Celebrating computers at Omacon

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TLDR

  • DHH hosted Omacon in New York, gathering 130 people around a shared love of bespoke, malleable Linux computers.

Key Takeaways

  • 130 attendees met in a Shopify-hosted venue in New York for Omacon, a single-track event built around the Omarchy Linux distribution.
  • DHH met collaborators Prime, TJ, Bjarne, Spencer, and Vaxry in person for the first time after working together online.
  • Attendees came from diverse backgrounds: programmers and non-programmers, former Windows and Mac users, not just existing Linux users.
  • DHH framed the event around C.S. Lewis’s definition of friendship: seeing the same truth, here a love of bespoke, malleable computers.
  • The event served as a motivation recharge for continuing Omarchy development, with more compatibility and polish planned.

Why It Matters

  • Omarchy is a personal Linux distribution DHH built for himself; Omacon demonstrates real-world adoption extending well beyond its creator.
  • The event signals a community forming around opinionated, user-owned Linux setups as an alternative to mainstream Mac and Windows environments.
  • Shopify’s Tobi provided the venue, marking visible intersection between mainstream tech leadership and the indie Linux/open-source computing movement.

David Heinemeier Hansson · 2026-04-21 · Read the original

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