Hello, I’m Robby Russell.

I started this blog in early 2005, not long after stumbling into the Ruby on Rails community. If you dig through the archives, you’ll find solutions from a different era—some may still work, some may need a dusting off. Time is funny that way. 😉
These days, my focus is on helping teams sustain, modernize, and future-proof their Ruby on Rails applications. I run Planet Argon, maintain Oh My Zsh, and host the Maintainable Software Podcast, where I talk with folks about the art (and chaos) of keeping software alive.
This blog is a mix of thoughts, tutorials, and lessons learned over the years. It’s part documentation, part storytelling, and part reminder that we’re all just figuring things out as we go. If any of it helps, I’m glad you stopped by.
Projects
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Maintainable Rails
FREE email course: Modernize Your Existing Ruby on Rails App so it's Safer, Faster, & More Maintainable.
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Oh My Zsh
A delightful, open source, community-driven framework for managing your Zsh configuration.
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Maintainable Software Podcast
A podcast about maintaining software and code quality over time.
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Planet Argon
A software consultancy specializing in Ruby on Rails applications.
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On Rails Podcast
The official podcast of the Rails Foundation.