The sailboat test
A filter for what tools deserve to exist
Hundred Rabbits (Devine Lu Linvega and Rekka Bellum) live and work on a sailboat. 51-day Pacific crossings without reliable internet. Power budgets measured in solar watts. Everything they build has to work in those conditions.
This creates a brutal filter. If a tool requires cloud APIs, constant connectivity, or more power than a solar panel provides - it doesn't work. It's not a theoretical limitation. It's Tuesday.
"I wanted a way of doing computers that nobody could take away from me."
The questions
- Will this still run in 50 years?
- Can I fix it myself?
- Does it require an empire to maintain?
- Will this still work if the internet goes down?
- Does this increase or decrease dependency on external services?
Applied
Most modern software fails this test immediately. SaaS, cloud APIs, subscription services - all gone when the connectivity is. That's fine for some things. But your core tools? The ones you think with?
Those should work on a sailboat.