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David Heinemeier Hansson avatar

David Heinemeier Hansson

Creator of Ruby on Rails and Omarchy, co-owner and CTO of 37signals

@dhh933K followersOpen Source MakersDeveloper ToolsSaaS Founders

About David Heinemeier Hansson

David Heinemeier Hansson, widely known as DHH, is a Danish programmer, co-owner and CTO of 37signals, and the creator of the Ruby on Rails web framework. He extracted Rails from the code of Basecamp in 2004 and released it as open source, and it went on to power companies such as GitHub, Shopify and Airbnb in their early years.

At 37signals he leads the technical side of Basecamp, HEY and the ONCE line of self-hosted software, and has pushed the company to leave the cloud for its own hardware. In 2025 he released Omarchy, an opinionated Arch Linux and Hyprland setup aimed at developers. He also co-wrote Rework, Remote and It Doesn't Have to Be Crazy at Work with Jason Fried.

Outside software he is a racing driver who won his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and he sits on the board of Shopify. He writes often about programming, independent companies and open source on his blog and HEY World.

Products by David Heinemeier Hansson

Ruby on Rails logo

Ruby on Rails

rubyonrails.org

Open-source full-stack web framework written in Ruby.

Basecamp logo

Basecamp

basecamp.com

Project management and team communication tool built by 37signals.

HEY logo

HEY

hey.com

Paid email and calendar service from 37signals.

Omarchy logo

Omarchy

omarchy.org

Opinionated Arch Linux and Hyprland configuration for developers.

Videos with David Heinemeier Hansson

Interviews & press

Timeline

  1. 2004 — Released Ruby on Rails, extracted from Basecamp.
  2. 2014 — Won his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
  3. 2025 — Released Omarchy, an opinionated Linux setup for developers.

How David builds

  • Convention over configuration.
  • Small, independent, profitable companies over venture-backed growth.
  • Own your infrastructure when the cloud stops making sense.
  • Programmer happiness matters.

Learn from David Heinemeier Hansson

David Heinemeier Hansson FAQ

Who is DHH?

DHH is David Heinemeier Hansson, the Danish creator of Ruby on Rails and co-owner and CTO of 37signals, which makes Basecamp and HEY.

What is Omarchy?

Omarchy is an opinionated Arch Linux and Hyprland setup released by DHH in 2025 to give developers a ready-made, keyboard-driven Linux desktop.

Is DHH still an active maker?

Yes. He co-owns 37signals and leads its technical work on Basecamp, HEY and ONCE, while continuing to work on Rails and Omarchy.

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