# Ideas **URL:** https://forum.malleable.systems/c/ideas/5.md [Latest](https://forum.malleable.systems/latest.md) · [Categories](https://forum.malleable.systems/categories.md) · [Tags](https://forum.malleable.systems/tags.md) --- ## [About the Ideas category](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/about-the-ideas-category/12)
**Author:** [@jryans](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/jryans)\ **Replies:** 0
Share your ideas to help make the malleable vision a reality. --- ## [Bootstrappable Software](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/bootstrappable-software/149)
**Author:** [@neauoire](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/neauoire)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [5 July 2026 06:13 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/bootstrappable-software/149 "2026-07-05T06:13:34Z")
Software is bootstrappable when it does not depend on a binary seed that cannot be built from source. Software that is not bootstrappable—even if it is free software—is a serious security risk for a variety of reasons. T… --- ## [Collaboratory for Advanced Malleable Systems Research](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/collaboratory-for-advanced-malleable-systems-research/421)
**Author:** [@eliot](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/eliot)\ **Replies:** 45\ **Last updated:** [13 May 2026 21:12 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/collaboratory-for-advanced-malleable-systems-research/421 "2026-05-13T21:12:08Z")
“Collaboratory” is a portmanteau of collaboration and laboratory, a word that came to mind while thinking about how empirical research and the experimental method can be applied to further our understanding and developme… --- ## [Love letter to catlangs](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/love-letter-to-catlangs/410)
**Author:** [@neauoire](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/neauoire)\ **Replies:** 40\ **Last updated:** [13 April 2026 15:52 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/love-letter-to-catlangs/410 "2026-04-13T15:52:37Z")
There is a strong connection between concatenative programming languages and linear logic, which I’m not the first to raise, but I wanted to put it down in my own words. In classical logic, bindings are inexhaustible,… --- ## [Community agency and metatools insertion strategies](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/community-agency-and-metatools-insertion-strategies/375)
**Author:** [@Offray](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/Offray)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [27 September 2025 17:29 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/community-agency-and-metatools-insertion-strategies/375 "2025-09-27T17:29:54Z")
Hi all, Long time without posting (this place is so fascinating that I need to restrain myself to enter or I’ll be here for hours). Anyway, here is my new post that presents my new path to explore malleability in the co… --- ## [Smooth Gradients of Composability, or Old Man Yells At Compilers](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/smooth-gradients-of-composability-or-old-man-yells-at-compilers/115)
**Author:** [@natecull](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/natecull)\ **Replies:** 36\ **Last updated:** [24 September 2025 18:22 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/smooth-gradients-of-composability-or-old-man-yells-at-compilers/115 "2025-09-24T18:22:50Z")
I have a built-in, knee-jerk sense of annoyance whenever I see a new compiled language. I can’t help it. It’s probably because I grew up on interactive BASIC. My first instinctive response is: “Great! A new language! We … --- ## [Gradual dependent types](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/gradual-dependent-types/292)
**Author:** [@Apostolis](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/Apostolis)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [24 January 2025 15:35 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/gradual-dependent-types/292 "2025-01-24T15:35:02Z")
Dependent types acting as a specification that does not force the user to provide a proof and is partially checked at runtime, is a necessary requirement for their use. There are many use cases here, I nee… --- ## [Frest: malleable software with a relational foundation](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/frest-malleable-software-with-a-relational-foundation/349)
**Author:** [@gisborne](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/gisborne)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [15 June 2025 04:19 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/frest-malleable-software-with-a-relational-foundation/349 "2025-06-15T04:19:06Z")
Just discovered this community. I’ve been talking and writing about malleable software most of my adult life. There are ways of making programming easier/more user friendly, etc, but I think the royal road to malleable… --- ## [Transparent (=inspectable) UIs](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/transparent-inspectable-uis/327)
**Author:** [@aartaka](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/aartaka)\ **Replies:** 8\ **Last updated:** [6 May 2025 15:37 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/transparent-inspectable-uis/327 "2025-05-06T15:37:09Z")
Hi y’all, I’ve been lurking around the forum and reading stuff. One things I noticed is that there seems to be no clear list of ways in which UI —probably the most opaque part of software—allows us to peek behind itself… --- ## [Concatenative Event Streams and Reactive Programming](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/concatenative-event-streams-and-reactive-programming/320)
**Author:** [@natecull](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/natecull)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [6 May 2025 07:08 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/concatenative-event-streams-and-reactive-programming/320 "2025-05-06T07:08:33Z")
The term “Functional-Reactive Programming” as a concept of computation is thrown around a lot today, and a bit like with Object-Oriented Programming, every person with an implementation of it seems to have their own defi… --- ## [A Symbol-Oriented GUI](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/a-symbol-oriented-gui/126)
**Author:** [@natecull](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/natecull)\ **Replies:** 17\ **Last updated:** [19 April 2025 20:55 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/a-symbol-oriented-gui/126 "2025-04-19T20:55:03Z")
This is a very unformed idea that I’m trying to crystallise into a better shape, or any shape at all. It’s been haunting me for decades, though. Probably since the era of OS/2 2.0, and my disappointment when I first saw… --- ## [A minimalist hypertext browser](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/a-minimalist-hypertext-browser/316)
**Author:** [@akkartik](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/akkartik)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [5 April 2025 06:55 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/a-minimalist-hypertext-browser/316 "2025-04-05T06:55:42Z")
Here’s the “markup language” I mentioned in a comment to @Bosmon: https://akkartik.name/post/luaML2 --- ## [Linlu: (An idea for) A malleable computing environment.](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/linlu-an-idea-for-a-malleable-computing-environment/308)
