Fuck|Thank you
Some of the tech giants for the past few years have tried hard to kill the most important tool of the web, links. AI companies have stolen content from the web without ever asking for permission just to wrap it into the soulless chats that keep on forgetting to credit the original authors. They rarely mention where the source of the information comes from. You know, a link.
Let’s forget the privacy violations for a sec, Google until recently, was a useful search engine that helped you find the links to the things you’re after. This contract is also broken now, and the new Google interface from now on is here to give you some mashup of general knowledge about the stuff you’re interested in. No links.
Fuck you! To all of the companies that obfuscate links. Fuck you! You are killing the web. Fuck you!
Thank you
Enough of swearing. A bunch of incredible people who made the internet interesting to me are losing motivation to create. My friends who pour their souls into what they do are losing hope. I’m not surprised. My writing has also slowed down, and all I’m spending my days on now is building a product with a little hope I’ll be able to generate some side income in these uncertain times. In a way, after over 15 years of professional software development, I’m not different from all the vibe coders and CEOs of 11 start-ups on LinkedIn at the age of 17. I don’t know what to do.
I really hope that all my people will find a way to get out of this state. Despite how disincentivising the act of creating stuff on the web is nowadays, we need it now more than ever. The web is flooded with mediocre stuff, generated nonsense that marketing departments believe is going to improve their SEO and GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) because that’s the thing now. Bloggers who believe they can become the next Seth Godin overnight. We don’t need any of that, but more than ever we need you, the creator, to persist!
Inspired by a great post “Reach out and say thanks” by Kevin Powell, I just want to say thanks to a few of you. All of you are very special to me. No matter if we know each other in person or I’m an online fan of your content, thank you!
- Dr. Axel Rauschmayer, thank you
- Adrian Roselli, thank you
- Ben Frain, thank you
- Ben Myers, thank you
- Chris Coyier, thank you
- Bramus Van Damme, thank you
- Dave Rupert, thank you
- Hidde de Vries, thank you
- Jake Archibald, thank you
- Jim Nielsen, thank you
- Josh Comeau, thank you
- Rob Hough, thank you
- Luciano Mammino, thank you
- Andy Bell, thank you
- Stefan Judis, thank you
- Kyle Simpson, thank you
- Redowan Delowar, thank you
- Keith Circle, thank you
- Dave Lotorie, thank you
- Others
Dr. Axel Rauschmayer, thank you
I learned a lot from your books and I read probably most of your articles on the JavaScript and TypeScript subjects. For years I kept on coming back to your explainers of JavaScript proposals. I’m sure without the knowledge you shared on your blog over the years I wouldn’t be able to progress in my career and be where I am now. Your recent decision about taking your blog offline is devastating but also fully understandable. I really hope you’re well. Thank you!
Adrian Roselli, thank you
Accessibility is something I really try not to break. The internet is accessible by default in most parts and it is us, developers, who made this mess and made websites harder to use for others. I really appreciate your constant reminders about it on your blog, Adrian. Your articles are absolutely top of the league and I massively appreciate all your technical deep dives. Also, I don’t know any other blogger who keeps articles up to date as you do. I don’t think that there is an author whose posts I’ve got saved in my very carefully curated bookmarking collection as I have yours. Adrian, thank you!
Ben Frain, thank you
From great CSS deep dives through the tutorials on code editors to the recent fascinations about keyboards and modal text editors, I’m a huge fan. I hope you’re well, Ben. For what you have shared over the years, thank you!
Ben Myers, thank you
When your article pops up in my RSS feed, I never skip it. Your explanations of accessibility concepts are super approachable and I love your deep advocacy for the semantic web. I learned a lot from you, dude. Thank you!
Chris Coyier, thank you
Don’t know where to start. CSS Tricks was a web bible for me for many years. I read most of the posts there and participated in the comments section under hundreds of posts. Your podcast with Dave for the past years (close to a decade) is a constant source of web info and funny stories for me. No matter what and who you record an episode with, I never skip a thing. CodePen is incredible and it is one of the things that keeps the web interesting for me. Your personal blog, the content you share on the Frontend Masters blog, your conference talks. Dude, I appreciate all you do. I keep on coming back to totally random things you published many years ago. Thank you, Chris.
Bramus Van Damme, thank you
You’re the kind of blogger I always wanted to be. Funny, no fluff or nonsense fillers, straight to the point, consistent and on subjects that are close to my heart. After following you for so many years and exchanging countless messages with you on Twitter years ago and Mastodon and Bluesky more recently, it was really awesome to finally meet you in person a few months ago. Keep on doing what you’re doing, mate, you’re amazing. Thank you, Bramus!
