bluebird.sh

BlueBird Shell is a showcase of terminal software written and maintained by the Devottys, a merry band of digital artisans who have devoted themselves to creating delightful tools and useful diversions in the terminal.

Many of our tools are based on VisiData, because.. well, if you've used it, you know why. It's incredibly useful.

Currently the party consists of:

• Saul Pwanson, Data Sourceror
• Anja Kefala, Code Cleric
• Dwimmer, Rune Bard

Qualitty Software

Our software fits within a terminal window, but that is only a constraint, not a limitation. There are technical, logistical, psychological, and even emotional advantages to using the terminal. In skilled hands, a well-designed terminal program is a tremendous asset, making it easier to do excellent work.

• Where others become heavy, we stay light.
• Where others monetize distraction, we work hard to minimize it.
• Where others return to classic, we create timeless.

Modern Terminal Features

The terminal endures not because it has so much, but because it needs so little. There has been some progress in the past 30 years, however. In 2021, the year the Devottys were founded, the vast majority of terminals supported:

• full-screen interfaces ("TUI")
• Unicode, including full-width characters
• 256 colors (our software degrades gracefully to 16 colors)
• mouse clicks (though a mouse is never necessary to use our software)

Our software takes advantage of these features to great effect.

Communitty center

BlueBird Shell is a prosocial network of like-minded devottys. Our charter includes:

• educational resources
• communitty-benefit programs
• recreational facilities

The dream is a hosted "BlueBird Terminal" with collaborative data analysis, multi-network chat, and multiplayer games (MMO ZZT?).

If this sounds like your jam, signup for our newsletter and/or subscribe to Saul's Patreon and/or join us on Matrix chat!