Exploring new quadrants, but using less-traveled coordinates View

 

  

We are moving on (and moving out)

Our final article of the year is usually a recap of our yearly tech goals looking at how they went and what we hope for in the new year. But this isn't that.

Big news this week, followers. As I mentioned earlier on Battalion, 2026 will witness the sunsetting of my Battalion and Symfony Station projects and the birth of The Programmer's Fulcrum.

The sites will not disappear but no new (original) content will be produced for them. Although, I may repost The Fulcrum's weekly newsletter/post there.

If you have followed us for four days on either, I appreciate you. If you have followed us over the four years of Symfony Station I really appreciate you. :)

In fact, if you are any of our 50k+ followers via blogs, newsletters, Flipboard, the Fediverse, Dev.to, or Medium, you have helped me fight my adulthood depression over the years. Having projects and staying busy helps a lot. So, thanks and let's quickly move on from the feels.

 

     

If you have read anything from us recently you know The Programmer’s Fulcrum is the new home for Battalion and Symfony Station-like coverage as I begin my fall years. TPF's more focused approach will be on the items and ideas in Battalion’s Techno Anarchist Manifesto that relate to development. And it will concentrate of those related to supporting the Open Media Network.

The first issue featuring original coverage will be published on January 2nd.

Visit our Fediverse page to get an idea what our posting and curation is like. You can also see our Tools and Resources page to explore the types of items we will cover with original (non-AI) articles. There's more on them below.

I've slacked off on the original articles for Symfony Station in the later half of this year. This was due to a huge and final commercial project, getting our French visas, preparing to move, acquiring French insurance, housing, and a car lease, final doctor visits and acquiring medical records, and getting rid of 99% my possessions. Plus, we did all this a year or two before we thought we would.

So, with TPF I am looking forward to writing much more original content.

Like the websites, our Battalion and Symfony Station Fediverse accounts won't be closed but will only repost relevant items from The Fulcrum account. So please follow it directly by pasting @thefulcrum@thefulcrum.dev into your favorite fedi client’s search functionality.

Of course, you can follow via RSS as well. Or even Bluesky although I’m not a fan and probably won’t monitor the bridged account. So if you want to interact with us, take the Fediverse route.

On Flipboard, The Fulcrum: Coding for Democracy and the OMN will be the most relevant magazine. You can also follow and interact with it via @the-fulcrum-coding-for-democracy-and-the-omn-mobileatom@flipboard.com on the Fediverse.

 

     

Why am I doing this

I am making this move for a variety of reasons.

• I am retiring and no longer want to spend twenty plus hours a week on curation, two newsletters, and original articles in addition to running Mobile Atom Media. I will be living the good life instead of doom-scrolling and working with clients. But I am willing to spend ten hours or less weekly on one project that will keep my skills and brain sharp.
• I am moving to France and my visa will not allow me to earn income from work. So, I am no longer covering topics that brought Mobile Atom Media income before. Only ones that intellectually stimulate me will be explored. I will be 62 soon. And I can't waste any of my remaining brain power on commerce.
• My bullshit tolerance is also gone. So living in the United States of Assholes is over. Sixty-two years in the Confederacy is enough.
• As a expat I will not be able to participate as a citizen in the electoral politics of France. But I can participate in the politics of the world by fighting Techno Feudalism with Techno Anarchism. It is a more important battle in my opinion. Plus it fits better with my slightly anarchic leanings and disillusionment with party politics.
• And I want to engage in that fight locally wherever we finally settle in France via some sort of project for/with my new community.
• I still want to keep learning and experiment with programming for said community project and anything else I'm interested in. For example, see the last sentence in this article.
• I bought the game, Devlands - The Gamified Git Interface & Tutorial and want to play it to improve my shit Git skills. I may need them if I decide to write books (version control).
• I want to have more free time to work on small video documentaries as well.
• Not to mention time for going to punk rock shows, photography, being a permanent tourist, going to futbol and rugby matches, taking walks and naps (with my dogter, Athena), eating fromage, and drinking vino et biere.

So, don’t worry about me staying busy. ;)

 

     

What TPF will cover

Similar to Symfony Station

In general for Symfony Station readers The Fulcrum will cover the development aspects of CMS options for the Open Media Network. Think Grav CMS, Ghost (TPF is on it), WordPress, Micro.Blog, Write.as, Publii, and Write Freely. And maybe Drupal CMS or Leaflet.

I will focus more on those with Fediverse integration and no databases. I will explore the ones that are easy for the average person to use. So, there will be more of a content, admin, and frontend than backend orientation.

We will also cover the open-source tools for creating content and writing code for them.

For programming languages we want to keep it simple enough for anyone to learn things and get involved (aka DIY). So that means Markdown, HTML, basic CSS, and a little Vanilla JavaScript (or HTMX). In other letters K.I.S.S.!

Similar to Battalion

For Battalion readers TPF will cover Fediverse platforms, the Open Media Network, and community-focused open-source software. Think ActivityPub, maybe ATProto, PeerTube, Bonfire, Decidim, Codeberg, Open Project, Xwiki, NodeBB, PieFed, and Mbin, etc. etc.

I will also cover operating systems like E/OS, EU/OS, PostMarket/OS, Calyxos/OS, Lineageos/OS, Sailfish/OS, and Graphene/OS. In other words the Linux world's operating systems and especially the Google-free mobile ones. I see more potential there than for widespread desktop adoption.

 

     

Lastly, I'm dedicating this article to my wife, Laura. You wouldn't have read this without my having met her in Athens, GA's The Georgia Bar 30+ years ago. Go Dawgs, UGA, and WUOG. I am going to spend even more time with her and Athena.

Signing off but not saying goodbye

That’s it. Thanks again for following us to this point of our journey and spreading our previous curation and writing all over the planet. I hope it improved your programming life (a lot) and the world in general (just a little). The gods know we all need to do that. I know I loved doing it.

Please do me a solid and share this article as well via the Fediverse, email, or word of mouth.

We now aim to be the Fulcrum. You’re the pivot. Developers helped build Techno Feudalism (aka the shit we’re in). And some enabled its even eviler cousin, Techno Fascism (which is destroying the planet and democracy).

Please join The Fulcrum and help us destroy them in turn. It's time to boost our efforts to make amends for our fellow professionials.

If the slightly different (and admittedly political) approach The Fulcrum takes is not for you, good luck. Stay safe and sane. If it is, then let’s fuck up big tech!

 

     

Reuben Walker

Publisher
The Programmer’s Fulcrum

Developers defending democracy, destroying autocracy, and developing the Open Media Network.

 

     

BTW, if you want to follow our retirement adventures (no politics), follow Les Chroniques de Walker. It's my experiment with Publii (CMS) for TPF.