Mike Barlow

It’s finally live! 🎉 Say hello to generatepdfs.com - a fast, simple, developer-friendly way to generate PDFs from URLs or raw HTML. Clean output. Predictable pricing. Built for real-world apps. 🧵 More details below or head to https://generatepdfs.com 🔗

Abstrax is live and available to try. If you have used it, we would love to hear what felt useful, what felt unclear, and what should be added next. https://useabstrax.com

Abstrax is open source and open to feedback. Bugs, docs fixes, command ideas, and pull requests are all welcome. Especially from people managing small servers in the real world. https://github.com/useabstrax/abstrax

A useful abstraction should not hide too much. That is something Abstrax needs to be careful about. The aim is to make common tasks easier to run, while still keeping the command line workflow understandable. https://useabstrax.com

Looking for command ideas for Abstrax. Good candidates are tasks that are: common enough to matter awkward enough to forget clear enough to make into a memorable command Suggestions welcome: https://github.com/useabstrax/abstrax

The goal with Abstrax is not to make server admin look impressive. It is to make a few recurring tasks less annoying. That is it. Small tools can still be worth building. https://useabstrax.com

The Abstrax docs are live. They should be direct and useful, not padded out. If anything is unclear, missing, or wrong, an issue would be really helpful. Docs: https://useabstrax.com/docs

A lot of us have some version of the same thing: server-notes.md commands.txt random saved snippets old terminal history bookmarks we never find again Abstrax is an attempt to give some of that a better home. https://useabstrax.com

The first release of Abstrax is deliberately focused. It does not try to support every Linux task. The aim is to make a smaller set of common jobs clearer, then improve the CLI from real use. https://useabstrax.com

Because Abstrax runs on your server, the CLI is open source. You can inspect the code, check what commands do, open issues, or suggest improvements. That felt like the right default for this kind of tool. https://github.com/useabstrax/abstrax

Abstrax is not trying to be a clever black box. It is a CLI for people who still want to work in the terminal, but want common server admin tasks to be easier to remember. Sometimes that is enough. https://useabstrax.com

Abstrax can be installed with: curl -fsSL https://useabstrax.com/install.sh | sh Then: abstrax version Full install guide: https://useabstrax.com

What server command do you always have to look up? Not because it is complicated. Just because it is one of those awkward things you never quite remember. Those are the kinds of tasks Abstrax is trying to make easier. https://github.com/useabstrax/abstrax

Abstrax came from a very normal annoyance. Knowing what needed doing on a server, but still having to look up the exact command because it was not something used every day. That felt like a useful thing to build around. https://useabstrax.com

I'm bringing something new to the world. Abstrax is an open source CLI for Linux server admin commands you can actually remember. Made for devs who manage their own servers and occasionally end up thinking: “What was the command again?” 🌐 https://useabstrax.com

Been a bit quiet recently, but I've been tinkering with something for a while, reworking an existing SaaS idea and turned it open source! Get X and Bluesky scheduling for free! Built with #Laravel #Livewire do with it as you please https://github.com/mikebarlow/bluewing

New profile picture day! Had to give chatGPT a go for making an avatar of me. Makes my beard look neater than it actually is 😂

Thinking about starting a blog in 2025? 🤔 Should you stick with WordPress or try Markdown? ✍️ I’ve broken down the pros & cons of both to help you decide 👉 https://link.hosted.md/aeCeQ

Use Obsidian, Typora, VS Code, or any Markdown editor? With hosted.md, you can take those Markdown files and publish them as a website—no Git, no build scripts, no command line. More on that (plus a roundup of the best Markdown tools of 2025): 👉 https://link.hosted.md/iqKXd

🚀 New on the hosted.md blog: Markdown + AI: How I Use AI Tools to Speed Up Blog Writing ✍️ I share how I pair Markdown with AI tools to draft faster without losing my own voice. Read here 👉 https://link.hosted.md/nWEp5

I just published a post about building hosted.md and why making static site hosting feel simple is harder than it looks. 🙈 If you like dev logs or build tools for creators, give it a read: 👀 https://link.hosted.md/pCyXF #buildinpublic #markdown #staticweb

MkDocs is great if all you want is clean, simple documentation from Markdown files. It does that well. But if you want a personal blog or creative site, it's a bit limited. I compare MkDocs to other tools (and an alternative that skips the setup) in this post: 👉 https://link.hosted.md/z2juh

Not live yet, but cost matters. Cloudflare’s free tier and simpler setup helps me keep hosted.md lean while I build. Wrote up the full reasoning here → https://link.hosted.md/RQQPe #buildinpublic

Already got this in place on generatepdfs.com, been looking forward to Rick completing this for a while. It took some nudging and persuading but glad he finally got it out the door!

🧑‍💻 New GitHub integration is here! Connect your GitHub account, choose an existing markdown repo (or create a new one), and hosted.md will build your site automatically. Push to GitHub, rebuild instantly ⚡ Full update 👉 https://link.hosted.md/kDSFq

📝 Want to collaborate on blog posts without the email chaos? Discover how Markdown + hosted.md makes teamwork smoother for writers and developers alike! Check it out 👉 https://link.hosted.md/hUZMn

PDF generation feels like one of those problems everyone has solved slightly differently. Is there a reason you stick with your current approach?

