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OpenClaw surpasses React to become the most-starred software project on GitHub

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Re: OpenClaw surpasses React to become the most-starred software project on GitHub

#221

Post by skeledrew »

rockbruno wrote: post #141
SunshineTheCat wrote: post #61

I keep reading folks saying OpenClaw has completely changed their life while posting a picture of 58 mac minis on their desk. But every single use case I've read so far could be done with a pretty affordable SaaS product, Zapier, Automator (app on a mac that's existed for over a decade), or something simple you could make yourself. It also feels like people are automating things that don't really need to be automated…

When the AI companies run out of money, I predict tokens will stop being dirt cheap and such setups will become extremely expensive (even for regular software engineering to some extent). Then it's become clear how over-engineered most things we do with AI are

> tokens will stop being dirt cheap

That can't be allowed, and also won't happen. If token costs do start going up at a serious rate in the US, you can be sure that they'll stay down in China, and the political situation won't allow for the inevitable exodus to Chinese providers.

Re: OpenClaw surpasses React to become the most-starred software project on GitHub

#222

Post by mgraczyk »

SunshineTheCat wrote: post #61

I keep reading folks saying OpenClaw has completely changed their life while posting a picture of 58 mac minis on their desk. But every single use case I've read so far could be done with a pretty affordable SaaS product, Zapier, Automator (app on a mac that's existed for over a decade), or something simple you could make yourself. It also feels like people are automating things that don't really need to be automated…

And yet they didn't do that!

Really makes you think about what makes products good

Re: OpenClaw surpasses React to become the most-starred software project on GitHub

#223

Post by BeetleB »

jcgl wrote: post #119
pyridines wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is ridiculously more expensive and complicated under the hood, technically, but to the user, the sheer convenience of being able to text the computer "hey, when I get an email like X, inform Y and do Z" and that's it , you're done , is unmatched.

Sure, that’s an interface that’s better for many users and use-cases. However, it seems better if you could, as much as is possible, move the AI stuff from runtime to “compile time.” Instead of having the AI do everything all the time, have AI configure your Zapier (or whatever) on your behalf. That way you can (ideally) get the best of both worlds: the reliability and predictability of classical software, combined w…

> Instead of having the AI do everything all the time, have AI configure your Zapier (or whatever) on your behalf.

That is what many use OpenClaw for! The AI assistant will happily recommend existing services and help you (or itself, if you let it), set it up.

(In theory. In practice, it often does a poor job).

The appeal of OpenClaw is I don't need to go research all these possible solutions for different problems. I just tell it my problem and it figures it out.

Yesterday I told it to monitor a page which lists classes offered, and have it ping me if any class with a begin date in March/April is listed. This is easily scriptable by me, but I don't want to spend time writing that script. And modifying it for each site I want to be notified for. I merely spoke (voice, not text) to the agent and it will check each day.

(Again, it's not that reliable. I'm under no illusion it will inform me - but this is the appeal).

Re: OpenClaw surpasses React to become the most-starred software project on GitHub

#224

Post by dg2fgfg »

steve1977 wrote: post #163
SunshineTheCat wrote: post #61

I keep reading folks saying OpenClaw has completely changed their life while posting a picture of 58 mac minis on their desk. But every single use case I've read so far could be done with a pretty affordable SaaS product, Zapier, Automator (app on a mac that's existed for over a decade), or something simple you could make yourself. It also feels like people are automating things that don't really need to be automated…

A lot of it certainly looks like a solution in search of a problem.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/PGjueA3FLIQ

Im really not sure why this has to be said again and again.. it seems humans just don't learn do they?

Im waiting for someone to show me something that starts with the experience and then explains how the LLM fits in. Not the other way round.

I think because Google Search is predominantly tech-based, it is easy to see why LLMs have impacted the way we think about the experience associated with Search over large spaces of information.

Beyond that, Im not seeing much.

