The short version
Why these exist
I am a developer who tinkers. Soldering iron on one side of the desk, editor on the other. These tools are what happens when something on that desk annoys me long enough.
Built out of need, not a roadmap
Every tool here has the same origin story. Something took too long, broke too often, or wanted an account for a job that should have been a single file. So I built the small version that did exactly what I needed, then kept using it.
That is also why the list is short. A tool only lands here once it has survived real use on my own bench - not because it looked good in a README.
Why they are open
If a tool solved a problem for me, chances are someone out there has the same problem with slightly different dimensions. Open source means you do not have to wait for me to agree with you - clone it, change it, keep the version that fits your bench.
No accounts, no telemetry, no free tier waiting to expire. The whole thing is on GitHub, and issues are read by an actual person.
What I work with
Day to day that is PHP and Laravel, TypeScript and Angular, Python, Docker and a Linux box or two. On the hardware side it is Arduino, ESP32, a Raspberry Pi shelf and a 3D printer that runs more often than it should.
None of that matters much for using the tools - it just explains why they look the way they do.
Say hello
Questions about a tool, a bug you hit, or an idea for what it should do next - all welcome. So is a plain "this saved me an afternoon".