

Recent
On a Prettier PATH
·877 words·5 mins
bash
CI
GitHub
is
On getting a more readable $PATH, installing “is” in GitHub Actions and using $GITHUB_STEP_SUMMARY to put it all together.
How Many Versions of "X" Are in my $PATH?
·506 words·3 mins
is
bash
cli
When multiple versions of the same executable exist in your $PATH, the ‘is’ utility provides a clean way to discover all versions and their locations. This post demonstrates how ‘is’ can help identify version conflicts, clean up redundant installations, and streamline executable management with tabular and JSON output formats.
The Great PTS CLI Throwdown
·1628 words·8 mins
cli
dotfiles
At the Perl Toolchain Summit a few of us shared our favourite command-line tools and terminal configurations. This compilation covers recommendations from Paul Johnson, Shawn Sorichetti, Mickey Nasriachi, Julien Fiegehenn, and Olaf Alders, including GPU-accelerated terminal emulators like WezTerm, file managers like yazi, advanced Neovim plugins, Git utilities, and system monitoring tools. Each tool includes descriptions and links for practical implementation.
Battery Power-Ups: Enhancing SketchyBar with "is"
·1042 words·5 mins
is
battery
bash
dotfiles
cli
Go
macos
sketchybar
The new “is battery” and “is known battery” subcommands can detect battery attributes with a clean, readable syntax. This post walks through practical examples of replacing complex shell commands with these new subcommands, demonstrating how they simplify a SketchyBar configuration on macOS. Learn how to check battery charge levels, charging state, and even conditionally load menu bar items based on whether your device has a battery.
Debounce All of the Things
·2073 words·10 mins
Go
bash
dotfiles
I wanted a tool for debouncing shell commands, to ensure that tasks like installing nightly builds or running scripts only execute once within a set time period. This is the story of how I finally ended up with a solution that I’m happy with.
How I Spent My First London Perl Workshop
·2652 words·13 mins
perl
community
Earlier this year I was excited (one might even say well chuffed) when I heard that the London Perl Workshop was coming back after a hiatus of several years. I knew that in all likelihood I would not be able to attend, but it has been a bucket list item of mine for quite some time. You may be thinking to yourself that I have a weird bucket list. You’re not wrong.