Top all-time · #1779
Josh Collinsworth
Personal blog · joshcollinsworth.comprogrammingweb
Josh Collinsworth is a personal blog at joshcollinsworth.com about programming and web. Since 2021, 43 different Hacker News readers have linked it 54 times, most often “If WordPress is to survive, Matt Mullenweg must be removed”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-05, and you can follow it by feed.
Frontend developer, designer, teacher and writer working as a design engineer
Most-linked posts?
- If WordPress is to survive, Matt Mullenweg must be removed6 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2024-09-27
- Things you forgot (or never knew) because of React6 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2023-08-09
- Introducing Svelte, and Comparing Svelte with React and Vue (2021)4 people · 4 mentions · first linked 2021-11-05
- The quiet, pervasive devaluation of front end3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2024-03-07
- Learn SvelteKit by building a static Markdown blog3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2022-01-24
- I worry our Copilot is leaving some passengers behind3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2024-02-13
- The self-fulfilling prophecy of React3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2022-09-08
- LLMs and Performative Productivity2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2026-06-08
- Never use px to set font-size in CSS2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-11-16
- Alchemy2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2025-11-09
What Hacker News says?
As a fellow newbie, I found this article from Josh Collinsworth to be a very thoughtful and clear overview. It's a bit long but it covers the history prior to the lawsuit. https://joshcollinsworth.com/blog/fire-matt
Comment linking /blog/fire-matt
on “WordPress Is in Trouble”Submitted The blissful Zen of a good side project as a story · 567 points
HN discussionhttps://joshcollinsworth.com/blog/fire-matt
Comment linking /blog/fire-matt
on “WordPress.org bans WP Engine”Submitted If WordPress is to survive, Matt Mullenweg must be removed as a story · 307 points
HN discussionWho knows, maybe he can try and blackmail them too[0] to get his way. It's worked out great so far. [0] https://joshcollinsworth.com/blog/fire-matt#102-wp-engine-fi...
Comment linking /blog/fire-matt
on “Automattic's board forces CEO Matt Mullenweg into leave of absence”Submitted I worry our Copilot is leaving some passengers behind as a story · 249 points
HN discussionThis is the best explanation I know of: https://joshcollinsworth.com/blog/fire-matt Since then, WPE filed a lawsuit against Automattic.
Comment linking /blog/fire-matt
on “Some Automattic employees accept severance package offer”Submitted Introducing Svelte, and Comparing Svelte with React and Vue (2021) as a story · 187 points
HN discussion"For example, many people think WP Engine is “WordPress Engine”" Remember he only just now updated that policy to say that, and tried to make it retroactive. https://joshcollinsworth.com/blog/fire-matt Scroll down or search to "But Matt wasn’t done."
Comment linking /blog/fire-matt
on “Mullenweg threatens corporate takeover of WP Engine”Submitted The self-fulfilling prophecy of React as a story · 172 points
HN discussionThe site specifies a base font size of 12px. The better practice is to not specify a base font size at all, just taking it from the user's web browser instead. Then, the web designer should specify every other font size and box dimension as a scaled version of the base font size, using units like em/rem/%, not px. Related reading: https://joshcollinsworth.com/blog/never-use-px-for-font-size
Comment linking /blog/never-use-px-for-font-size
on “The Size of Packets”Submitted Titles matter as a story · 57 points
HN discussionHuh, hadn't heard of Raycast, I've been using Alfred for a few years, and hadn't heard of Raycast in the my little circle. I guess I'll read this https://joshcollinsworth.com/blog/alfred-raycast
Comment linking /blog/alfred-raycast
on “Android features I envy as an iPhone user”Submitted The quiet, pervasive devaluation of front end as a story · 42 points
HN discussionThis article is the canonical recap of what's happened: - https://joshcollinsworth.com/blog/fire-matt
Comment linking /blog/fire-matt
on “Wordpress.org released Secure Custom Fields "PRO" version with ACF pro features”Submitted Alchemy as a story · 29 points
HN discussionHi Mateo, nice to see the project is still alive and evolving. I personally tried it about a year ago, and I found it really good for designing simple web pages with reusable and customisable components. But the content management system was the issue for me, I was hoping there would be a way to just drop markdown files in a folder for it to generate articles or blog posts following a template like a regular SSG. We…
Comment linking /blog/build-static-sveltekit-markdown-blog
on “Show HN: Primo – a visual CMS with Svelte blocks, a code editor, and SSG”Submitted In defense of two-state theme toggles as a story · 20 points
HN discussionYou should read this article, it was quite good, even if you do continue to use React after. It's good to understand the alternatives, even if you never use them. https://joshcollinsworth.com/blog/self-fulfilling-prophecy-o... It's been a few months since I read it, but I recall the main thing I took away from this was: React isn't necessarily the best choice, other frameworks provide better performance, development…
Comment linking /blog/self-fulfilling-prophecy-of-react
on “Why I Like React (even in 2024)”Submitted Introducing Svelte, and Comparing Svelte with React and Vue as a story · 14 points
HN discussionServer side rendering isnt special any more: https://joshcollinsworth.com/blog/antiquated-react#server-si... This blog was posted to HN a few weeks ago. The author does a really good job of summarizing React's relationship with the rest of the SPA ecosystem.
Comment linking /blog/antiquated-react
on “Making Sense of React Server Components”Submitted AI optimism is a class privilege as a story · 10 points
HN discussionTFA links to https://joshcollinsworth.com/blog/tailwind-is-smart-steering , which is about Tailwind, but makes multiple distinctions and points that could just as well apply to LLMs, e.g.: > Builders value getting the work done as quickly and efficiently as possible. They are making something—likely something with parts beyond the frontend—and are often eager to see it through to completion. This means Builders may…
Comment linking /blog/tailwind-is-smart-steering
on “Moving away from Tailwind, and learning to structure my CSS”Submitted Comparing Svelte with React and Vue as a story · 6 points
HN discussionSubmitted Never use px to set font-size in CSS as a story · 4 points
HN discussionSubmitted The Childlike and the Childish as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted The self-fulfilling prophecy of React as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted I worry our Copilot is leaving some passengers behind as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted Things you forgot (or never knew) because of React as a story · 3 points
HN discussionSubmitted LLMs and Performative Productivity as a story · 2 points
HN discussion
