Ask HN: What software sparks joy when using? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What software sparks joy when using?

#41

Post by 0xEF » Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 10:14 AM UTC

sourcecodeplz wrote: post #15

robertlagrant wrote: post #11

I'd suggest not software at all.

Yes, pen & paper ftw. Get some stamps and envelopes too, then start playing chess via correspondence.

Might as well bring back play-by-post Dungeons & Dragons while we're at it.

I know it's still going in a more modern capacity on myth-weavers.com and other sites, but I miss the mail version, chore that it was.

Re: Ask HN: What software sparks joy when using?

#42

Post by voxadam » Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 10:14 AM UTC

Dark Sky, both on my phone and on the desktop, prior to Apple's acquisition were always enjoyable to use.

Transit.app was once quite simple and elegant, though, that's less true these days.

Jellyfin may be a little rough around the edges but it works well with almost no intervention on my part.

uBlock Origin, I can't even imagine the web without it.

Re: Ask HN: What software sparks joy when using?

#43

Post by freetime2 » Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 10:15 AM UTC

Been a few years since I’ve used it (I’m back on MacBooks - the hardware is too nice), but Ubuntu has always felt great to me right out of the box. Of course the “Ubuntu” experience depends on the work of untold thousands of other developers - but they do a great job packaging it all together into a coherent and frustration-free experience IMO.

Re: Ask HN: What software sparks joy when using?

#44

Post by s4i » Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 10:15 AM UTC

Google Earth is often a nice balance between usefulness and delightfulness.

Re: Ask HN: What software sparks joy when using?

#45

Post by tietjens » Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 10:17 AM UTC

Feedbin sparks joy for me. Also Firefox's Pocket. Aboard is also a new web app I like a lot too. All reading based, or for collecting future reading.

Re: Ask HN: What software sparks joy when using?

#46

Post by eternityforest » Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 10:17 AM UTC

cynicalsecurity wrote: post #32

eternityforest wrote: post #31

Poetry, Pipx, VSCode, pre-commit, ruff, MyPy, Make(When used for non-C related stuff). Recent GIMP versions, Realthunder's fork of FreeCad, PrusaSlicer, neofetch, Ardour, SculptGL, Vorta/Borg, Git Cola

What do you like about VSCode?

It's incredibly feature rich and doesn't require a ton of time investment to set up. The command pallet lets you have quick access to things you don't use that often that I'd otherwise forget in the months between uses.

It handles pretty much everything about development. I can have my terminal in the bottom, any problems detected in the current file on the right. It's a perfectly good Git merging tool too.

The debugger is very easy to use, and it's got a ton of extensions that are easy to manage. It's even got settings sync in the cloud to keep track of it.

Re: Ask HN: What software sparks joy when using?

#47

Post by mmikeff » Wed, Apr 17, 2024, 10:17 AM UTC

hilux wrote: post #29

I remember first using Expensify after years of wrangling various ERP monstrosities. Serious joy.

In a similar vein, I had a Pleo payment card at a previous job, and the speed with which it notified me on my phone when I had paid on the card, prompting me to take a picture of the receipt, always made me smile.

More often than not the notification came through before the receipt had even printed.