[theturtletalks]

Open-source alternatives are being launched at an ungodly pace and they are really polished. All these comments about AI Slop are underestimating how good these builders have gotten and AI lets you iterate really fast. If the builder actually uses the software he's building, the feedback loop is really efficient.

I keep a directory of open-source alternatives and just in the past month, I've replaced applications I've used for years with open-source alternatives.

[cdrini]

What open source alternatives have you switched to recently? Always on the lookout for good OS tools!

[theturtletalks]

I replaced Raycast recently with Sol[0], but SuperCmd[1] is also really good.

And I’m testing Helium Browser[2]. It’s based on Chromium, but has changed a lot under the hood and I’ve been daily driving it.

Also replacing CapCut with OpenCut[3].

I’ve also completely ditched Codex CLI with Pi[4] and now am trying OMP[5].

0. https://github.com/ospfranco/sol

1. https://github.com/SuperCmdLabs/SuperCmd

2. https://github.com/imputnet/helium

3. https://github.com/OpenCut-app/OpenCut

4. https://github.com/earendil-works/pi

5. https://github.com/can1357/oh-my-pi

[Cider9986]

OpenCode

SuperCMD

Zed

Typewhisper

[SeoFood]

<3

[Cider9986]

I vouched for your recent submission which was dead, might improve your account standing so it doesn't happen again.

I'm curious how you found my comment mentioning TypeWhisper.

I was also wondering about clarification about the apple speech services. Because in the app it says they are on device (I have an m series Mac latest version) but in keyboard settings in MacOS it says many things would be shared with Apple.

It's not a huge issue because I'll just use that other model, which is fantastic, but I'm curious.

[theturtletalks]

TypeWhisper looks really nice man, great work. I’ll add it to my directory and sorry HN marked it dead. I also post open-source projects and HN marks it dead as well. Feel like the system is broken or people just flag anything they don’t like.

[Cider9986]

It was a new account with 0 interaction, it was not manually flagged. Only the second time with a GitHub link was it killed.

The system is trying its best with all the AI slop. People can email the site admins if their posts are getting unjustly killed.

[PunchyHamster]

The problem is as usual, users. AI for maintenance (updating & testing deps, re-writing parts to run with next major version of lib) is pretty low error % and just need some supervision and can make it more effective, in hands of people already familiar with project

But the flipside is of course users that are clueless won't now be stopped by "can't make a PR", they will throw prompt at AI and send it when the AI decides it's good enough

[sshine]

> All these comments about AI Slop are underestimating how good these builders have gotten and AI lets you iterate really fast.

Both of these are true: we’re witnessing an unprecedented amount of slop, while also the tools get better and better.

So when talking about Open Source maintainer exhaustion, it’s because of the slop, not because of the great tooling.

AI is an amplifier, and in this case it amplifies the great asymmetry between contributor and maintainer.

[pixl97]

The 80/20 rule and bullshit asymmetry apply here.

Kind of like going to the app store and picking the app with the most downloads because the other option is looking at 400 different apps that may or may not do the same thing.