws.com/podcast/screaming-in-the-cloud/how-homebrew-became-mac-s-package-manager-with-mike-mcquaid/

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Jan 13, 2026

Raising kids in an addictive internet without losing your mind (or theirs)

https://mikemcquaid.com/my-parenting-screen-time-philosophy/

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Jan 13, 2026

Anil has a decent framework here for thinking if you’ll actually be happy in a job.

https://anildash.com/2026/01/12/will-that-job-crush-your-soul/

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Jan 13, 2026

Great and nuanced take from creator of Redis.

If you’re still in the “these tools are useless” camp or “these tools are unethical so I won’t use them”: you’ve not understood how things have already changed.

https://antirez.com/news/158

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Jan 07, 2026

I like this take on how to get promoted.

My experience has been that promotions come from finding and doing important work.

Being spoon-fed is fine for juniors but a negative signal for those seeking e.g. staff+ promotions.

https://andrew.grahamyooll.com/blog/Try-to-Take-My-Position/

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Jan 07, 2026

I find myself referring too often to the “is it worth the time?” xkcd.

This works best when the person doing the automation is also the person saving the time.

https://xkcd.com/1205/

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Jan 06, 2026

It’s that time of year again to look at your calendar like Marie Kondo and ask:

“Does this (meeting) spark joy?”

If not: try to cancel or shorten it.

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Dec 31, 2025

Would love it if people expressing strong opinions about open source declared what project(s) they’ve maintained and for how long.
Would help weed out the uninformed.

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Dec 30, 2025

Strongly agree with “The Move Faster Manifesto”.
This matches my experiences at GitHub, Homebrew, Workbrew.
You can also be fast and sustainable.

https://brianguthrie.com/p/the-move-faster-manifesto/

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Dec 29, 2025

Workplace politics aren’t optional. Ignoring them just hands power to someone else.

In our latest Minimum Viable Management episode, @mikemcquaid@mastodon.social and Neha Batra are joined by @deniseyu@mastodon.social to talk about political capital, allyship and how leaders and senior ICs can use influence responsibly without burning out or losing themselves.

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Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

Mike McQuaid

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social

I'm CTPO at Administrate, Homebrew Project Leader, ex-GitHub Principal Engineer, author of Git in Practice and an OSS and developer productivity leader. Posting mostly automated from https:// mikemcquaid.com . If you want me to read your reply: email me instead.

mastodon.social

@mikemcquaid@mastodon.social · Dec 29, 2025

I agree with Sean here.
The industry default seems to be “idealistic about engineering, cynical about management”.
Things work better if you’re a little cynical about both.

https://www.seangoedecke.com/a-little-bit-cynical/

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Mike McQuaid

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