Was thinking the other day for no reason at all about software that I've actually enjoyed using over the years, and I had to think really hard on that. I'm probably showing my age and romanticizing things, but Winamp definitely meets that bar. As does the IRC client mIRC. Probably what I liked most about these programs is while they got frequent updates, their basic functionality remained the same, familiar, and very usable. You know, the opposite trajectory of most modern software. Also, they were so familiar I could use them with my eyes closed.

Is there any software that fills you with positive thoughts/associations? Why?

@briankrebs Winamp was awesome. Netscape would also top my list.

@briankrebs I think VLC is a great piece of software. It had worked almost flawlessly for me for 22 or 23 years now. The last problem I had with it was in 2008 or 2009 when it would crap out on one specific type of encoding.

I also really loved omnigraffle and omnioutliner. They really embodied the Apple desktop design philosophy. Omnigraddle wasn’t as powerful as Visio, but it had a far superior UI and was 1/4 the price.

@mhalligan Good one. I forgot about VLC. Is it still great software? I couldn't tell who owns it anymore.

@briankrebs Midnight Commander (clone of Norton Commander from MS-DOS times, available on most Linux distributions). Don't wanna live without it!

@briankrebs Winamp and mirc were great

all of my modern examples are open source software, as it still seems to largely be made by people that use it and are driven to improve it to make it more usable rather than profits, but obviously that's a trend rather than a hard rule

@briankrebs tmux!

@briankrebs firefox. I mean think about it, I started using it at the same time as those examples yet I still do today!

Reminds me I better make a donation.

@briankrebs GIMP, because, even though its UI is shit, I have the same experience with it whether I'm on a Windows or Linux machine. Inkscape has similar feeling for vector based work, and FreeCAD is harder but I always manage to design stuff with it in less than a few hour between inception and 3D printing

@briankrebs
From the days when we were all burning optical media: DVDisaster

The idea: When you burn a disc that isn't completely full, any unused sectors are truly wasted. This app uses them for extra ECC data. Here are screenshots from when I gouged a CD with a key, and then subsequently read the data from the scratched disc, without a single bit lost.

It's a nice example of a simple app that solves a real-world problem.

@briankrebs I’ve been in tech for 40 years; I’ve seen and used a lot of UIs. When as an analyst I saw Duo, I thought, “omg, this is amazing.” And so after getting to know the founders, I asked to be allowed to come work for them. Never regretted it.

@briankrebs I still think there are lots of great small developers out there making great software. OS X: have loved Transmit for almost 30 years! Also Carbon Copy Cloner has saved me many times. Windows: NotePad ++ and putty used to be the first thing I would install for many years.

@briankrebs

In my opinion a program that really improved the last years is #signal. It started a bit wonky but had huge improvements - security wise as well as features (group chats, video calls).

@briankrebs it's hard to call something so new nostalgic, but Tailscale is really awesome tech for its niche.

@briankrebs def WinAmp and maybe BeOS.

@briankrebs
vi.
Because.

@briankrebs BBEdit. Made with so much love and attention for detail, thriving for 32+ years now and still feeling fresh.

@js +1

@briankrebs @mhalligan the maintainer has refused to sell out. There's a Reddit AMA (in french) where the maintainer talks about turning down millions to inject ads and malware into it and how they think the NSA was trying to backdoor it too

@feld @mhalligan I'd love to read that thread if you ever find it.

@briankrebs Trillian messaging client

@briankrebs
Stereo Shell written by Emery D. Wooten Jr. circa 1990. He's still around I think:
https://www.mresoftware.com/
It was so intuitive. So solid. I'd use it today if it would work on Linux.
I was so impressed that I purchased it.
It seems simple...but it was very powerful and quick.

@briankrebs I’d say that @bbedit — a powerful Mac text editor I’ve used since the mid-‘90s — by Bare Bones is that for me.

It has simultaneously “kept up” with my needs and remained relevant to modern workloads while still being incredibly familiar and welcoming, like a favorite pair of pants.

Some great text editors have come and gone but BBEdit remains a reliable tool in my arsenal.

