> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://committ.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# December 6th, 2025
> The day Windows broke me. And Linux saved me. And one tiny flag fixed everything.
* [6:00 PM - The Collapse](#600-pm--the-collapse)
* [7:00 PM - The Snap](#700-pm--the-snap)
* [8:00 PM - Fresh Start in WSL](#800-pm--fresh-start-in-wsl)
* [9:00 PM - The Build](#900-pm--the-build)
* [9:30 PM - Wrong Branch](#930-pm--wrong-branch)
* [10:00 PM - Correct Branch](#1000-pm--correct-branch)
* [10:45 PM - Finally Understanding](#1045-pm--finally-understanding)
* [11:30 PM - New Problem](#1130-pm--new-problem)
* [12:00 AM - The One Flag](#1200-am--the-one-flag)
# December 6th, 2025
**The Day I Almost Opened a Juice Shop**
Yesterday was painful. Today was worse. But it ended with the app actually running on my phone.
Here's the full story.
***
## 6:00 PM — The Collapse
Around 6 PM, my day officially collapsed.
Gradle was happily torturing me with:
```
path exceeds 260 characters
```
I did EVERYTHING a normal, responsible, tech-loving human would do:
* Enabled long path support
* Restarted Windows
* Checked registry
* Googled like a desperate uncle
* Even tried pleading
But Windows behaved like: "No. Not today. Suffer."
I got frustrated and thought: "Bun is the criminal. Let's switch to npm or pnpm."
Then I remembered that I built my entire monorepo on Bun because I "love speed". So switching meant breaking EVERYTHING.
At this point I was just looking at the screen like: "Super. I am now officially the problem."
***
## 7:00 PM — The Snap
By 7:30 PM, my internal organs started giving up.
Every solution online felt like therapy advice from aliens.
I snapped. Absolutely snapped.
"Windows doesn't want to cooperate? Fine. I'll use Linux. Enough."
Opened WSL like a man entering the gym after a breakup.
Fresh Ubuntu shell. Pure oxygen. Felt like life rebooted.
I told myself: "Fresh clone. Fresh install. Fresh mind. No NTFS nonsense now."
For the first time that evening, something resembled hope.
***
## 8:00 PM — Fresh Start in WSL
Inside WSL, I cloned my repo again.
It actually downloaded smoothly — no drama, no warnings, no stupidity.
```bash theme={null}
git clone [repo]
cd CommitT
bun install
```
Installed Bun. Installed deps. Installed Android SDK. Did everything clean.
But mentally, I was a hollow human.
I thought: "Okay Maajith... one last attempt. If this fails, I'll go start a juice shop."
***
## 9:00 PM — The Build
With full fear and zero confidence, I typed:
```bash theme={null}
bun expo run:android
```
And waited like a man awaiting exam results.
Then... magic.
No freezing. No choking. No Windows drama. Gradle was actually... cooperating?
I felt suspicious. Too smooth. Something was wrong.
And yes — because this is my life —
***
## 9:30 PM — Wrong Branch
The build finished.
I saw:
```
BUILD SUCCESSFUL
```
For a second, I smiled like a proud dad.
Then reality slapped me:
**I BUILT THE WRONG BRANCH.**
I cloned the default branch — NOT my latest CommitT branch.
I just stared at the screen like: "I am a certified clown. Why am I like this?"
Back to cloning. Back to reinstalling. Back to accepting my fate.
***
## 10:00 PM — Correct Branch
Now I cloned the correct branch.
```bash theme={null}
git clone -b main [repo]
bun install
bun expo run:android
```
Installed everything again. Hit build again.
And Linux, my hero, said: "Sure bro. No problem."
At 10:42 PM, I saw the REAL success message.
```
BUILD SUCCESSFUL in 8m 23s
```
Correct branch. Correct environment. Correct everything.
This one actually felt good — because this time, it was me who fixed it. Not luck. Not guesswork. Actual understanding.
***
## 10:45 PM — Finally Understanding
Finally, after HOURS of fighting errors like a headless chicken, everything started making logical sense.
I understood:
* It wasn't Bun's fault
* It wasn't Expo
* It wasn't React Native
* It wasn't "my laptop is cursed"
**The real villain was: Windows NTFS + file paths + hard-link restrictions.**
All the freezes, CMake loops, 90% hangs — everything connected together.
For the first time in 5 hours, I didn't feel like a circus monkey smashing the keyboard.
I actually felt like a software engineer again.
I sat back and said: "Okay. Now I get why everything broke. Finally makes sense."
***
## 11:30 PM — New Problem
So the build worked.
I happily scanned the Expo QR code.
Expo immediately slapped me:
```
failed to connect to /172.19.xx.xx
```
I found out the sad truth:
**WSL runs in a VIRTUAL NETWORK. My phone is on WiFi. They cannot talk.**
Even if I pray. Even if I sacrifice a goat.
```
WSL IP: 172.19.x.x
Phone IP: 172.17.x.x
```
Two different universes. No communication. No chance.
I realized: "Fantastic. Build problem solved. App still can't run. Beautiful life."
***
## 12:00 AM — The One Flag
I didn't know whether to cry or laugh.
But then... I tried:
```bash theme={null}
bun expo start --tunnel
```
One small command. One tiny option.
And suddenly:
```
Tunnel connected.
Tunnel ready.
Expo opened.
Phone connected.
APP RAN.
```
I sat there like: "Wait wait wait... after SIX hours of suffering... the solution was THIS ONE OPTION???"
I felt happy. I felt stupid. I felt relieved. I felt defeated. All emotions unlocked like PUBG skins.
But one thing was certain:
**It finally worked.**
***
## Lessons Learned
1. **Windows NTFS is not your friend for native builds** — hard links, path limits, all of it
2. **WSL is the move** — but keep your project in the Linux filesystem, not `/mnt/c`
3. **Always check which branch you're on** — I'm still embarrassed
4. **WSL networking is isolated** — use `--tunnel` for Expo when your phone can't reach WSL directly
5. **Sometimes the fix is one flag** — after hours of debugging, the answer was `--tunnel`
***
## Final Thoughts
Two days of suffering. Countless errors. Multiple emotional breakdowns.
But now I have:
* A working build environment
* A running app on my phone
* Actual understanding of what went wrong
Tomorrow, I actually get to write code instead of fighting my tools.
That's progress.
See you tomorrow.
***
## Proof of Work
