Last Monday I published the 60th edition of De Programmatica Ipsum, also known as “DPI”, the “unusual magazine about programmers, code, and society, written by humans since 2018.” De Programmatica Ipsum has been published continuously every first Monday of each month since October 2018.
In the foreword to the first (and so far, only) compilation of articles in PDF format, Graham accurately described DPI as follows:
Adrian and I started De Programmatica Ipsum because it didn’t exist. We knew about places to get news about the latest programming tools and frameworks. We knew about some amazing bloggers who had really thoughtful content on their favourite—and maybe least favourite—topics. But what’s the thing in the middle? Where do we go to get interesting analysis and deep thoughts on varied subjects, to hear from authors we aren’t already following, to go beyond “this week in Javascript” and get into the real meaty topics?
This is precisely the spirit that animates this publication. We have tried, thanks to the help of our patrons, to create a different kind of magazine.
The Evolution
Through the years, DPI evolved in various ways:
- During the first year, we featured guest writers whom we paid 150 USD per article. Yes, you read right, we paid our guest writers for their time. Not a lot, and 100% out of our proletarian pockets, but we did it.
- Then we launched the Library section, where every month we talk about some book about (or around) software. This section now has almost 50 entries, so if you’re looking for book suggestions, we can only invite you to check it out.
- Last year we started the Vidéothèque section, at this moment with 13 articles, showcasing important video content available on the web, always in the context of the subject of the month.
And DPI will continue evolving in the future.
The Tone
Careful readers will undoubtedly identify the tone of the magazine:
- Left-leaning and absolutely anti-fascist.
- Staunch supporter of worker unions.
- Engaged in a race to highlight the work of non-white, non-male authors in an industry that glorifies male caucasians between 25 and 35 years old, with for example a long list of work created by women.
- Fighter against bullshit, ignorance, hubris, arrogance, open spaces, and toxic behavior from all parts of the software engineering spectrum.
- Aiming to highlight the bigger picture, and to provide a social context to the work performed by software developers all over the world. Because, yes, we do believe that we are changing the world with our software; but as members of society, we’re not always doing it in the most optimal direction when considering the long term.
- Featuring special editions around August or September entirely dedicated to particular programming languages, like those for Smalltalk, Java, Python, Rust, and BASIC.
- Best viewed with Firefox or LibreWolf.
If you are offended by these characteristics (something that, to be honest, goes beyond my understanding) you should probably not read DPI, and actually, fuck off from this website, since you’re at it.
The Patrons
Who’s paying for DPI? In short, our readers.
We don’t track our users, nor clutter our content with advertising. We do not use our newsletter contacts for anything else than to send a new edition every month. The email newsletter itself contains no advertising of any kind. We do not use affiliate links anywhere on our website.
De Programmatica Ipsum is made with love and with the support of our readers: it is free and ad-free and alive thanks to patronage from readers. We have no staff, no interns, and no assistants. Just two writers, a hosting platform, and a text editor.
If you enjoy DPI, please consider aiding its sustenance with a one-time or recurrent donation. Your support makes all the difference. We do not earn commissions through the links we share to other websites, neither when recommending books, movies, or any other kind of article.
I would like to thank our patrons who generously contribute every month (or have contributed in the past) to our work, and help us run this magazine. Thank you so much! In alphabetical order:
Adam Guest, Adrian Tineo Cabello, Benjamin Sheldon, Christopher Nascone, Franz Lucien Moersdorf, Guillermo Ramos Álvarez, Jean-Paul de Vooght, Patryk Matuszewski, Paul Hudson, Quico Moya, Roger Turner, and Szymon Licau.
Thanks to their constant support, the hosting costs of the website are fully taken care of, the rest of the contributions covering a part of the time spent during the preparation of each issue.
I would also like to thank the guest writers who helped bootstrap this magazine in its first year; again, in alphabetical order:
Adam Jones, Adrian Tineo Cabello, Agis Tsaraboulidis, Anastasiia Vixentael, Carola Nitz, Daniel Steinberg, Fernando Rodríguez, Guido de Caso, Ioana Porcarasu, Julia Cacciapuoti, Marie-Cécile Godwin Paccard, Roland Leth, Sheree Atcheson, and Susanna Riccardi.
Their outstanding articles have stood the test of time and we invite you to read and share them.
Speaking about which, you can also help us a lot by sharing the posts you like on social media, or by following us on Mastodon. (Do not follow us on our old Twitter account, since our account there has not been used since November 2022, and won’t be used in the future.)
But the best of all ways to help us is simple: read our articles. Don’t know where to start? Easy: here’s a link to a random article. Enjoy!