**Author:** [@TheZipCreator](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/TheZipCreator)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [27 February 2025 07:22 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/linlu-an-idea-for-a-malleable-computing-environment/308 "2025-02-27T07:22:08Z")
Hello! I’m working on an object-oriented computing environment/GUI shell designed for malleable applications. I’m still working on the concept and implementation, but I’d thought I’d post my main idea here to garner feed… --- ## [A programming environment with first class categories](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/a-programming-environment-with-first-class-categories/179)
**Author:** [@Apostolis](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/Apostolis)\ **Replies:** 18\ **Last updated:** [17 January 2025 16:34 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/a-programming-environment-with-first-class-categories/179 "2025-01-17T16:34:27Z")
--- ## [Objects as Records vs Activities](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/objects-as-records-vs-activities/273)
**Author:** [@natecull](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/natecull)\ **Replies:** 24\ **Last updated:** [13 January 2025 19:12 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/objects-as-records-vs-activities/273 "2025-01-13T19:12:32Z")
Trying to articulate some more of my deeply complicated feelings toward the Object Oriented model, one possible axis of difference appears: Records vs Activities That is, there are two (no doubt more, but at least two)… --- ## [Spaces of Data](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/spaces-of-data/223)
**Author:** [@natecull](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/natecull)\ **Replies:** 20\ **Last updated:** [5 December 2024 17:36 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/spaces-of-data/223 "2024-12-05T17:36:03Z")
So here’s a half-baked idea which has haunted me since around 2006. I don’t have much hope that I will ever get it to fully baked, but I want to put it out there in case there’s something which can be salvaged. I was th… --- ## [Point-Free Logic Programming](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/point-free-logic-programming/151)
**Author:** [@natecull](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/natecull)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [12 January 2024 04:33 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/point-free-logic-programming/151 "2024-01-12T04:33:13Z")
This is one part of an idea that’s been haunting me for around 18 years now: can we take the Logic Programming model as in Prolog or Kanren, and remove the concept of “logic variable” from it, ending up with a fully poin… --- ## [An interesting quote about the origin of MVC and event handling](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/an-interesting-quote-about-the-origin-of-mvc-and-event-handling/133)
**Author:** [@natecull](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/natecull)\ **Replies:** 21\ **Last updated:** [6 January 2024 07:53 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/an-interesting-quote-about-the-origin-of-mvc-and-event-handling/133 "2024-01-06T07:53:47Z")
From an answer by Mark Miller on this Quora thread about Smalltalk: This isn’t a programming language feature, but the model-view-controller architecture was invented on Smalltalk. Developers rave about how MVC is th… --- ## [Götz Bachmann’s Ethnographic Research on Dynamicland](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/gotz-bachmann-s-ethnographic-research-on-dynamicland/116)
**Author:** [@Apostolis](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/Apostolis)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [16 October 2023 08:23 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/gotz-bachmann-s-ethnographic-research-on-dynamicland/116 "2023-10-16T08:23:06Z")
Ethnographic Research on DynamicLand I believe that we need to allow us to try to solve “unsolvable” problems. One 50 year project could solve a difficult problem that 50 1 year projects can’t. And we need this menta… --- ## [Exploration of live systems - Hooliganism or Play](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/exploration-of-live-systems-hooliganism-or-play/120)
**Author:** [@Apostolis](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/Apostolis)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [12 October 2023 21:12 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/exploration-of-live-systems-hooliganism-or-play/120 "2023-10-12T21:12:24Z")
Let us assume that you find a specific server with an interface and you try to interact with it. You create your program and you start experimenting. As you change your program, it immediately interacts with a productio… --- ## [Cascading tests across the Ecosystem](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/cascading-tests-across-the-ecosystem/123)
**Author:** [@Apostolis](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/Apostolis)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [6 October 2023 00:28 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/cascading-tests-across-the-ecosystem/123 "2023-10-06T00:28:12Z")
Let us assume that we have metadata that shows the dependencies of software. Responding to a change in a specific library, we currently have continuous integration, but it still takes a lot of time, the feedback is not … --- ## [Stephan Becher's StrongForth as an approach to typing stack languages](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/stephan-bechers-strongforth-as-an-approach-to-typing-stack-languages/118)
**Author:** [@natecull](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/natecull)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [26 September 2023 04:48 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/stephan-bechers-strongforth-as-an-approach-to-typing-stack-languages/118 "2023-09-26T04:48:57Z")
Between 2000 and 2008, Dr Stephan Becher worked on a strongly typed variant of Forth named StrongForth. Homepage: StrongForth Homepage Introduction: Introduction To StrongForth StrongForth augments Forth by adding typ… --- ## [BOS: A Block Operating System](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/bos-a-block-operating-system/117)
**Author:** [@natecull](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/natecull)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [24 September 2023 04:31 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/bos-a-block-operating-system/117 "2023-09-24T04:31:46Z")
Disclaimer: This is potentially a very stupid idea. Context: Before Disk Operating Systems, and specifically before Unix and CP/M, it was not always expected that a storage media would be formatted as a hierarchical … --- ## [Demanding Technologies vs Convenience Technologies](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/demanding-technologies-vs-convenience-technologies/74)
**Author:** [@akkartik](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/akkartik)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [12 May 2023 10:18 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/demanding-technologies-vs-convenience-technologies/74 "2023-05-12T10:18:27Z")
I like the distinction here between “trouble we reject in principle and accept in practice, and trouble we accept in principle and in practice.” --- ## [Malleable System Metrics](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/malleable-system-metrics/72)
**Author:** [@neauoire](https://forum.malleable.systems/u/neauoire)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [11 May 2023 06:43 UTC](https://forum.malleable.systems/t/malleable-system-metrics/72 "2023-05-11T06:43:58Z")
I saw someone ask the following question, and it hasn’t left my mind since. I’d be curious to know what people on here consider when thinking about this same question which originally relates to languages, but to malleab…