I'm done making desktop applications (2009)

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Age and Context of the Post

  • Many point out it’s from 2009; tooling, distribution channels, and user norms are very different now.
  • Some argue its conclusions were reasonable then (thick clients, Swing, Flash/Java era), less so in 2026.
  • Others jokingly propose the inverse title for today: they’re “done with web apps” and rediscovering desktop / on-prem.

Desktop vs Web vs Mobile: Monetization and “Metrics”

  • Original thesis: web apps monetize and convert better than desktop apps.
  • Several commenters dispute how big the desktop “funnel” penalty really is; with good installers and flows it can be close.
  • Others say mobile now has the strongest B2C monetization, largely because app stores have payment info on file.
  • Counterpoint: mobile spend per user is often small; ad-supported models require huge scale.

Open Source, Hobby Projects, and Motivation

  • Many note the article assumes “goal = make money.”
  • For open source or hobby work, concerns like conversion, piracy, Adwords, analytics, and A/B testing often don’t matter.
  • Some push back: even non-commercial projects that want impact still need to care about onboarding, usability, and metrics.

Browsers, Electron, and “Universal App Engine”

  • Strong criticism of Electron as “worst of both worlds”; others note employers/governments still pay for Electron-based tools.
  • Debate over whether the browser effectively is the universal app engine versus a bloated, inefficient, historically-accidental one.
  • Some emphasize webapps’ huge distribution advantage; others stress native apps’ efficiency, offline use, and deeper system access.
  • Several lament GUI toolkit pain (GTK, early SwiftUI) and concede Electron/web often “just work” despite their flaws.

UX, Stability, and User Control

  • Desktop proponents value stable interfaces, predictable upgrades, offline capability, and local data/control.
  • Web critics complain about constantly changing UIs, onboarding popups, and dependence on remote servers.
  • Some highlight that self-hosted webapps on a LAN blur the “desktop vs web” distinction.

Infrastructure and Deployment

  • Web/SaaS is praised for centralized updates and simplified support.
  • Others note the cost: servers, DNS, DDoS risk, cloud complexity, surveillance potential.
  • A recurring theme: for many internal tools, simple desktop apps or on-prem webapps would have sufficed.

Side Tangents: Startups, Piracy, and Ethics

  • Discussion touches on indie SaaS eras, low-hanging-fruit niches being mostly gone, and the danger of building complex products without validating demand.
  • Debate over software piracy, search engines surfacing cracks, and whether “don’t be evil” ever genuinely guided large tech firms.