Short essays from the space between practical engineering and everyday observation. Written slowly, revised when the facts change.
TIBOS / FIELD NOTES
Notes on systems, places, and attention.
Keeping a Small Server Understandable
The most useful property of a small server is not cleverness. It is the ability to explain its current state in a few minutes.
Latency Is a Shape, Not a Number
A single timing result is tidy, persuasive, and usually incomplete. Useful measurements describe a distribution and the conditions around it.
Reading the Coastline in Low Light
Low light removes detail, but it also makes the structure of a place easier to see.
Notes Before a Quiet Release
Good releases are rarely memorable. They are bounded, observable, and easy to reverse.
Designing a Useful Status Page
A useful status page answers what is affected, when it began, and when the next update will arrive.
The Case for Boring Defaults
A boring default is not an old choice. It is a choice with well-understood consequences and an easy escape route.