Evan Leibovitch wrote on 2025-09-04 00:05:
Anyone using `batcat` or `lolcat` as `cat` alternatives?
Cute, but the novelty wore off quickly to me.
Good description of `lolcat`, still undecided on `batcat`. I really do find the idea of syntax highlighting in `less` to be very appealing.
I find curious what seems to be a newfound interest in command-line innovation, some of which has found its way to this list. Combined with discussions of fish and hyprland, I wonder if there's simply an exhaustion of GUI development
Other than KDE, I don't think there's much going on in GUIs these days? Cosmic seems stalled and Gnome seems to be going backwards by removing options. That might be unfair, they do seem to be doing some good things, just not in a way that interests me. So, I can only speak from 3rd-hand experience; I only use KDE.
and reinventing the Unix terminal experience seems quite the new thing.
Is this a trend, or just a coincidence of stuff we seem to be discovering at the same time?
I think it's a trend. <speculation> The younger tech enthusiasts are looking to make their mark, they're looking to use the latest tools (Rust) to dive deeply into some common tools as learning experiences, and they're not as invested in the cruftiness of some of those tools. Plus, they can use the existing unit tests to ensure compatibility where desired. Those of us who've used these tools since forever are just used to them, where someone earlier in their career might not accept that things have always been that way, just "because". Like in how my father's generation, tools with comfy grips and safety features were just not a thing, now it's expected. </speculation> Feels invigorating, like 1990s internet rapid development some how.