Markdown was meant to simplify writing for the web, not bury you in Git, builds, and config files 😵‍💫 Let’s make publishing easier for writers again. More thoughts here 👉 https://link.hosted.md/KY2Gz

If you have a folder full of Markdown notes and want to make sense of them, Obsidian is still one of the best tools in 2025. Backlinks, graph view, works offline—what's not to like? I rounded up more of my favourite Markdown tools in my latest post: 👉 https://link.hosted.md/iqKXd

📝 Tired of bloated blogging setups? Discover why simpler tools win in the long run and how writing in Markdown can get your blog online fast ✅ Read more: https://link.hosted.md/VUlWG

Always keep pushing! Just deployed some updates to the PDF rendering engine for https://generatepdfs.com Time to play and beta test @rickmills.uk latest SaaS, a customer feedback widget! Going to integrate it into GeneratePDFs! #buildinpublic #saas

Writing a book, course, or long newsletter in Markdown? ✍️ We just published a guide on organizing long-form projects in a way that keeps things clean, structured, and easy to manage. Read it here → https://link.hosted.md/9zjvt

For anyone dealing with PDFs regularly: what finally made your setup feel reliable? Tooling, constraints, lowering expectations…?

The christmas break was a blessing and a curse. Was great to chill and not think about posting on here, but at the same time. I've come back and my inspiration is at an all time low for posting. It was only a couple of weeks off! Anyone else find that?

Blogging with Markdown shouldn’t require a crash course in Git. With hosted.md, it doesn’t. Just write, hit publish, and you’re live. ✍️✨ No repos. No installs. No nonsense. Read the post 👉 https://link.hosted.md/qIXQd

✍️ Ever wondered what really happens when you hit publish on a static site? From Markdown to live pages — we walk through every step. We’re building a tool to make it way easier. 👉 https://link.hosted.md/X8dYY

📝 Drafting in Markdown is about to get easier. Here’s how hosted.md will make managing unfinished posts simple and safe: https://link.hosted.md/5U2sd #Blogging #Markdown #StaticSites 🚧✨

Static vs Dynamic Blogs ⚡ Which one’s better for the long haul? We break down the pros, cons, and why static Markdown sites are winning for writers and creators who want something fast, secure, and built to last. 👉 Read now: https://link.hosted.md/TGEoG

Trying to make static site hosting approachable without hiding the hard stuff - and it’s way trickier than i thought. I shared some lessons from building hosted.md: 👉 https://link.hosted.md/pCyXF #buildinpublic #markdown

I obviously have my reasons for building https://hosted.md and detailed them in the first blog post. But does anyone else have any different pain points when it comes to getting a simple static site hosted somewhere? 🤔 Ones without extending build time too much would be great #buildinpublic

New on the hosted.md blog 🎉 Curious how to track your blog’s performance without cookies or heavy scripts? Privacy first analytics are easier than you think. Read the full guide 👇 https://link.hosted.md/hQ6qi

🙋‍♂️ Just pushed out a new post talking about Why Markdown is the perfect format for blogging! 👉 https://hosted.md/blog/why-markdown-is-the-perfect-format-for-blogging Would appreciate some 👀 on it if people have 5 minutes! #buildinpublic

I know it’s not helped the algo but been nice to have a break from socials for a few days. Was ill just before Xmas, and just recovered in time fo the big day! 🤒 Felt too ill to even schedule any posts, that’s how bad I was! Feeling back to normal and refreshed now though. Back on it soon 💪

Search engines care about structure. Start every post with one # H1, then use ## and ### to guide the flow. Good for SEO, great for readers. More static site SEO tips in our latest post 👉 https://link.hosted.md/Wdoh4 #Markdown #SEOtips

At what point does a “simple” publishing setup stop feeling simple? Is it themes, plugins, settings, or something else?

New post on hosted.md: The Hidden Complexity of Static Site Hosting (And How to Avoid It) I shared the common pain points I’ve hit with static hosting and why I’m building hosted.md to fix them. #buildinpublic #markdown #staticweb 🔗 https://link.hosted.md/HTTbK

🆕 New on the blog: What actually happens when you hit "Publish" on a static site? 🛠️ We break down the full journey from Markdown to a live site. 🚀 hosted.md will make it much easier when it launches. 📄 https://link.hosted.md/X8dYY #buildinpublic #markdown

Do you prefer writing in something structured like Markdown, or a full editor with buttons and previews? Genuinely curious where people land on this.

Want stronger SEO over time? Build content clusters 📚 Related Markdown posts that link to each other help readers explore and help search engines understand topic depth. We explain how to do this step by step 👇 https://link.hosted.md/2JvEM

Do you ever avoid publishing something because you don’t want to deal with the tooling around it? Or is that just me?

What makes a writing tool feel distracting to you? Too many options, too many prompts, or something more subtle?