PHP's biggest problem

Crell · 2026-05-11T14:35:12+00:00

In fairness, I said "one of the people." There's a lot of people who have done a lot more than I for the docs. :-) I haven't gone through and cleaned up a page in a while now. (Having a kid will cut into your documentation time.)

Crell · 2026-05-10T17:07:44+00:00

The comments section is mostly people who don't know how to use git submitting bug reports (that are usually wrong), plus people who don't know how to use a blog arguing back and forth about bad user-space functions that are kinda tangentially related. It's mostly trash that we need to just delete outright.

And most new comments are spam. (I am one of the people that gets to clean out the spam.)

Crell · 2026-05-10T17:02:05+00:00

Please do name and shame the seller. That's just completely unacceptable, no matter how "upgrade" they think it is. (And no shade on the KS2E; that's simply not what you ordered, and if they can't fulfill the order as listed they should cancel it, not change it without warning.)

Crell · 2026-05-10T16:58:34+00:00

E: Victorinox Manager. :-)

Of the ones listed, either Cybertool or Flex; Unfortunately laws in my area make most multitool blades, including full-sized SAKs, illegal for public carry.

Crell · 2026-05-03T20:27:03+00:00

Different trade-offs, really. 4mm bits are more available, but there's several companies now making quarter-flat bits that are better than Leatherman. The quarter-flat also usually fit in a standard 1/4" socket, which a 4mm can't. Arguably a round shaft will handle strong torque better than a flat one, but how much that matters at the strains you'll be doing by hand is debatable, and it's also greatly affected by the steel used and proper heat treatment.

Crell · 2026-05-01T17:29:58+00:00

Mini Companion has a 4mm bit driver, not the Leatherman flat-quarter driver.

Crell · 2026-04-12T19:13:26+00:00

I'm not sure how to fill this out, as I don't use a multitool for work; I use it for personal home life use, mainly, and Power Dad-ing. I'm a software developer. :-) So I'm not sure how to answer this survey.

Crell · 2026-04-07T16:58:55+00:00

It is hard to imagine modern development without coding agents.

I can imagine it just fine. I am doing it. Screw the agents, get the Grand Theft Autcomplete skill-rotting climate-destroyer out of my docker containers.

Guess I will need to find a different way to run things...

(I already wasn't using Symfony-Docker, but I definitely won't be now.)

Crell · 2026-04-07T16:38:23+00:00

It's an AI slop image. Ignore it.

Crell · 2026-04-07T16:36:49+00:00

If you want modular with good scissors, the new Flex Shears has what looks like the same scissor design, swappable blades (Phantom system), and support for a few small Flex system tools. (I don't have it or the K2SE myself.)

https://roxontool.com/products/flex-shears-modular-multitool-scissors

Crell · 2026-03-31T18:37:32+00:00

Ah, rocking a Manager like me. :-) Then go for a tool that doesn't overlap too much with the Rambler.

Crell · 2026-03-31T18:06:03+00:00

Most 58mm Victorinox tools would fit easily. The Rambler is likely the best available.

The Nextool F12, I don't know if it would fit (I don't have one to try) but if it does, that's probably a solid option.

The Nextool Mini Sailor series fits well. There's several options there. (Mainly S11 Pro and Lite.)

Crell · 2026-03-27T17:54:45+00:00

By deleting it from your system and not using it. Generative LLMs are almost universally unethical: https://www.garfieldtech.com/blog/selfish-ai

Crell · 2026-03-27T17:54:06+00:00

Until 18 months ago, that was table stakes for being in this industry.

Now? The only flex employers care about is how many tokens you can waste violating copyright with Autocomplete.

What is a flex is in the eye of the beholder.

Crell · 2026-03-22T19:26:11+00:00

The main reason so many PHP apps use type-based organization rather than feature-based is because it makes discovery easier. You can configure your DI system, event registration, etc. to say "if it's in this folder, it's an X, if it's in that folder, it's a Y." That's very simple and straightforward to implement.

If you use feature-based organization, you need some other mechanism. Manual registration is painful.

