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Ask HN: Examples of reliable software you enjoy using

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Re: Ask HN: Examples of reliable software you enjoy using

#222

Post by reitanqild »

blaze33 wrote: post #186

Git, Linux, Python, Sublime Text, Redis, Postgresql, VLC. Also Ubuntu, I remember how I always felt having a half broken setup when I started using it in 2007 but for the past 2-3 years it just worked, really stable, no more release upgrade mess ups, really enjoy it.

Belive you about Ubuntu but it is weird:

I loved Ubuntu but now don't bother to even try after having tried Unity a few times (no, it's not about stability, it's about breaking alt-tab for me).

Re: Ask HN: Examples of reliable software you enjoy using

#223

Post by tomc1985 »

aserafini wrote: post #85

Reaper DAW. Tiny executable, rock-solid reliability, low RAM and CPU usage, effortlessly configurable. It's closed source so it's just a gut feel but it gives the impression of being 'well made' under the hood. I call it my 'Vim of audio'. It was written by the creator of Winamp.

Reaper was written by the Winamp people? No wonder!

I love Reaper too, it's a bitch to figure out how to use for ITB production though

Re: Ask HN: Examples of reliable software you enjoy using

#224

Post by gameofdrones »

Dev: Ruby (chruby/ruby-install), node, postgres, redis, elasticsearch, Dash, MacVim

Console: zsh, iTerm, tmux

Mac apps: Bartender, Hands Off!, Breakaway (a 10.10+ fork), coconutbattery, iStat Menus, flux, Forecast Bar, TotalFinder, Daisy Disk, VLC (+ trakt-for-vlc)

Re: Ask HN: Examples of reliable software you enjoy using

#225

Post by vurrpurr »

SchizoDuckie wrote: post #123

Total Commander. I've been using it since the first versions that came out for Windows 3.1 and it provided a smooth Windows transition from Norton Commander for DOS. The changelog goes back all the way to 2002, but it's been there for waaay longer. ( http://ghisler.com/whatsnew.htm ) I hope he continues to make a healthy income from it. It's litterally the best piece of shareware in the world in my eyes, that i've ha…

I've tried the total commander but never got used to it. I used to run norton commander and norton utilities on dos back in the day, and these days I'm still reaching for midnight commander [1] pretty regular when moving files around on my media server and such.

    apt-get install mc
1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_Commander

Re: Ask HN: Examples of reliable software you enjoy using

#226

Post by squeaky-clean »

Ableton Live 9 on OSX is excellent. As well as anything by Native Instruments. I only use NI's Guitar Rig when rehearsing or performing even though I have better sounding amp simulations, because I have never had it crash once on me.

One time during a gig, running (pirated at the time) Ableton Live 8 on Windows 7, Ableton crashed. Thankfully Guitar Rig somehow kept running throughout the whole set! Even though the only thing onscreen was the "Ableton has encountered and error... and will now exit. " prompt. (For anyone who doesn't know these programs, Ableton runs as a host, in which Guitar Rig can be loaded as a plugin).

There are a few other plugins I trust, but not many. I've learned the hard way that "Well it's only crashed once this month, what's the worst that can happen?" means "It will crash 3 times during a 45 minute performance with a few hundred people staring at you." I'm only a hobbyist musician, but I'd still like for that to never happen again.

Edit: I think Reaper, another audio host program, is even more stable than Ableton. Ability to isolate plugins so if it crashes, the whole system doesn't die. Great crash handling/restore. Faulty plugin crashing every time you load your project so you can't even undo adding it? Try it 3 times, and on the 3rd, Reaper will deactivate the plugin and alert you.

Reaper is more "studio" software though, so it's less important. Worst-case scenario in the studio is you admit you've lost the take, apologize, and tell the drummer to go get a cup of coffee while the system reloads, and we'll try again.

Re: Ask HN: Examples of reliable software you enjoy using

#227

Post by vram22 »

Good question.

Python is one software (among others) that is somewhat reliable, both based on personal experience over several years, as well as according to the Coverity study (some years ago, IIRC).

Interesting that at least some replies have some items in common. I also have to say the same, at least about vim and vi before it - hardly ever (or never) crashed on me, IIRC.

Linux of course, does crash once in a while, but again, very rarely, much less than Windows, IME. Same for Unixes I used before Linux - okay, not all the same. Some of the PC Unixes used to crash more than once in a blue moon. HP-UX - very reliable software, when I used it in production for some years. Even their patch management system was very good, and helped with the reliability.

Re: Ask HN: Examples of reliable software you enjoy using

#228

Post by gameofdrones »

mrgreenfur wrote: post #38

Omnigraffle is the software that originally convinced me to switch from windows to mac. I love it so much. Great features, simple UI that doesn't fiddle too much version to version and it basically never crashes on me.

For those Window people, Omnigraffle is basically why there is no Visio for Mac.
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