avsblog

Short notes on software, tooling and infrastructure.

Makefiles are still fine

Every few years a new task runner shows up and every few years I end up back at a twenty-line Makefile. Phony targets, one command per line, no plugins to keep current.

Keep the logs boring

A log line that fires on every request is not telemetry, it is noise with a timestamp. Log state transitions and failures; count the rest.

Backups you have not restored

An untested backup is a hypothesis. Restoring one into a scratch VM once a quarter takes an afternoon and settles the question.