@briankrebs IDA Pro 😜

@wdormann @briankrebs @buherator nifty

@briankrebs I might start a war here, but I really enjoy Vim. Once you know it well, it's so internally consistent and its economy of hand movement is just a joy. 😁

@anagnostes @briankrebs I was thinking of citing Emacs, so now I have to.

@20002ist @briankrebs Darn it, I knew this would happen. 😂

@anagnostes @20002ist @briankrebs - You're both wrong! Nano for lyfe!!!!

@anagnostes @20002ist @briankrebs +1 on vim. Its the software equivalent of the 20 year old recliner that is way too comfortable to every throw out.

@briankrebs pihole always feels good. I think the UI is solid and I've never had any issues with it. Audacity comes to mind also. I don't have to record audio that much but whenever I do I like using audacity

@briankrebs it can be janky as hell, but I still love tuxguitar.

@briankrebs BBEdit @bbedit

@briankrebs Windows 98

It was familiar, but added features, was easy to use and customize and didn't crash, that often.

@briankrebs nmap. Still feels the same as it did in 90s.

@cybergeist ++1

@briankrebs DEVONthink. Encrypted at rest and end-to-end, sync via my own server. I dump everything into it, from Markdown notes and annotated PDFs to archived copies of web pages. It's fast and rock solid.

Also, rsync. Single most useful command line utility. If I ever met Tridge I'd buy him a beer.

@briankrebs VLC would probably be (only in part) a surviving member of the WinAmp type app. Introduction of 'Skins' to adapt look and feel was a try and broadening appeal and could be applied to a number such foundational useful tools. For cyber, couldn't go without NMAP of course...

@briankrebs I'll second everyone saying Winamp and VLC, and add on Steam, both for what it has done for Linux gaming and for the fact that it generally just works. I've never had to troubleshoot - just run updates. Clunky UI aside, I can still find things the same way decades later.

Minor shoutout to every plaintext gui editor out there doing the heavy day to day lifting for me. Mousepad, notepad, etc, y'all great and reliable.

@briankrebs
I could name dozens of video games I enjoyed, which are technically software. Do they count?

One way or another, +1 for Signal.

@briankrebs I've gotten so used to all the software and services I use trying to lead me towards monetization. I build emotional barriers so when the software is discontinued / enshittified / monetized / ruined it doesn't hurt as much.

Like others have said, my opensource stack is stuff I can actually like - vim, tmux, fluxbox, stuff like that. They're built for me, configurable, and aren't trying to sell me anything.

@briankrebs Stacked with comments already, but I have been a fan of TaskCoach for years. Every feature I want, but none of them are in my way. I've been using it since the times of portable-apps on USB and it's had a stable GUI and save file the whole time. Open source, free product, free support. I plug it to everybody who wants a better To-Do List.

@briankrebs Irfanview is a teeny-tiny (used to be small enough to fit on a floppy disk; no idea if that's still the case) image viewer.

'sgot a slide-show mode with customizable settings (e.g. "do you want to see every thing in a dir, with/out subdirs? do you want a custom list of files? do you want fixed or random order? auto-progress or wait for input?), by default lets you go through the entire dir of the current image, batch rename/convert (with all SORTS of settings), lets you resize images, can (with plugins) handle audio, video, even PDFs, probably a bunch more stuff that i'm not graphically-inclined enough to know about.

oh and it's free, just like it has been for the last 20+ years.

https://www.irfanview.com/

#notsponsored

@briankrebs

Do ping, telnet and tracert count?

@tinker @anagnostes @20002ist @briankrebs 🌸 nano gang represent 🌸

@briankrebs

FanControl falls into this category.

It works and updates generally don't mess with core functionality 🙂

https://getfancontrol.com/

@briankrebs

I loved Keybase.io, at least before the Zoom acquisition. They were strapping rocket boosters on the old PGP Web of Trust, letting you wire disparate socials and sites together into a single identity, and letting you have e2e channels between a platform-agnostic set of those identities. I could create a group chat or file share or whatever, and invite a Twitter account, a blogger, and a Mastodon user.

