If you’ve ever caught yourself thinking “I wish my editor / file manager / status bar / shell just did this one thing differently” and you’ve been told the answer is to write a plugin, learn an obscure config language, or accept the way it is, then consider that the third option is more available than it used to be: Build Your Own Software (BYOS).

You probably won’t replace your whole desktop. I didn’t plan to either. But the satisfaction of having even one tool in your daily workflow that fits you exactly is worth a weekend.

Source: A desktop made for one

This captures what the current LLM-assisted coding is unleashing into the world - personal software. From the era of personal computers, where you did write your own software -> software being written by a few -> a potential world where software can be written by any.

This is yet another reason why malleable software is important.

Developers and opinionated people (sorry) will continue to lead the way. I’ve never shied away from tweaking a plugin, writing a chrome extension to make things work just the way I like it. So, I am so excited at the million flowers blooming everywhere and people choosing to share them.

p.s. I also love that we are back in the golden age of TUIs again (or is it just my bubble?).