Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

#581

Post by flamey » Sat, Dec 08, 2018, 8:51 PM UTC

flamey wrote: post #578

dcminter wrote: post #31

Picasa (desktop app). It hit a sweet spot for me - linux compatible, very easy to do the majority of simple edits (crop, rotate, colour tweaks), and a few other nice features. The only significant failing was that it couldn't handle removable media at all well. Shotwell is the best I've found so far, but it's not quite the right feature balance for me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Picasa https://en.wikipedia.org/wik…

Yep, another one for Picasa. I still use it, was able to grab the installer from one of Google's internal home pages,, when they took it down on .com Love it for quick and easy edit controls. Like the speed and looks. Wish some remaining bugs were fixed.

"internal" = international ( i think it was uk homepage)

Re: Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

#582

Post by pimlottc » Sat, Dec 08, 2018, 8:52 PM UTC

zmix wrote: post #485

marktangotango wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I often wonder why/how xulrunner has descended into obscurity while electron has blossomed. Anyone have input on that?

In the early 2000's there many people, who'd want to develop with XUL (especially Intranet solutions were often done this way by people, who wanted an alternative to Microsoft technologies). Several people started creating IDEs or addons for Eclipse. Mozilla Inc. never showed any interest (or support) in this. There never has been an official schema or DTD for XUL, for example. I don't know the reasons, Mozilla Inc.…

How was the gender of Mozilla’s lawyer a factor in this?

Re: Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

#583

Post by samblr » Sat, Dec 08, 2018, 8:53 PM UTC

Good old google talk or gmail chat.

gmail is yuck these days - such a shame after all these years.

Re: Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

#584

Post by ohiovr » Sat, Dec 08, 2018, 8:54 PM UTC

projectramo wrote: post #128

Google docs but private. (So back when it was private which I assume it was at some point)

Collabora is just like libre office. It is essentially a libre office thin client. The downside is that it loads an entire libre office on the server with every open window on it. I would like to try OnlyOffice sometime as the developers say it is a client side webapp. They also say they aim for maximum compatibility with MS Office. I am surprised it gets little mention on HN.

Re: Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

#585

Post by ohiovr » Sat, Dec 08, 2018, 8:56 PM UTC

erikpukinskis wrote: post #454

Caligari trueSpace

My first real 3d program was impulse Imagine 2.0.

Was intrigued by the caligari ads though.

Re: Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

#586

Post by dcooper8 » Sat, Dec 08, 2018, 8:57 PM UTC

The ICAD System. Common Lisp based knowledge based engineering platform, including solid modeling kernel. Started on Symbolics machines and ended up on Allegro Common Lisp. Purchased by Dassault Systemes (800 lb gorilla of the CAD world) and shut down.

Re: Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

#587

Post by open-source-ux » Sat, Dec 08, 2018, 8:58 PM UTC

bhauer wrote: post #156

* Windows Phone. We need a third viable option in the mobile space. This week we are concerned about the loss of a browser engine, recognizing this is unhealthy for the market. Windows Phone was terrific in many ways and recent concepts by fans such as @boxnwhisker (Harry Dohyun Kim) [1] show how beautiful the Metro design could be today. * Microsoft Image Composer. A little known sprite-oriented graphic arts program…

I'm also a big fan of Windows Phone and am sorry to see its demise. While Android and iOS now share many similar UX interactions, Windows Phone, in contrast, is a refreshing change.

For those of you haven't tried a Windows Phone, this video gives a good overview of some features:

I Used a Windows Phone for a Week in 2018! I Will Miss It:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2yzrZvZU6E

Re: Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

#588

Post by stan_rogers » Sat, Dec 08, 2018, 8:59 PM UTC

unoti wrote: post #204

Lotus Notes. Easy to put together multi user databases with multiple views, security levels, authorization, and signatures.

It still exists, and version 10 was recently released.

Re: Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

#589

Post by dawnerd » Sat, Dec 08, 2018, 9:06 PM UTC

hackerman12345 wrote: post #150

ioman wrote: post #46

Microsoft MapPoint. This was a phenomenal piece of mapping software and had features I haven’t been able to find in any of the online map replacements. When getting directions, you could designate a number of areas on the map as “avoid area”. You could map all sorts of census data. Want to colorize the map based on crime rate divided by median home price? No problem. You could import lots of data from a spreadsheet a…

Won't happen. Apps with those features get accused of being racist. https://www.npr.org/2012/01/25/145337346/this-app-was-made-f...

Some modern luxury cars have this feature built in. And what’s racist about avoiding dangerous areas?

Re: Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

#590

Post by dawnerd » Sat, Dec 08, 2018, 9:10 PM UTC

Zune. Yeah technically hardware too but it was an amazing music player with some good software too.