Why I write for CodeWalkers

This site is small on purpose. The home page says it is separate from my day job, and I mean that. The day job writing happens at CodeWalkers, a tutorial site where I explain how software is built and maintained.

What I write there

At CodeWalkers I cover PHP, SQL and database work, local-first and privacy-minded setups, on-device AI where it makes sense, and the release news that changes what those tools can do next week. The articles are procedural. They assume you will open a terminal, run a query, or read a config file before you form an opinion.

PHP and SQL are still how a large share of the web persists data, even when the front page is built with something newer. Local-first patterns matter because defaults keep drifting toward sync jobs that leave the machine without asking. On-device models matter for the same reason I write about them here: you should know what left your disk.

Why a house site, and how this one fits

A personal blog is a good place for taste and grudges. It is a poor place for step-by-step work that needs an editor to catch a broken command or a schema typo. CodeWalkers has house style, review before publish, and a reader who clicked because they want the steps spelled out in order.

I have written for magazines, vendors, and my own clients. Each venue taught me something about who reads carefully. CodeWalkers readers finish the install. They email when step four fails on their distro. That feedback loop keeps the tutorials honest in a way a lone blog post does not.

markgates.dev is the smaller desk. I use it for Linux habits, book notes, and opinions I would not put under the CodeWalkers byline. Tutorials belong where someone can trust the checklist. Essays about which books survived a decade belong here.

CodeWalkers has the tutorials with screenshots and copy-paste commands. This site has the opinions and the paperback on my desk.