sh VS sucks

I usually replace shell scripts with python (using sh module: https://amoffat.github.io/sh/ for calling other scripts/programs).

> sh relies on various Unix system calls and only works on Unix-like operating systems - Linux, macOS, BSDs etc. Specifically, Windows is not supported.

from: https://amoffat.github.io/sh/

You can even run interpreted languages as a shell. See plumbum or sh for ways to make it a more comfortable shell and ipython for a better version of the shell.

100% agree. There are some libraries like https://amoffat.github.io/sh/ that aim to make that easier, but they always have some quirks that, funnily enough, are often the corner cases you were hitting in your complicated Bash script in the first place.

Another way to make Python scripts nicer is to use https://github.com/amoffat/sh

pdbpp: Improved pdb boltons: assorted python addtions twisted: event driven networking framework sorcery: Dark magic in python, things know where+how they are being called, helps reducing boilerplate sh: Better alternative for subprocess module, much more pythonic taskipy: npm run scipt_name like functionality snoop: pdb lite, record+replay function steps birdseye: graphical debugger remote-pdb: easy pdb from inside containers typer: wrapper around click for simpler code for CLIs arrow: Always TZ aware datetimes, plus more features more-itertools: more functions for iterators pydantic: data validation + dataclasses loguru: better logging notifiers: sending notifications from python

Sh sh and outside python, watch watch

This is correct, and it's why most open-source software will never have much in the way of users:

> They're written from the perspective of the developers

And I get it. A few years back I had an open-source project [1] get users and it was terrible. What had previously been a fun technical exercise became a pain in the ass that felt a lot like actual work. I was relieved when my hardware broke and I had an excuse to archive the project.

But that does create a huge gap that mostly gets filled by commercial interests.

[1] https://github.com/wpietri/sucks

It seems like you haven't quite got the concept of open source. If everybody consumes and nobody contributes, how long will that last?

A while back I bought a cheap robot vacuum. Their scheduling feature didn't meet my needs, so I reverse-engineered the protocol and open-sourced a cron-friendly CLI tool and a library so people could do other things with it: https://github.com/wpietri/sucks

Honestly, this was a mistake on my part. It was a demanding audience of home-automation hobbyists mostly without programming skills. The company was thoroughly unhelpful. When my vacuum finally broke, I was relieved, as I had a good excuse for trying to hand off the project. Nobody stepped up, so I shut it down. I just ran out of interest in doing free work to support a company worth billions.

I really admire the community spirit of open source But it's not sustainable if companies making their money off it keep depending on the niceness and generosity of others without giving back enough to keep them happy, healthy, productive people.

I reverse-engineered the comms for my cheap Ecovacs robot vacuum and was surprised to discover that, like some angsty teen, it spent all day hanging out in an XMPP chatroom waiting for somebody to talk to it: https://github.com/wpietri/sucks/blob/master/developing.md