Stoicism is named after a building: the Stoa Poikile, the
Painted Porch of Athens, where Zeno taught among the murals. Philosophy
and pictures under one roof. This page keeps that arrangement — each
entry pairs one of the lab's decisions with the line of thought behind
it.
Why no analytics?
Some things are within our power, and some are not.
What you do on your own machine is not within this lab's power, and it
shouldn't be within its sight either. Analytics is the habit of watching
what was never yours to watch — and every dashboard of user behavior
eventually becomes an argument for changing the tool to farm the metric.
The lab's tools make no network requests at all, so the question never
arises. What is within our power: the craft of the tool itself. That gets
all the attention instead.
Why is everything free?
We should give as we would receive — cheerfully, quickly, and without
hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the
fingers.
A benefit that sticks to the fingers: the free trial that nags, the
feature behind the paywall, the subscription that must be cancelled by
phone. Small utilities suffer this more than most software. So the lab's
tools are simply given — every feature, to everyone, indefinitely. Support
exists (Patreon, one-time,
named after winds), but it unlocks nothing but gratitude. Giving cleanly is
cheaper than metering, and it buys the one thing a one-person lab actually
needs: trust.
Why state limitations plainly?
If it is not right, do not do it; if it is not true, do not say it.
Every tool has edges. Cyclops cannot capture Chrome's internal pages;
pages past 40,000 pixels are cut; some web apps only yield their visible
area. The industry habit is to bury these in fine print or say nothing and
let the user discover them as "bugs". The lab's habit is a section called
Known limitations, near the top,
in plain sentences. A limitation stated is a promise about everything not
stated. That trade — a little less shine for a lot more truth — is the
cheapest good deal in software.
New entries land here occasionally — there's an RSS feed,
no newsletter, no pop-up. Print any entry; the page is typeset for paper too.