21–30 of 68 posts
Winamp
I feel as if everyone was always excited to show off what skin they were using. https://skins.webamp.org
HyperCard
Two flawed but amazingly empowering tools that expanded the world of computing.
32-bit macOS and iOS (before Apple set fire to all the 32-bit games and other software)
Backward compatibility with older versions of macOS and iOS in general
Desktop software in general (before everything became a crappy web app)
Non-subscription software
Smartphone games without horrible monetization schemes
Web sites without adtech
The current browser ecosystem has more or less two engines: WebKit based browsers and Firefox. We have basically WebKit monoculture. If you'd find a fundamental flaw in WebKit, you'd be able to break most browsers. If Internet Explorer would be open source we would have the chance to get a third engine running. Browser engines aren't trivial and IE also had some good sides after all these years.
I guess if IE would become FOSS this would bring some fresh air to the ecosystem.
Internet Explorer but hear me out before you cry: The current browser ecosystem has more or less two engines: WebKit based browsers and Firefox. We have basically WebKit monoculture. If you'd find a fundamental flaw in WebKit, you'd be able to break most browsers. If Internet Explorer would be open source we would have the chance to get a third engine running. Browser engines aren't trivial and IE also had some good…
Winamp
Perhaps if it was open source and there was a Linux version (AFAIK there's no Linux version), then it might have lived on.
Or maybe not; with music streaming platforms such as Spotify, the world has moved on.