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Ask HN: Which abandoned proprietary software would you resurrect?

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

#812

Post by godot »

fwguru wrote: post #552

Edit.com - Windows command promt text editor I also wish linux had such an editor.

I might be wrong, but I think that program predates Windows and was widely used in pure DOS days. I remember using it to edit config.sys and autoexec.bat to tweak settings to run DOS games, before Windows days. (It could be because having Win 3.1 installed on a machine brings the program along in DOS though)

The amazing thing about it was that even in pure DOS, with no Win 3.1 running, it lets you use your mouse too in the editor (provided that you have drivers set up right in config.sys etc.), I guess in a similar way as how DOS games use the mouse.

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

#813

Post by jopro »

mvkel wrote: post #429
sheepybloke wrote: post #176

Is no one going to mention Pebble? It's the only smartwatch I've ever wanted, and I was so sad that it got bought and died right when I had enough money to spend some on a smart watch. It just had the perfect combo of good design, long battery life, and usability.

I have one sitting in my drawer; happy to send to you for free if you're interested in owning one. Just drop me a line.

I too have a Pebble that I'm happy to provide to anyone as well. OG Kickstarter edition. Free to a good home.

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

#814

Post by jopro »

skrebbel wrote: post #384

Jasc Paint Shop Pro - before Corel picked them up and gave the software a horrible identity crisis. It had all the right features for graphics editing targeted at the web. Mixing vector layers with raster layers, both fully featured, is still something many modern programs either don't have, or half-ass. And it was dirt cheap, compared to the competition.

+1 for Jasc PSP. I keep a Tiny7 VM around just so that I can run Jasc PaintShopPro when the need arises. Still useful but it doesn't support HEIC or Jpeg2000 :(

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

#815

Post by anotherevan »

hrez wrote: post #802
anotherevan wrote: post #511

Xmarks Being able to pretty seamlessly synchronise bookmarks across browsers was awesome. Its shuttering was the final impetus that made me move away from the decaying mess that is Lastpass. (Hello BitWarden!)

https://www.xbrowsersync.org/ Optionally you can host your own server.

Yes, I am using xbrowsersync now. It is the next best option, however there's a lot of rough edges to it compared to Xmarks.

Thanks.

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

#816

Post by jopro »

imhoguy wrote: post #48
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…

I have found Pix to be the good replacement of Picasa. https://github.com/linuxmint/pix

any info on a port of Pix to Mac OS? Looks great?

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

#817

Post by imhoguy »

jopro wrote: post #816
imhoguy wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have found Pix to be the good replacement of Picasa. https://github.com/linuxmint/pix

any info on a port of Pix to Mac OS? Looks great?

That might be interesting, you may try to compile it on Mac like any other glib/gtk app.

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

#818

Post by zzo38computer »

zzo38computer wrote: post #790

There are many abandoned software projects that I would be interested in, although I would like such abandoned proprietary software to be released as FOSS in order that they can be developed/enhanced more.

One such thing would be the "Pharaoh's Tomb" and "Arctic Adventure" games from Apogee. If there would be a FOSS version of that, even with the original graphics and keyboard controls and so on, but possibly also with added stuff such as time limits and new pieces, that can be good.

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

#819

Post by jopro »

mceachen wrote: post #630
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…

I missed it too! After the Nth photo sharing website that I'd early-adopted decided to close up shop, I determined I wanted to own the next solution I invested time into, and I founded PhotoStructure. I've got 20-odd hard drives from laptops and servers and backups. No software that I tried, either open or closed source, would do what I wanted: organize everything into a nice, timestamped, deduped folder structure. M…

signed up. ready to provide feedback. :)
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