Remote Ruby

In this episode of Remote Ruby, Chris, Andrew, and David have conversations from New Year's resolutions and monitor specifications, to the sustainability challenges of open source projects like Tailwind CSS. They discuss the pros and cons of various hardware, upgrading to Ruby 4.0, recent issues in software projects, and the evolving landscape of AI's impact on productivity tools. They a...

In this episode of Remote Ruby, Chris, Andrew, and David humorously discuss the rapid increase of 'wrapped' features in various apps, recount personal experiences with food apps, and then dive into their favorite conference moments of the year. They also explore the concept of UI affordances and its importance in web design and give a preview of upcoming conferences in 2026, and a brief...

Chris, Andrew, and David are back together, and the conversation starts out with TV talk, Fallout hype, why some shows overstay their welcome ( Prison Break ), and the “season one magic” problem ( Reacher ). Then there’s a big shoutout to Marco’s Rails Luminary win, and a deep dive into AI rabbit holes: self-hosting LLMs, Mac minis, and the looming reality of both token costs and RAM shortages. Th...

In this episode, Chris and David Hill catch up on wild winter temperature swings, then dive into what Chris has been refactoring in Jumpstart to reduce merge pain, cut dependencies, and make upgrades smoother. The conversation branches into AI-assisted coding pitfalls and where AI shines, new web security headers that could simplify CSRF handling, and a promising new “old school Heroku on steroids...

Chris and Andrew kick things off with some weather whiplash and snowblower talk before introducing a new guest on the show, long-time Rubyist David Hill. They chat about fast food and favorite shows, David’s accidental path into Ruby and Rails, and various projects he’s worked on, including an AED management application. The discussion also touches on the new open-source release of Basecamp's...

Andrew kicks off at 8 a.m. with six Docker containers running, and he and Chris dive into what modern Rails development looks like inside dev containers—covering Rails’ own images and features, using Mise and Playwright instead of Selenium, and why OrbStack has replaced Docker Desktop on their Macs. They talk through the trade-offs of running services in containers, the quirks of Kamal’s new local...

Andrew returns from SF Ruby with a lot more than conference swag! He brings a clear snapshot of where Ruby, Rails, and AI are headed right now. In this episode, he and Chris walk through the most impactful talks from SF Ruby, share highlights of engaging discussions with other developers and friends, reminisces about nostalgic tech items, and explores insightful conversations on the future of Rail...

In this episode of Remote Ruby, Chris and Andrew have a lively conversation with Brendan Buckingham and Ryan Frisch from the Rails Business Podcast. They discuss their experiences and journeys with Ruby on Rails, starting from their early encounters with the technology to hosting a specialized Rails podcast. Critical technical topics are covered, including managing Stripe API data integrity, upgra...

In this episode, guest Nate Berkopec joins Chris and Andrew to discuss the current state and cultural controversies surrounding Ruby Gems, Bundler, and open-source projects in general. The conversation dives into the split within the Ruby community, the complexities of maintaining key projects, and the challenges of funding and sustaining open-source work. Nate shares his experiences with Puma and...

In this episode of Remote Ruby, Chris and Andrew catch up with Chris discussing the arrival of a new baby and the challenges of balancing work and parenting. Then, they dive into the complexities of dealing with OpenSSL 3.6 issues on their development environments, exploring various debugging attempts and ultimately finding a workaround. The conversation also touches on the ongoing drama within th...

In this episode of Remote Ruby, Chris is on paternity leave celebrating the birth of his son, so Andrew brings in Drew Bragg and Rachael Wright-Munn (aka ChaelCodes), to discuss recent controversies surrounding Ruby Central and its alleged takeover of Ruby Gems and Bundler. They dive into the timeline of events, conflicting narratives, communication failures, and the underlying security concerns....

In this episode of Remote Ruby, Chris and Andrew chat with Travis Dockter, the founder of a brand-new Ruby conference, Blastoff Rails. They dive deep into Travis’s journey from business school to bootcamp, his love for conferences, and why he decided to organize one of his own in Albuquerque, New Mexico. From planning venues and sponsors to shaping a unique conference philosophy, Travis shares bot...

In this episode, Chris and Andrew reflect on their recent trip to Rails World 2025 in Amsterdam, sharing travel adventures, highlights from the conference, and insights into major Rails announcements. From slide-heavy talks to new features like ReActionView, Action Push, Kamal Geo Proxy, Hotwire Native, and Action Text Lexxy, they explore how the Rails ecosystem continues to push developer experie...

