Hullo there everyone!
I'm not particularly active on these forums but I thought this would make an interesting topic. I'm a Linux/Unix enthusiast and have been a hobbyist programmer since I was six, when my wonderful darling Father bought me a Commodore 64!
It turns out I have nothing to do for the next twelve months. So I thought I would write some proprietary software.
Now, I know some people feel strongly about this... but the fact is I need the money. I don't want to be the only homeless guy in the park with a stuffed GNU and an FSF badge, thank-you very much.
So these are my ideas for some solo projects that could be completed within a year. I still haven't decided which one to go for and would like to hear your thoughts.
1) Port my libre project mprof ( https://github.com/sanctamaria1997/mprof ) to macOS and add a shiny GUI. Maybe get it to generate pie charts and graphs instead of plaintext tables. Pros: project already half finished; low level and therefore fun. Cons: some such tools already exist (not identical but similar); developers seem less keen to pay for tools compared to the general public.
2) Snooker game for macOS. Pros: this is 75% finished too, and the worst bit (physics engine) is out the way. Cons: math.
3) Drum machine for macOS. I bought an app called DM1 that was so lame it didn't even support multiple samples of a single drum and had a pointless arbitrary limitation on the number of audio tracks. Pros: I can do better than DM1. Cons: starting from scratch; would need to learn postgraduate math if I am to provide sound effects.
4) This is where my heart is: write an assembly level debugger than can do useful things like removing annoying (ahem) dialog boxes from apps, analysing malware etc.. Pros: really fun! Cons: time consuming; would Apple even allow such a morally questionable tool in their App Store? ; uncertainty because Apple may be migrating from x86-64 processors to ARM ones.
Which of these projects would you guys/gals choose if you were in my situation? Which would provide the most financial security for the least effort? Or would you do something else entirely? Study computer science maybe?
I'm not particularly active on these forums but I thought this would make an interesting topic. I'm a Linux/Unix enthusiast and have been a hobbyist programmer since I was six, when my wonderful darling Father bought me a Commodore 64!
It turns out I have nothing to do for the next twelve months. So I thought I would write some proprietary software.
Now, I know some people feel strongly about this... but the fact is I need the money. I don't want to be the only homeless guy in the park with a stuffed GNU and an FSF badge, thank-you very much.
So these are my ideas for some solo projects that could be completed within a year. I still haven't decided which one to go for and would like to hear your thoughts.
1) Port my libre project mprof ( https://github.com/sanctamaria1997/mprof ) to macOS and add a shiny GUI. Maybe get it to generate pie charts and graphs instead of plaintext tables. Pros: project already half finished; low level and therefore fun. Cons: some such tools already exist (not identical but similar); developers seem less keen to pay for tools compared to the general public.
2) Snooker game for macOS. Pros: this is 75% finished too, and the worst bit (physics engine) is out the way. Cons: math.
3) Drum machine for macOS. I bought an app called DM1 that was so lame it didn't even support multiple samples of a single drum and had a pointless arbitrary limitation on the number of audio tracks. Pros: I can do better than DM1. Cons: starting from scratch; would need to learn postgraduate math if I am to provide sound effects.
4) This is where my heart is: write an assembly level debugger than can do useful things like removing annoying (ahem) dialog boxes from apps, analysing malware etc.. Pros: really fun! Cons: time consuming; would Apple even allow such a morally questionable tool in their App Store? ; uncertainty because Apple may be migrating from x86-64 processors to ARM ones.
Which of these projects would you guys/gals choose if you were in my situation? Which would provide the most financial security for the least effort? Or would you do something else entirely? Study computer science maybe?