It's fun to see new waves of Linux UI polish attempts (like DHH's Ubuntu/Arch scripts, or this project). The Linux desktop could use some care -- and it's the kind of work a single (talented) person can actually do.
The harder problem is the underlying drivers and app ecosystem. Will some third-party package actually run, or will it require qt-2 and then crash on launch? Why is the laptop's webcam upside down, or why is wi-fi dropping every 11 minutes?
One-man distros rarely fix this (unless the person actually has same trouble). It takes a company, that would be willing to invest the sheer human-hours. We had Red Hat, Ubuntu -- companies that did a lot, but eventually capped their investment in the desktop. We need a new one. Until then, we'll keep getting the same experience under a new label.
Obj-C apps are not deprecated yet, so the approach in that GitHub repo must still work. That app is indeed written in C, but a big chunk is about building Obj-C classes and using other Obj-C objects - so it’s not quite C. You won't get much performance benefits or additional flexibility this way.
C is Turing-complete, so you can technically write anything in it. But on iOS, you'd need to build your own C library for application-level Apple SDKs, since Apple doesn't provide one. For simple apps (like small games or toy utils) - a minimal wrapper in Objective-C or Swift could be just a few hundred lines.
RackNerd offers one for $10.99 a year [1]. I've used them before and they are a solid provider. Besides you can use the same server and same IPv4 address for hosting multiple email domains.
I wonder if anyone is working on a fantasy console with PS3-level graphics. A lot of games on Steam today have retro aesthetics and aren’t very demanding. A game runtime that works on Linux, macOS, and Windows would solve portability and digital preservation.
PS3 graphics aren't that different from modern day graphics, just lower fidelity and the hardware was a bit quirky but other than that they didn't have any particular aesthetic; I don't think the PS2 had either. The PS1 did though, the weird texture shimmering that was reproduced in for example the Bloodborne demake [0] and subsequent Bloodborne Kart, which had to be rebranded to Nightmare Kart for copyright reasons. But that one's made in Unreal Engine 4, with a forum thread [1] saying the effect can be reproduced across multiple engines like UE4, Unity and Godot, using a shader.
* Even more platforms: Chrome OS, Meta Quest, Tesla cars, Xbox, smart fridges, etc. The web is unmatched in platform support and more importantly allows you to completely bypass the software distribution monopolies on all of them. Ship freely without anyone's permission!
I'm making a wasm runtime called Taca that has approximately low-end modern capabilities that can run in either web or a separate native player. https://github.com/contextfreeinfo/taca (I also made the intro video for WASM-4.)
About 20 years ago, I was setting up a shared PC at my university. I googled for a way in Windows XP (via registry or group policy) to only let specific programs run. I added stuff like explorer.exe, iexplore.exe, winword.exe, acroread.exe, and a few others.
Fast forward a few years, and the computer was still running great. The desktop and downloads folders were full of messengers, "flash players" and other malware - but all binaries were throwing cryptic error. Since no one in IT was around or cared, nobody figured out how to edit the allow list. The computer was deemed half-broken. But when neighboring PCs were completely infested, this one could still open, edit, and print office docs flawlessly.
It felt like a magic fix for shared Windows PC security.
Edit: one of those exes was regedit and every time I sat down I'd delete all the keys named Policies as a routine excersize. After that, restart explorer with one of the tricks. I don't remember the specific one but it wasn't officially documented iirc.
I wonder if there is a simple chip, similar to the 4004, 8080, or Z80, that can run at modern high frequencies — 4–5 GHz, or even higher due to its simplicity? Not much of a practical use, but it could be fun for emulation projects. 100x slower with emulation - still fast enough for retro platforms.
I'm working on QA Sphere https://qasphere.com/ - a lightweight tool for managing software testing. It’s built for QA engineers to document functional test cases and track execution, manually or via automation.
Test management tools are nothing new, but I’m focused on making this one fast and easy to use, without the bloat. The goal is to help smaller teams adopt solid QA practices without the hassle.
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