Dave Rupert, thank you
I love your blog, from the technical deep dives into obscure corners of the platform to your totally not technical, personal vibe checks. You can tell that a real human is behind this blog with a huge DAVE on the header. Also, fancy page transitions, bro! Thank you.
Hidde de Vries, thank you
I started following your blog many years ago and I massively appreciate the accessibility deep dives you share. Also, your taste in music, mate, is not bad! Literally, there is about 80% overlap in our collections. Blogging is one thing, but after knowing you for many years, I also wanted to thank you for all you do for the web platform. It was a pleasure to meet you in person for the first time at The State of the Browsers a few months back. Thank you, Hidde.
Jake Archibald, thank you
Your browser would crash if I listed here all the things I’m thankful to you, Jake. All your conference talks, no matter if presented at Google I/O or some random web conference, I watched them all and you’re one of my favourite speakers ever. The funniest for sure! I keep on coming back to the talk about the event loop, by far the best explanation out there. I’m glad that after your short episode at Shopify you are back doing the web at Firefox. I miss the HTTP203 / OTMT podcast though. Thank you for everything, Jake.
Jim Nielsen, thank you
You’re an inspiration Jim. Your blogging style is awesome, the selection of subjects, frequency, and blog by itself is so cool. I love the simplicity you’re always advocating for and your side project with icons is crazy cool. Thank you Jim.
Josh Comeau, thank you
My favourite teacher on the web. I cannot thank you enough for all your interactive blog posts about various web topics. I read them all and I keep coming back to many of them. You really are a fantastic teacher, Josh, and a huge thank you for that.
Rob Hough, thank you
Dude! I was a lucky fella landing a job at the same company where you worked. Your thinking about the problems, the way you approach them and the insights you always happily share in your presentations are just the best. Also, you are such a talented speaker, dude. Inspiration! I’m a lucky fella to be friends with you, mate! Thank you.
Luciano Mammino, thank you
Your book, “Node.js Design Patterns” was a game changer for me. JavaScript was the first language I understood, and your book took my skills to a whole new level. Another thing that I’m super thankful for, Luigi, is your newsletter, FullStack Bulletin, that you co-authored for over a decade. I spent hours listening to your AWS-related podcast a few years back when cloud engineering was all I was doing. Your passion and always positive voice on the internet kept inspiring me, dude. Thank you!
Andy Bell, thank you
Your website says that you “try to make the web a better place”. With great success, mate! Thank you for the long years of sharing useful content, sharing your knowledge on your personal blog but also on the Piccalilli platform. The things you do with the rest of the SetStudio crew are simply beautiful. Also, thanks for sharing your music collection on your page. You inspired me to setup a music page on my page and I love it. Thank you, Andy!
Stefan Judis, thank you
Inspiration! Stefan is one of the most dedicated and hard-working folks I know, and his blog is just a reflection of the unlimited passion. Stefan’s Web Weekly newsletter is the best curated newsletter for web creators, no doubt. Thank you for inspiring me for all these years, Stefan!
Kyle Simpson, thank you
Without you and your free to read online series of books “You don’t know JS” I wouldn’t be where I am now. Cannot thank you enough mate. Many years later I bought the whole series of books as a way of thanking you for your effort. I don’t know what you are up to these days, but I just hope you’re happy and healthy. Thank you Kyle!
Redowan Delowar, thank you
Go programming language is what I spend most of my days with recently, and there is no other person from whom I learn more than Redowan. An incredible educator, fantastic blogger and also a super good fella. Redowan and I exchanged countless messages about some Go concepts, he proofread some of my blog posts in the past and not even once refused to help me. I’m new to Go, and I have been following Redowan for only a few months, I’m extremely thankful for his contribution on the web mate!
Keith Circle, thank you
What a legend Keith is! Not only the most modest human on this planet, he is the smartest bloke out there. I appreciate all you do for the web platform, your CSS tooling and funny little games you come up with and all the standards you implement across the browser engines. Thank you for your support for the NN1 Dev Club meetup, it was really an honour to have a speaker like you at the meetup I organise. Thank you for being a top human being mate!
Dave Lotorie, thank you
You know how thankful I am for organising State of the Browser, which is one of the best web conferences out there. You know how thankful I am for producing top content for MDN. You know how thankful I am for your constant support of all the initiatives I do. You know all that! I just wanted to thank you for being a friend! Top friend. Thank you, Dave!
Others
I would like to thank others who make the internet a better place. I would love to include on this list dozens of other folks, but life is too busy, folks. I need to get back to work before AI is going to take my job. Let’s keep on making the web fun together ❣️