preferred tools / languages / libs / designs

[nosystemdthanks]

this thread probably already exists, im sorry.


languages:

* python 2 (or pypy)
* javascript for form design, not html or css (actually lots of html and css, but only under protest.)
* bash or busybox: under protest, though its truly an awesome environment.
* small custom languages (configuration or command line or scripting)


libs:

* pygame (because its easier for beginners)
* qt (ideally, though now we are talking about existing apps more than programming)
* gtk (in practical everyday, though i wish it was easier to ditch for qt. i also wish qt was lighter, which gtk is)
* i dont use lots of 3rd party libraries; they help though
* custom languages


tech:

* command line
* ansi escapes
* cgi / browser


* designs:

as much as possible, designs where anybody can change as much as possible to make a thing their own. i like to set examples using my favourites, but i want people to be able to swap out everything they prefer whenever possible/reasonable.

though how much trouble it is to do that-- i look for ways to make it easier, subject to debate on whats easy.

i dont hate abstractions, ive made plenty of those. i hate excess abstraction-- especially abstractions that drag users relentlessly from fad to fad (never supporting the previous fashion, of course.) or things that are supposed to be more "user friendly" but are harder to maintain, so they just get deprecated. theyre more convenient for a year, then abandoned. those are the abstractions i dislike.

(gnu which after 2 decades of expected behaviour spews text into places it shouldnt, plus theres no switch to make it not do that; you have to use 2> in every script where it isnt wanted. the person responsible should be banned from working on the official branch. and probably given a good smack as well.)

forks: no problem at all! sabotage of official branches: "ban" the culprits, its what linus would do. sometimes its not even difficult to tell the difference. (not approving the changes also works.)

^ nothing much to do with bugs, those happen to everybody "export" menus are not a bug, theyre a pointless confusion of "save as"

"call menu item 'save as / export'" <- all that was needed to do

"add second menu called 'export' plus use for things that belonged in 'save as'" <- ohh, why? really didnt have to

"export to pdf" <- not as bad, because it actually saves a step, rather than making options harder to find without any real purpose

i dont hate guis. i do hate having to click extra things. gui design goes very badly a lot. relying less on it/making it optional has some very nice advantages.

i especially dont hate guis for other people. use all the guis you want.