Re: OpenClaw surpasses React to become the most-starred software project on GitHub

#225

Post by Volundr »

BeetleB wrote: post #216
latexr wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about the convenience of having your whole inbox deleted? https://www.pcmag.com/news/meta-security-researchers-opencla... Maybe OpenClaw was just practicing a really aggressive form of Inbox Zero.

So ... don't give it write access to your email? As I said elsewhere, complaining about this is like complaining that rm can let you delete your hard drive. It's a tool. Learn how to use it.

Ignoring that you've just cut off a whole vector of usefulness, how do I keep it from exfilling my inbox to the Internet in response to a malicious email? Or using its access to take control of my online accounts?

Honest question, this kind of stuff is what keeps me from using it.

Re: OpenClaw surpasses React to become the most-starred software project on GitHub

#226

Post by skeledrew »

bootsmann wrote: post #90
vergessenmir wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you but the main thing g here, IMO, is the friction with all the alternatives you mention in getting something working. For example, I've never heard of Automator. I'm familiar with Zapier, I'll have to evaluate the two situations, then I'll find out that might need to find an alternative that runs on Linux and then I'll have to check if.... These are all simple steps but they all use a non-trivial amoun…

> is the friction with all the alternatives you mention in getting something working Have you tried to run openclaw? Their own docker container (apparently a compose now (???)) doesn't work for half the versions and the docs are probably the least informative thing you'll ever read.

That's still just one thing. Once they jump that single hoop and get OpenClaw going, everything moving forward is a prompt away.

Re: OpenClaw surpasses React to become the most-starred software project on GitHub

#227

Post by NuclearPM »

kandros wrote: post #73
SunshineTheCat wrote: post #61

I keep reading folks saying OpenClaw has completely changed their life while posting a picture of 58 mac minis on their desk. But every single use case I've read so far could be done with a pretty affordable SaaS product, Zapier, Automator (app on a mac that's existed for over a decade), or something simple you could make yourself. It also feels like people are automating things that don't really need to be automated…

Patterns i keep seeing: Once you get the dopamine hit of having an ai assistant do something in the real world it becomes an hammer you want to use on everything Instead of being a problem solver you start to become a problem hunter, and you invent them in order to solve them

An ‘ammer.

Re: OpenClaw surpasses React to become the most-starred software project on GitHub

#228

Post by skeledrew »

mixdup wrote: post #117
vergessenmir wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you but the main thing g here, IMO, is the friction with all the alternatives you mention in getting something working. For example, I've never heard of Automator. I'm familiar with Zapier, I'll have to evaluate the two situations, then I'll find out that might need to find an alternative that runs on Linux and then I'll have to check if.... These are all simple steps but they all use a non-trivial amoun…

>I agree with you but the main thing g here, IMO, is the friction with all the alternatives you mention in getting something working. I would venture a guess signing up for Zapier is easier than getting OpenClaw up and running. Who can get a container running on a Mac but can't sign up for a SaaS product?

It's not 1 SaaS product you're signing up for. It's dozens. And that's a job for the Claw.

Re: OpenClaw surpasses React to become the most-starred software project on GitHub

#229

Post by skeledrew »

luke5441 wrote: post #98
Alifatisk wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s cool with Openclaw is that you only have tell it what you want, it figures out how to do it using the tools it have access to.

Okay, can you tell it to cure cancer please

Did you give it access to the cancer-curing tool?

Re: OpenClaw surpasses React to become the most-starred software project on GitHub

#230

Post by dg2fgfg »

moffkalast wrote: post #124
qoez wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is none. It's just a way for coders to feel or be able to say they "work with AI" imo. Same with doing light wrapper coding to do agents stuff. The real AI work is on actual math and ML with the internet scale data, but only four big companies does that and this is the closest regular coders can get.

Could be a psyops by Anthropic to make people waste Claude tokens and rack up a massive bill.

Tokens generated is a nice metric that they really care about.
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