IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

QNX Self-Hosted Developer Desktop

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. QNX's Proven Reliability in Embedded/Automotive Use

Users praise its rock-solid microkernel, hard real-time guarantees, and dominance in cars (275M+ vehicles).
"Show me another OS that you can undress to the kernel, a console, a file system and a disk driver and then build it all up again without missing a beat." - jacquesm
"QNX embedded technology now powering more than 275 million vehicles on the road." - Intralexical (citing source)

2. Skepticism Over Licensing "Bait-and-Switch" History

Repeated revocations of free/non-commercial licenses eroded trust, despite new offerings.
"The trouble is, QNX did that twice before, then took it away. They lost their developer base." - Animats
"If you want to fall for the QNX bait and switch a 3rd time, more fool you." - supermatt

3. Nostalgia for Photon GUI and Historic Demos

Fondness for lightweight Photon over new XFCE/Wayland; awe at old single-floppy live systems.
"Photon was what I was hoping for... One of my favourite GUIs." - wowczarek
"Photon microGUI was included in that, and it blew my mind that you could literally kill and restart Photon without disturbing any of the GUI apps." - fouc

🚀 Project Ideas

QNX EasySpin Prebuilt Images

Summary

  • A GitHub repo providing prebuilt QNX desktop images for QEMU (Ubuntu/macOS/Windows) and bare metal Raspberry Pi BSPs, with one-click launch scripts—no account or download manager needed.
  • Solves tedious setup ("create an account, get a license, deploy it and then you get a fucking download manager") and accelerates tinkering.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience QNX hobbyists, embedded devs, Raspberry Pi tinkerers
Core Feature wget-friendly QEMU OVA images + RPi SD card imager script using official BSPs
Tech Stack GitHub Actions for builds, QEMU, Raspberry Pi Imager CLI
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Addresses "in an era where most development-oriented software is downloaded with wget/git clone/[package manager] install, this whole process feels like a slap in the face" (m132) and "We plan to host prebuilts in the new year" (JohnAtQNX).
  • HN would love the instant "just works" access for demos like single-floppy nostalgia; high utility for Pi IoT prototypes.

PhotonWay Composer

Summary

  • Lightweight Wayland compositor and widget toolkit recreating QNX Photon's skeuomorphic style and microGUI efficiency, runnable on QNX, Linux, or Redox OS.
  • Fills void of beloved Photon ("Photon was dang near perfect," "Photon microGUI was included... blew my mind") with modern, performant alternative to XFCE/Qt bloat.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Retro UI fans, embedded GUI devs, QNX/Redox enthusiasts
Core Feature Photon-inspired widgets, theming engine, <1MB footprint compositor
Tech Stack wlroots/Wayland, Zig/Rust for core, SVG for skeuomorphic assets
Difficulty High
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Quotes like "I was expecting to see that [Photon]... my heart sank when I saw the screenshot" (prmoustache) and "Photon just looked and felt so lovely" (qwerty456127) show demand.
  • Sparks HN debates on microGUIs vs. modern DEs; practical for low-RAM Pi desktops or car hacking.

QNX License Sentinel

Summary

  • Web service/dashboard tracking QNX non-commercial license changes, owner history, and community-voted trust score; alerts subscribers to revocations with migration guides to RT Linux/Redox.
  • Mitigates "bait and switch" fears ("supermatt: If you want to fall for the QNX bait and switch a 3rd time," "they revoked that free license... same thing again") via transparency.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience QNX developers wary of policy flips, embedded teams
Core Feature License changelog scraper, email alerts, alt-OS comparison tool
Tech Stack Next.js, RSS/Scrapy for monitoring, Supabase for DB
Difficulty Low
Monetization Revenue-ready: Freemium ($5/mo pro alerts)

Notes

  • Directly tackles "history of changing owners... free licenses being revoked multiple times" (roryirvine) and trust woes ("why do they make it so hard to build trust?" bflesch).
  • Generates HN discussion on OS licensing models (Unreal-style); utility in risk assessment for projects.

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