Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

Blue Screen" is a science fiction novel set in 2984 following Peter Gustafson, a tenth-grader who is secretly a hacker and cryptographic entrepreneur. When electricity mysteriously fails in his hometown, Peter… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Looking for Feedback on My “Computer Science Fiction” Novel Blue Screen launched in 2023; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

1. 1
   Hacker Fables – A satirical cyberpunk novel you can read as a man page▲7

   The project is entirely open source. It takes a single Pandoc Markdown source file and produces HTML, EPUB, PDF, man pages, GNU Info, an audiobook, an HTML-integrated audio player that highlights the content as it plays, and an MP4 output for the "video audiobook." It's generic enough to be reusable. I plan to use the pipeline for my tech blog later on. The novella contains a lot of programming lore. It's an over-the-top love letter to the old-school Linux programmer and to the craft itself. Source code: https://github.com/sebastiancarlos/hacker-fables

   Jul 2026 · sebastiancarlos.github.io · its alternatives →

2. 2SA
   Shhhbb, an SSH BBS▲188

   Hello all :) I made this BBS for fun and thought you all would enjoy it. It's not perfect, but it's been a fun exercise! see it: https://asciinema.org/a/Emg6SWrXMV6cehfQxrw1GRu75 try it: ssh -p 2223 shhhbb.com host it: https://github.com/donuts-are-good/shhhbb/releases/latest why? Every year I challenge myself in some new way, this year it is to push one project per week. You might recognize my static site generator [0] or my releaser for go [1] from previous posts as one of these weekly projects. If you want to join me in doing this, it's…

   2023 · donuts-are-good.github.io · its alternatives →

3. 3
   A storybook designed to teach kids about how computers work▲132

   I’ve been working on a unique storybook designed to teach kids about how computers work, and I would love to get your feedback. Set 500 years in the future, the story follows two kids – one a robot, the other a human – as they explore the workings of what to them is ancient technology: our present-day computers. I’ve aimed to keep each story short and engaging, sprinkling in humor and illustrations to captivate young readers. As an open-source project, you’re also welcome to check out the source here: https://github.com/yong/lostlanguageofthemachines

   2024 · lostlanguageofthemachines.com · its alternatives →

4. 4
   Blue Blood and Mutiny▲63

   How to destroy a franchise with a few missteps

   2015 · amazon.com · its alternatives →

5. 5
   One Random Book▲90

   Why not let us choose your next read?

   2015 · its alternatives →

6. 6
   Hamlet on the Holodeck▲67

   The future of narrative in cyberspace

   2015 · amazon.com · its alternatives →

7. 7
   Dark Beach #1▲56

   A new scifi noir comic

   2016 · kickstarter.com · its alternatives →

8. 8
   I wrote a novel about my work developing the Xerox Star▲35

   "As someone who reads just about any computing history non-fiction he can get his hands on, I was skeptical about reading a fictional book about computing history. I quickly realized the huge advantage of writing historical fiction as Robert Purvy's new book "This New Internet Thing" both teaches

   2021 · albertcory.io · its alternatives →

9. 9MF
   my first ever coding project (7bks.com)▲25

   Hey HN. I've just launched my very first webappp and would love your feedback. http://www.7bks.com It's a book list sharing website - kind of like playlists for bookworms. The site is built on pyton/appengine - and I learned to code in under 4 weeks to build the site. There's more details on the background of the site here: http://www.7bks.com/blog/179001 I've also published the full Python code for the site here: https://gist.github.com/670034 Feedback is really important to me and I want to work hard to make the site better so any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated. Contact…

   2010 · 7bks.com · its alternatives →

10. 10IW
    I wrote an eBook on Linux CLI tools and Shell Scripting▲7

    Hello! This ebook aims to teach Linux command line tools and Shell Scripting for beginner to intermediate level users. The main focus is towards managing your files and performing text processing tasks. Includes plenty of examples, exercises (200+) and solutions. To celebrate my latest ebook release, you can download PDF/EPUB versions of Computing from the Command Line for FREE till 08-Nov-2022: https://learnbyexample.gumroad.com/l/cli_computing (the web version linked as the post url is always free) All books bundle (all my 13 programming ebooks) is $10 (normal…

    2022 · learnbyexample.github.io · its alternatives →

11. 11IM
    I made a programming language with Spotify playlists▲33

    just a wack systems dude tbh

    2018 · h313.info · its alternatives →

12. 12
    I worked on a sci-fi book for the 2025▲5

    Just about a year ago, the concept for a sci-fi book popped into my head. I instantly knew I have to see it through despite not having any writing experience (and a pretty demanding job). Over 2025, I attended writer circles, improved my writing, and structured the story. Here is the first chapter. I hope you enjoy it :)

    Jan 2026 · docs.google.com · its alternatives →

13. 13HN
    Hacker News clone for books▲10

    I love books! I had once come across a great list of book recommendations on the LessWrong website ("The Best Textbooks on Every Subject"). But when I had stumbled upon the list a couple of years ago the last comments and recommendations on it were from 2011. And similarly I found that most recommendations on the web suffer from this form of time decay. What I wanted was a site that had high quality recommendations similar to the LessWrong list that would feel fresh and current. Amazon was overwhelming for me since it has a gazillion books on each subject and the "Thanks! Arrived in good…