Live from Rails World 2025 in Amsterdam, Chris and Andrew hang with Andy Croll and Jason Charnes to trade conference vibes, hair envy for DHH, and real talk on the keynote roadmap: Turbo offline, Hotwire Native 1.3, Kamal, “CI on your machine,” SQLite, and Beamer. The conversation also touches on the quirky and entertaining embassy experience at Rails World, favorite talks, plans for the final day...

In this episode of Remote Ruby, Chris and Andrew chat with returning guests Irina Nazarova and Vladimir Dementyev to discuss the upcoming SF Ruby Conference, a vibrant event taking place in San Francisco on November 19-20, 2025. They delve into the significance of the conference for startups and the Ruby community, highlighting the venue, keynote speakers, workshops, and fun activities planned. Ad...

In this episode, Chris chats with guest Jim Remsik, Founder of Flagrant, on the significance of Ruby and Rails conferences. They discuss the nuances of organizing and attending such events, including the challenges and rewards of emceeing, the importance of community guidelines, and the value of having diverse participation. Jim shares insights into the upcoming XO Ruby Conference Series, their st...

In this episode of Remote Ruby, Chris and Andrew welcome guest José Valim back on the show to talk about Tidewave, a new web development tool integrated with Phoenix and Rails frameworks. The conversation covers the tool's functionality, its ability to inspect and manipulate web elements directly from the browser, and its feature of automatically testing implemented changes. They also discuss...

In this episode, Andrew and Chris discuss their recent week, including Andrew's upcoming sabbatical beginning on Monday and wrapping up his tasks at Podia. They talk about the Battlefield 6 Beta and its large download size and touch on internet services, including their experiences with Google Fiber and Cox. The conversation shifts to the future of technology, such as Apple's new iOS bet...

In this episode, Chris and Andrew discuss the recent release of Rails 8 and the improvements in upgrading processes compared to previous versions. They dive into specific technical challenges, such as handling open redirects and integrating configuration options, and chat about Chris's recent experience with Tailwind’s new Elements library, Bundler updates, and JSON gem changes.  They also to...

In this episode of Remote Ruby, Andrew and Chris chat with guest, Marco Roth, to discuss the challenges of working with ERB templates in Ruby on Rails, and Marco's ongoing project, Herb. They dive into Marco's inspiration from tools like Stimulus Reflex and Hotwire, and the broader vision for 'Herb' which includes syntax linting, formatting, enhanced error detection, and a futu...

Chris and Andrew catch up on their week, discussing Andrew’s recent successful feature launch, their love for South Park, and the recent news about a $1.5 billion deal with Paramount. They go back-and-forth on upgrades to Bundler 2.7 and the intricacies of emoji reactions in their app. Debugging, code refactoring, and the importance of testing are discussed, with mentions of pairing with coworkers...

In this episode of Remote Ruby, Chris and Andrew reflect on their experiences at the final RailsConf in Philly. They discuss their interactions, keynotes, the vibe of community, and favorite talks that stood out. Highlights include reminiscing about Aaron Patterson and Aji Slater's keynotes and their entertaining reflections on 20 years of RailsConf history. They also explore the recent updat...

In this special episode of Remote Ruby, ‘AI Andrew’ introduces a panel discussion recorded at RailsConf in Philadelphia. Hosted by David Hill (Ode to Rails Conf, Ruby Gems Podcast), the panel features Drew Bragg (Code and the Coding Coders who Code it), Stephanie Minn (The Bike Shed), and Chris Oliver (Remote Ruby), who take the stage to share their experiences, insights, and memories from the Rub...

In this episode of Remote Ruby, Chris and Andrew discuss a range of topics including an exciting announcement on Jason’s Job Boardly project that got acquired, a technical deep dive into implementing real-time emoji reactions using Turbo and Rails, an explanation on using Rules CLI, and a viral story about a developer. They also touch on intricate programming challenges, such as maintaining state...

In this episode of Remote Ruby, Andrew and Chris dive into a range of Rails-related updates, development workflows, and tech frustrations, all while preparing for RailsConf and Rails World. Chris dives into the evolution of Ruby Gems toward Python-style wheels and secure precompiled binaries, while Andrew breaks down the value of namespacing and modularization in Rails apps. They also reflect on a...