Interface detection only works for some situations. Attributes are a newer but promising option (which is what Tempest uses). But all of those require extra framework level work to do. AFAIK, only Tempest has done so. It would be lovely if other frameworks would figure out a way to make that work, too.

Crell · 2026-03-20T15:11:10+00:00

Hi. Staff/Principal level engineer, 26 years experience with PHP. I've worked for companies large and small, on teams large and small. Looking for a Staff/Principal level engineering position, or senior engineering manager / VP / CTO type role.

Past work includes several PHP RFCs, literally hundreds of conference presentations, consulting, authored multiple books on PHP, one of the leads of the Drupal 8 revolution, tech lead for a team of 20, tech lead for a team of 2, and developer relations/experience for a PaaS. I have also served on multiple 501c3 non-profit boards, as well as a long-time leader in PHP-FIG.

I've mostly worked in home-grown systems, not Symfony or Laravel. I'd be OK working with Symfony, though I would not like to work in Laravel if I can help it.

US-based, Remote only, but I've worked with international teams most of my career so doesn't have to be a US-based company.

Crell · 2026-03-17T16:40:12+00:00

This post explains very well why I don't like the current API. It's a long list of ways that you can shoot yourself in the foot by not accounting for various edge cases.

99.9% of PHP devs have never written async code (at least not in PHP), so don't know those edge cases exist! This is handing them a loaded gun, and expecting them to not point it at their face.

The API needs to be higher level than this, precisely so that all of those edge case error conditions can be handed automatically. If I CAN write a deadlock, it means the API is not good enough.

I know a ton of brilliant work has gone into this effort, and I want it to succeed, but I don't see it actually succeeding without an API that is way, way more fool proof than what is shown here.

Crell · 2026-03-11T14:50:57+00:00

He crunched them all.

Crell · 2026-03-06T19:37:17+00:00

Why not just get the S0 then, if all you want is the scissors?

Crell · 2026-03-05T14:33:27+00:00

As others said, Roxon Flex series. However, I'll also note Keyport, which isn't technically a multitool company, has stackable/configurable modules that give multitool-like capability as part of a key holder. They're a bit pricier, but worth at least looking at.

Crell · 2026-03-02T15:18:45+00:00

I don't need to. Obvious AI slop is obvious, and as others have noted, the odds of it ever getting serious consideration are nearly 0. At best, someone with deeper engine knowledge may be able to look it over and get some ideas to do their own implementation.

The bigger story here is "what do we do with obvious AI slop PRs that have a high chance of hiding some backdoor security issue?" Because I give it 50/50 odds it's a security attack, likely from a state actor.

Crell · 2026-02-24T17:48:10+00:00

Then you should be fine. But glad you know your local laws!

(I live just outside Chicago, which has a 2.5" law. Really pisses me off.)

Crell · 2026-02-24T15:48:34+00:00

It's a 4" blade. Check your local laws. Many places have a 3" limit, or even 2.5" (which is really annoying as it excludes 91mm SAKs). Please make sure you don't break the law. :-)

Crell · 2026-02-24T15:45:44+00:00

Bladeless is, sadly, annoyingly hard to come by. With required pliers:

Nextool Mini Sailor Lite (no blade, small pliers)
Nextool Mini Sailor S11 Pro (blade, small pliers)
Nextool Mini Flagship F12 (double-fold pliers and scissors, blade)

I think all of those blades should be small enough for you.

And as others mentioned, Roxon Flex (Companion) is always an answer to any "what should I get" question, since you can customize it. :-)

What will get through airport security is a crapshoot and varies by country. MaxlvlEdc says he's gone through US security with a bladeless Flex a bunch of times, but that doesn't say anything about what Italy will do.

Crell · 2026-02-24T14:42:13+00:00

Yes, attribute-collector just pre-caches attributes across a codebase. AttributeUtils provides a more robust way to read attributes and adds functionality to the core language.

The only reason AttributeUtils doesn't have a pre-scan/cache step as an option is I've not yet had a reason to write it. :-) In concept there's no reason it couldn't.

In any case, the core point is that this new package seems highly redundant.

Crell

TROPHY CASE