    2015 · its alternatives →

14. 14IB
    I built an opinionated minimalist ePub/pdf online reader▲7

    Hey so I am making my own book reader and wanted to share it with y'all on hackernews and I saw a submission talking about DRM free books[0] so I decided to submit this submission on Hackernews to show what I am upto :-D I prefer minimalism so I have created three different flavors of it depending upon the particular use-cases and I have linked the most minimalist one as the submission. If someone is interested in a Epub/pdf reader, I have recently made one: https://epub.mirror.forum/ After making that, I was also feeling the need of having standard book downloads and…

    Jun 2026 · epub.mirror.forum · its alternatives →

15. 15
    Fuck it, ship it (Upcoming book)▲7

    A book on technology in business (for your boss)

    2018 · kickstarter.com · its alternatives →

16. 16
    AI-Audiobook-Maker: Helping My Disabled Little Cousin Enjoy Story Books▲5

    Hey everyone! I've been working on a 'program"' (read as: overengineered bash script) It's called AI-Audiobook-Maker, and it was born out of my experiences with my 10-year-old cousin who is developmentally disabled. Despite his difficulties with reading, his enthusiasm for stories goes hard, even if he can't READ them. Watching him, I realized that the world of books was kinda out of reach for him, and I suppose many others. So, I set out to build something that could bridge this gap. After only finding shitty, expensive subscription sites that only gave you a couple hours of audio gen, I…

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

17. 17AW
    A WebPDF Reader with AI assistance, for research and studying▲7

    Hey, I've made a pdf reader with ai assistance, you can quickly ask questions about the text and the images, and it will have context about all of your reading material so you can ask questions freely, try it now, I'm in open beta to find bug and get feedback. upcoming features: - Highlighting - Highlighting with Notes - Bibliography - Automatic Reference file opening - Improved UX and robustness currenlty alot of bugs so please let me know if you found any. feedback appreciated

    2025 · pdf-hub.com · its alternatives →

18. 18IM
    I made a browser TUI with its own layout engine▲6

    Try it at: ssh krnl.duetbrowser.com No sign up, totally free - no download. Let me know what you think. Prior art exists (brow.sh) but I wasn't satisfied with their graphical take. I wanted the raw, old skool terminal days of the early internet - BBS, and old green phosphor library comptuers - but running the modern web, with all the bells and jingle jangle whistles (JavaScript, etc). No funding, no VC, just 100% raw terminal fun. Not sure how long the demo will last, but try it out.

    Jul 2026 · its alternatives →

19. 19
    Recommend Me A Book▲4

    Read the first pages of a book without judging the cover

    2017 · recommendmeabook.com · its alternatives →

20. 20
    Misfits, a FITS table viewer for the terminal▲5

    Hey any astrophysicist reading hn there? Was sick in august (yeah isn't that nice) and made a small python fits table viewer for the terminal with textual. It would be great to have people try it so if you find any issue I can improve it. If you have no FITS file but would like to try regardless there are some test file in `/test`. Ciao!

    2024 · github.com · its alternatives →

21. 21
    I wrote a book about Clojure▲7

    Hey HN, I wrote a short book about the fundamental aspects of Clojure. The target audience is programmers with at least minimal experience who want to learn how to express solutions in Clojure (and perhaps in LISP, generally). If the price is a bit too steep for you, send me an email (address in bio), and I'll provide a discount coupon. If you can't afford it all, and believe the material may help you for studying or interview preparations, I can send you a free copy.

    2025 · leanpub.com · its alternatives →

22. 22
    FindReads▲10

    I’ve always felt that most book recommendation engines are shallow, they either use tags or “people also liked” data. I wanted something that actually understands what you mean when you say “slow burn sci-fi with emotional depth” or “books like Harry Potter.” So I built FindReads . It uses GPT to interpret your prompt, queries for books, and returns real titles that fit the vibe. Stack: Next.js, OpenAI API, MongoDB, deployed on Vercel. It’s still a work in progress — the results are surprisingly good for some moods, weird for others, but I’d love feedback from the HN crowd on how you’d…

    2025 · findreads.app · its alternatives →

23. 23
    My Degenerate Craps Simulator▲6

    Hello HN: I love the randomness of the universe. I've been spending some time creating a Craps simulator to help experience this love without having to shell out like a real degenerate. For others similarly fascinated: I would love to hear any and all feedback you've got on this. It's meant to be unique in the sense that it's a community-oriented, infinite simulation.

    Feb 2026 · infinitecraps.com · its alternatives →

24. 24YA
    Yet another "my first open-source project" thread. Feedback, please?▲7

    I must say I was encouraged to post my project here when I saw the positive response to this post: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3780731 Before you make any comments, please keep in mind that the project is written for fun. I'm not forcing anyone to use it. In fact, nobody should use the current unstable version in a serious project. Here is the link: http://github.com/bsg/libserv Please share your thoughts. All criticisms are welcome, even the harsh ones. p.s. The project is still a work-in-progress.

    2012 · its alternatives →

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