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CF Chris Fisher Chris Fisher Co-founder of Jupiter Broadcasting, a Linux and open source podcast network launched in 2008, who hosts shows on Linux, software development and self-hosting.

“How long have they been adding features that we don't need? I couldn't articulate the difference between Photoshop 7 and the current Photoshop. I know there's generative fill. But for a simpleton like me, Photoshop 7 still gets the job done. So if you could clone that function, you've got it, right? I just think that's asking for trouble if you're proprietary software.”

LINUX Unplugged · Hands-On Engineering Podcasts · November 2026

“How long have they been adding features that we don't need? I couldn't articulate the difference between Photoshop 7 and the current Photoshop. I know there's generative fill. But for a simpleton like me, Photoshop 7 still gets the job done. So if you could clone that function, you've got it, right? I just think that's asking for trouble if you're proprietary software.” — Chris Fisher, LINUX Unplugged

Context

A listener said apps they built with an AI coding agent turned out better than the Windows programs they replaced. Chris considers what cheap, custom clones of software mean for big proprietary vendors.

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Transcript

LINUX Unplugged Around 1:01:58 into the episode
Chris Fisher

I would love to lift some great frigate mod ideas, so please send those in. It's interesting that he's able to make the apps work better for him, too. Not just replace them, but make them work better.

Wes Payne

Yeah, I wonder what size that category is, right? Sort of like you don't need to spend the time to get every feature, all of the stuff that other people need, but you can just have a subset of that that you build.

Chris Fisher

How long have they been adding features that we don't need? Like, I couldn't tell you. I mean, I know there are features, but I couldn't articulate the difference between Photoshop 7 and the current Photoshop. I know there's features. I know they're a generative fill. I think that's the one I could name, maybe, if I thought about it. And maybe I'd like to use that. I don't know. But for a simpleton like me, Photoshop 7 gets the job done still. So if you could clone that function, you've got it, right? I mean, I just think that's just asking for trouble if you're a proprietary software.

Wes Payne

Well, Motang member boosts in. Oftentimes, I hear you guys say along the lines of, oh, this is great. It has a Docker image and can be run in Docker.

Chris Fisher

Yeah, we do say that. You're right.

Wes Payne

Which is great. And I'm sure you have talked about Podman, but I just wanted to get your thoughts on it. Do you prefer Docker over Podman? Thanks.

Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.

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