Computing Successes

There are some things that are truly well made, and let's not only list the Computing_Fails

Short List

• apt - apt or apt-get or aptitude, as a package manager does something that Windows would never do. It makes the computer instantly a power user's tool. I would argue that Apt is what makes Debian valuable. Because the rest of Debian is not specially better than other Linux distributions (the configs are handled better in Red Hat, or Openwrt), but apt is very well maintained, and it makes the distribution what it is.

• openwrt - It's used by starlink, and that is all that needs to be said. Openwrt, is simple to maintain (text config files), lean (like alpine, given it's based on the similar non-glib Buildroot), and it is reliable. It has to be - since it's a router OS. The only bad thing I have to say about openwrt is the discourse forum, but that doesn't impact the OS (to be fair - they used to have a good forum before it was hacked or corrupted).

• mediawiki / wikipedia - It's the most popular community encyclopedia in the world. And that is because the interface is well made. Let's hope they don't change the interface too much as to make it unusable in the future.

• Windows XP - This was the best Windows OS ever made. The first internet OS, basically (when Pentium 4's and DSL / cable became commonplace). If you need proof that XP was good, try and run it again. Notice how 'fast' it is, compared to other OS, especially later Windows...

• RSS - This is how the 'feed' is supposed to be made.

Potential Successes

• alpine - Alpine is another lean os, that is easy to maintain (text files), easy to understand, fast, and stable. I am rooting for alpine, and if it continues as it has, it will be another success.

Notable Mentions

• Gimp - GIMP does a lot of what Photoshop does, and as long as they don't nerf it, it is great (if they nerf it, you can just use an old release via Docker).

• Filezilla - For most of computing - a terminal wins, but there are some applications where a GUI makes things easier, and Filezilla is one example.