@catsalad @tinker @anagnostes @20002ist @briankrebs notepad drinkers : soda is fine

@briankrebs

FreeCommander (like NC/MC). Been using that for many many years. (And eventually I stumped up some - completely discretionary - cash.) It's probably the first thing I install on any rebuild, because File/Windows Explorer remains obnoxious.

https://freecommander.com

More recently (in the last 5 years), I've developed a great liking for Tabby Terminal, and made a voluntary donation to that project too. Indispensable multi-shell terminal program. (I use it with Cmder and PowerShell and to manage dozens of SSH connections. Haven't really needed to use PuTTY since discovering this.)

https://tabby.sh

After that, tools that add massive value for me:

• Ansible
• Python
• VS Code
• GitHub Copilot (you can come at me, but when I recently had to work on a VBA project - don't ask - it significantly lightened the load)

I sorely miss WordPerfect from the good old days (early 90s). No word processor, including its own later incarnations, ever came close. "Reveal Codes" FTW!

@briankrebs Wireshark has always been great, IMO (even when it was called Ethereal) 📶🛜 @wireshark

@cloud_manul @briankrebs I still use MC, and especially like the Android fork of it: Ghost Commander

@briankrebs admit it, you just enjoyed whipping the llama’s ass, I know I did 😎
Winamp and MSN messenger with addons. I had so much fun customising it to my wants.

@briankrebs On the Mac side.
LaunchBar is one. Usually the very first thing I install. I don't want to use the mouse when launching apps.

Default Folder X is another. The X is the version for MacOS 10, which means I've been using it since the original MacOS. The company has been around so long that I think the son took it over from their father. Just enhances the open/save dialogs, and keeps up with every OS update.

1Password hasn't stayed simple, but it's kept up with the latest in privacy and security while actually getting easier to use.

And then there are two companies whose products are always spot on. So much so that I own almost all of them. Omni (for drawing, todos, organizing...) and RogueAmoeba for all things sound. They both stay focused, and pay exquisite attention to their UIs while making everything extensible as well.

@catsalad - I have seen no greater meme or shitpost than this. You win the internet.

@anagnostes @20002ist @briankrebs

@tinker @anagnostes @20002ist @briankrebs isn't Nano just a cheap knock-off of Pico?

@snail - You shut your mouth.

@anagnostes @20002ist @briankrebs

@catsalad @tinker @anagnostes @20002ist @briankrebs

I use echo to append every new line and sed to replace typos, found with grep, reviewed with cat. Who needs text editors!

@tinker @anagnostes @20002ist @briankrebs excuse me, but ed *is* the standard text editor.

@briankrebs I didn’t think I’m about it when I first read this because I somehow forget I spend 90% of my time using it: Apple’s Terminal. It has a lot of small attention-to-detail things and I miss at least some of them on any alternative that I’ve tried.

It uses the same keyboard shortcuts for copy and paste as every other app on the system, which isn’t possible on Windows where they had to work around the limitations of ‘80s IBM PC keyboard or most *NIX environments where they copied bad ideas from Windows without thinking.

It sets an environment variable to a UUID in each window. Most terminals do this now, but it also supports Sudden Termination and, if you force quit it will restart with all of the windows where they were and with the same UUID, so each terminal can persist its history separately. I also use it to automatically reconnect remote ssh sessions, so I can reboot the machine for software updates and not lose state on remote machines.

I didn’t think of this as a feature until I used the Windows terminal (which can’t do it) but you can pull tabs out as new windows or attach them to existing ones.

Clicking multiple times in the terminal selects to sensible boundaries (word, bracket matching, and so on).

All of the man pages are exposed in the help menu. When you type a word in the help menu’s search box, as well as searching the internal help it will search the system manual and, if you select one of these, will pop up a new terminal window with that manual page in it (with a yellow background so you can find and close it easily).

Most of all, it simply gets out of my way. It doesn’t try to upsell me to AI nonsense or anything, it just quietly provides me with features that I discover and then want to use.

@briankrebs I really miss email with pine the most. VLC, Gimp, awk and sed.

@catsalad @tinker @anagnostes @20002ist @briankrebs tots agree. Nano is the only friend

@anagnostes Have you found an elegant way around having to reach up to the esc key every two seconds? I heard people remap esc to the caps lock key.. Is that a real thing? honest question, I haven't quite got the hang of vim yet.

@briankrebs
Same here with Winamp and mIRC. Ended buying a mIRC licence few years ago for all the years I've used the trial versions a bit too long ; )
@catsalad