Tris (the creator behind the “No Boilerplate” channel) describes how he turned a programming career sparked by his father’s advice into a multifaceted creative life on YouTube. After years of working as a web developer, he embraced being a generalist—practicing music, public speaking, writing, and video production in his spare time—realizing that happiness and broad skill‑building matter more than narrow specialization. A viral Rust presentation launched his YouTube presence, and he now creates technical tutorials, electronic music, fiction podcasts (“Lost Terminal”), and other projects using Linux and mostly free, open‑source tools (Emacs Org‑mode, Obsidian, etc.) on inexpensive hardware. He stresses that performing in front of an audience—whether music, talks, or acting—builds confidence and improves one’s craft by forcing self‑critique, and he advocates learning needed skills yourself rather than outsourcing them. Tris offers one‑on‑one mentorship via Patreon, invites early‑access supporters, and points viewers to his podcasts, GitHub resources, and Discord community. In short, he shares his journey of blending programming, music, writing, and production into a sustainable, self‑taught creative workflow and encourages others to adopt a similar generalist, hands‑on approach.
1. Tris makes technical videos every day.
2. Tris writes electronic music podcasts and videos.
3. Tris's videos are produced on Linux using mostly free open‑source software.
4. Tris uses cheap hardware that is within reach.
5. Tris's video scripts are dedicated to the public domain.
6. All visible content (scripts, links, images) is part of a markdown document available on GitHub.
7. Before becoming a YouTuber, Tris worked as a programmer.
8. At age 16, Tris's father advised choosing programming over teaching.
9. The father said a programmer can teach in spare time, whereas a teacher would have no spare time.
10. Tris started learning trumpet as a child, then piano.
11. At age 16, Tris was fired by a piano teacher for not practicing enough.
12. Tris later found a jazz piano teacher and has performed jazz, blues, and rock music since.
13. Tris has published music via Bandcamp albums and YouTube videos.
14. Through music production, Tris practiced audio leveling, video encoding, and website publishing.
15. Tris recommends practicing performance in front of others (e.g., presentations, music) to reduce stage fright and improve via external feedback.
16. As a boy, Tris discovered *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy* and wanted to be a writer.
17. Tris wrote occasional blog posts and attempted NaNoWriMo each year.
18. In 2020, after listening to the podcast “Start with this,” Tris decided to write a podcast instead of a book.
19. Tris produced the pilot episode of the fiction podcast “Lost Terminal” over a few evenings.
20. Tris has now written season 17 of “Lost Terminal.”
21. Tris offers one‑on‑one mentoring via Patreon on topics such as Rust, personal organization, creative production, web tech, etc.
22. Patreon supporters receive early video access, Discord perks, and their name in the credits.
23. The channel is run solely by Tris.
24. Tris references Adam Savage's autobiography and the generalist manifesto quote about tools being hammers.
25. Tris uses Obsidian, a markdown‑based note‑taking and knowledge‑management app.
26. Tris's most‑watched video (at time of recording) is an introduction to Obsidian.
27. Tris works on Linux and mostly open‑source tools, stating the setup could run on a Raspberry Pi powered by a solar panel.
28. Tris mentions digital minimalism as a practice of separating smartphone functions into physical devices.
29. Tris dreams of an office with four differently colored walls and four identical machines for writing, editing, research, and production.
30. For video exports and Rust compilation, Tris would consider a machine with a Threadripper CPU.