1–10 of 484 posts
What does it do? How did you make it? How much time you spent making it? How often do you use it?
- Python-based pipe-objects-not-strings shell with cluster and database support deeply integrated. Twenty years later, it has turned into Marcel (https://marceltheshell.org), and I’m still the only one using it AFAIK.
- Backup utility for Linux, with characteristics of Time Machine. Been using it for five years, it keeps daily, monthly, yearly full backups, relying on hard links for files that don’t change. Handles both local and remote (to my Raspberry Pi).
I found no free optical design software that would run on Mac, so I coded something up to do some paraxial ray tracing ( maybe more, I'd have to dig up the code) and (this is the good part) draw lens diagrams from the specifications.
Pretty simple, but it was fun to do. Very little available for Linux either. Physics and optics people want to have fun, too.
Much of it was just parsing the input data.
I do recall a design and/or analysis program written in Basic, but it wanted a particular basic interpreter, and I forgot if it had porting problems. Must have. I don't recall using the program.
Oddest bit was something I did on my own for Sun flex office. I would get the list of scheduled occupants and their office choice and overlay that on a map of the office suite, for a "who is where" map.
On a "real" work task, I learned how to write graphics commands in Illustrator 3 format. I may have used that on this project.
But more generally, tacking the AI header code to the file made it valid Postscript/Illustrator format.
Someone once told me that apparently some local sports reporters' weekly tips are used with some seed money and the proceeds are given to charity and I was intrigued enough to spend a few days building something that could test that out.
I forked it back in 2005 because the maintainer wasn't interested in the direction my patches were going. My version has diverged dramatically from the current version.
I have no idea how many hours I've put into it over 19 years. It has needed surprisingly little care and feeding (which I'd attribute to it being a simple PHP app).
I've used it nearly daily in the last 19 years.
Edit: I also maintain a set of scripts to import my SMS from phone backups into my IMAP mailbox. Having a single place to search for my written communication is wonderful.