---
title: Collective digest — 2020
date: 2020-12-28T06:09:23Z
author: "[J. Ryan Stinnett](https://convolv.es)"
authorAvatar: jryans
tags:
  - Digest
categories:
featured_image:
description:
summary:
  "2020 is almost over... finally! It's been the longest and saddest year in
  recent memory due to the global pandemic. I hope you and your family are
  staying safe at home. Let's jump into this 2020 digest of collective
  activity and try to forget the general madness of the world for at least a
  few moments."
---

2020 is almost over... finally! It's been the longest and saddest
year in recent memory due to the global pandemic. I hope you and your family are
staying safe at home. Let's jump into this 2020 digest of collective activity and try to forget the general madness of the world for at least a few moments.

## Catalog

In the early days of the collective site (March 2020, which feels like several
years ago), there were 10 related works listed in our [catalog][catalog]. With
the additional suggestions and curation of our community, we're now up to 19
works in the catalog, with 27 further suggestions [waiting for
curation][curation-queue]! Thanks to everyone for their contributions.

The new additions to the catalog include:

* [HyperCard][hypercard] (Bill Atkinson, Dan Winkler, HyperCard team at Apple)
* [Glamorous Toolkit][gtoolkit] (feenk)
* [User-tailorable systems: pressing the issues with buttons][buttons] (Allan MacLean, Kathleen Carter, Lennart Lövstrand, Thomas Moran)
* [A Future of Programming][futureofprogramming] (Stefan Lesser)

## Matrix

When we first set up this site, it wasn't clear which communication styles and
channels would see the most use. Looking back over the first year, our [Matrix
room][matrix] has by far seen the most activity among the community!

Here's a sampling of interesting conversation topics from our room in 2020:

* [Living in the stone age](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$WKM14pCdObsIQOBWr_8LUNpveYdY14GAMqTcZRp5iiY)
* [Security, capabilities](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$piaQ6gO5iL37DSpTqyNU-ZaOfAKBRoifORAEuCdKdIo)
* [UI customisation, tearing down walls between apps](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$sliTfTMxGhSviieq9LTITiKGVriiGadtK1SpC5JJoEU)
* [Avoiding silos, core web concepts](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$ZXJ1jtOokVL1KFvZjSj9IxOkuN3KWt2Up-2ueElJIJU)
* [TiddlyWiki, local-first data storage](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$_gsQcAsP1h4tflsA16efW5gcXsakqRkwhaC7clOo7QM)
* [The path ahead, many different experiments needed](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$DfXgRUQZmHIWi4Oze6kb5ZUQRTZdt3XLTLkQ9BOXAjw)
* [Extracting frames out of apps](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$l10B1LIdJPwZsIUdUOuUjrDsOV2yVKq99YCQ-QhSWgg)
* [Challenges of funding open software](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$DenH499rHZGBw_WBpytGtaVSXubvL81CCox_jtR-a7c)
* [Static and gradual typing for modules](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$wyNOzn2sZAKpS8gsUHZQ5JZezB79G6QUtEUDR9RXGjI)
* [Self, Smalltalk](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$D70bKOK9l9ju8uz4wuhXW1FPgtl6xPElEPzVbQ9P3MY)
* [Language design, gradual typing](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$3fSHBP4m-QjCn1m-2ChKxFx4booNUvvrxWvU6i6FWcY)
* [Moving programs across devices](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$uRntmaT5ggTIDsF0wVJx_KoeoyEres_XoIc3Jc7slWg)
* [Window management](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$K7kjIFuiXEjWoo_ubR_towA-aia3ZoVogPuxVo1fjb0)
* [Project Cambria, lenses](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$YFO_D5wCf2qQ8vvot2dgVRmDXxPW0bBsDqUkCVFKq90)
* [Related podcasts](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$coVDSloIwe0bgP-BXmnqsc2pUYQnSpmBuG4y5zLaxCA)
* [Add-on systems](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$F1T3cPbVc9-YR5VsyipqdAw7OUUBTjAhh3dqnCWN7Ao)
* [Knowledge management tools](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$W225Bgcgu5-pRlv4Oe47YuqNTEsjpGxGcvmy18P9ivg)
* [Decentralised authentication](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$JS-WNNHG3rfYFHzEzDYMDayQ3jREgVKYhTCoiRzL-Gs)
* [Extensibility, resource sandboxing, permission management](https://matrix.to/#/!bQveTkYXFyxLJQwcLG:matrix.org/$w5ZyI5bWMxlwy3dDPREzEQVMlvKLPRY9LuKZ-52u67o)

## Related communities

The collective's goals and dreams intersect with some other communities, which
we encourage you to check out:

* [Thinking Tools][thinking-tools]: rethinking how we create, share and organise
  knowledge
* [Future of Coding][future-of-coding]: sharing many different projects and
  possible futures of more humane computing

## Looking ahead

In the year ahead, we hope the collective will continue to grow and take on a
more active experimentation role as some of us try out various ideas we've
discussed. In particular, we're hoping to have more projects and experiments
shared here on the site as people try out various approaches to extensibility
and user empowerment. As always, please do [contact us][feedback] if there's
something you'd like to share with the collective. I'm planning to share my own
efforts here, and perhaps that will encourage others to do the same.

2020 was quite a draining year, and I found it hard to have energy for new
efforts. I imagine many people may have gone through something similar. I've got
big plans for 2021, and I bet many of you do as well. I hope the world state
will allow us all to follow through on our dreams of malleability in the new
year.

[catalog]: {{< relref "/catalog/_index.md" >}}
[feedback]: mailto:hello@malleable.systems
[matrix]: https://matrix.to/#/#malleable-systems:matrix.org
[curation-queue]: https://github.com/malleable-systems/malleable.systems/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aopen+label%3Acatalog

[hypercard]: {{< relref "/catalog/_index.md#hypercard" >}}
[gtoolkit]: {{< relref "/catalog/_index.md#gtoolkit" >}}
[buttons]: {{< relref "/catalog/_index.md#buttons" >}}
[futureofprogramming]: {{< relref "/catalog/_index.md#futureofprogramming" >}}

[thinking-tools]: https://thinkingtools.space
[future-of-coding]: https://futureofcoding.org
