The RE WORK podcast
In this podcast episode, REWORK host Kimberly Rhodes talks with David Heinemeier Hansson, co-founder of 37signals and CTO, about his personal shift from using Apple products to exploring Linux and Windows platforms. He discusses the expanded platform integration at 37signals, which now includes all three operating systems.
Kimberly (00:00): Welcome to Rework, a podcast by 37signals about the better way to work and run your business. I’m your host Kimberly Rhodes, and I’m joined by the co-founders of 37signals, Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson. Well, we’ve talked a lot about technology changes at 37signals and this week we’re talking about Linux. David, I’m just going to turn it over to you. Let us jump right in.
David (00:20): Yeah, so I have been on a personal journey of discovery when it comes to computing in the last few months. The final straw kind of hit the camel’s back at some point when Apple announced they were yanking support for web apps in Europe in their petty fight with EU bureaucrats over their monopoly case. And I just at that point finally felt like, you know what? Why am I still supporting this company? And I don’t even mean that in a economic sense. I mean that in a sense of attention. Why is Apple still the gravity of all my computing? Why do I have all these Apple devices? Why am I on all these Apple services if I fundamentally have grown to dislike how the company is run? Now, there are all sorts of legitimate reasons you could answer, well, this is why it works very well.
(01:11): They make good computers. I don’t care about this stuff. I’m not here to tell you that those aren’t valid reasons for you. I’m telling you that they aren’t valid reasons for me. I care too deeply about the future of computing. I care too deeply about computers as they are and as they exist. For me just to resign myself to like that’s just how it is. I just have to live with whatever edits Apple throws my way. Now, in some way I do. B ecause we have a ton of customers who are on Apple, we’ve been in all these fights with Apple over access to distribute our software on the app store because if we don’t have a HEY email client on the app store, it’s going to be very difficult to make that product a success given how many people are in that ecosystem. But for me and my own personal computing, that doesn’t have to happen on Apple.
