DEV Community: OlympStack

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OlympStack — Thu, 09 Jul 2026 11:27:27 +0000

OlympStack

Jul 2

They called my Software, Shovelware, because I compare the Software Market with a "Physical" Hardware Store!

#discuss #programming #beginners #api

5 min read

[Boost]

OlympStack — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 21:45:18 +0000

OlympStack

Jul 2

They called my Software, Shovelware, because I compare the Software Market with a "Physical" Hardware Store!

#discuss #programming #beginners #api

5 min read

They called my Software, Shovelware, because I compare the Software Market with a "Physical" Hardware Store!

OlympStack — Thu, 02 Jul 2026 14:12:12 +0000

Nowdays I'm creating a lot of software with the help of AI, before that, you had to write everything yourself.

As mentioned in earlier Posts, the Speed you can develop Software with AI is just immense. For certain pieces of Software you need a team and months of work before, now it becomes the Job for a single Senior Software Engineer.

Lets compare Software market to a Physical Hardware Store.

The Construction Shovel

Today we wanna dig a hole and for this we need obviously a shovel, so we go to a blacksmith and let him make a shovel for us.

Luckily today, we do not go to a blacksmith and we not have to wait for the shovel, we go to the Hardware store and buy a shovel for $50.- to dig that hole.

In the Future we wanna dig more holes, so we need that Shovel also for future holes. After a year of hole digging, the shovel is strained and the handle gets cracks and breaks. Now 1 year later you go back to the blacksmith or in our modern world we go to the hardware store and buy a new Shovel, so you can keep digging those holes.

This is the "easiest" point of view of the lifecycle. You Buy, You Use, eventually it breaks and you have to buy a new one.

Software

In the Software Market, we expect a Software to basicially run forever, without errors and exceptions. While the Shovel can break, you accept it, when the Software breaks, you are outragous.

I have no clue why this is so deeply anchored in us.
Is it because Software is nothing you can "grab" since it is digital?

Let's say you are a boomer like myself and you bought Office 2000, the last Version of office without activation.
I think it still runs on Windows 10/11, even if it might work poorly and for security reasons you shouldn't run it.

But theoretically you can run it and it is a piece of software +25 years old still capable of doing its job -> Creating Documents.

So 26 years later noone is complainig "Hey i bought that piece of software back then, i want to use it till today, i paid for it". No the Software reached the end of its lifetime, which means it might not broken yet but it will break sooner or later and the development is discontinued, the Company made an Software End User Agreement and you willingly accepted that.

This was the year 2000, today we have shifted, instead of buying, we rent software, indefinetly.

While they tell us, the subscription is for the continous development of the Software and to keep the unecessary infrastructure behind running that noone asked for, they charge money every month.

You start Digging the Holes

It is January you start your Journey with an API Client and you start paying ~$10.- per month, after 12 months you Paid a whooping ~$120.- for the Software, and the only changes were some bug and hotfixes. Something the Company should have provided anyway, if "One-Time / Licensed / Subscription" pay model.

You Keep digging that Hole and the costs increase every month, even there is no new features to the software. By the Way the Shovel also has no new features, it works as intendent for its job it is designed.

And even if there are new Features to the Software, do you really Need that new Feature? is it really necessary for your workflow?

How about the Shovel? You buy that Shovel for ~$50.- do you expect now upgrades to that Shovel, a new Feature? I'm pretty sure you don't!

And Maybe, Maybe not, more often it's not, im sure, you dont even need that new Feature/Functionality. But you still keep digging your holes and you keep paying monthly for it.

Payed for something you dont wanted and you dont Need

So there is this new Update now, it gives your API Client a unique Feature. But you don't need that feature, so you payed ~$120 for development on a Feature and functionality of the software, you don't need and maybe never make use of.

If the company would have decided a different approach:

Selling the API Client for ~$29.-
The bring now a new Feature / Addon that could be sold for lets go crazy another ~$29.-

you would be now at ~$58.- and you could decide, ah I don't need that Feature, so I stick with my regular API Client which I own already for a price of ~$29.-

But you are so attached to that API Client and their forced Cloud that you keep paying the Subscription and in 3 years you paid ~$360.- and you keep paying!

This is the greed of those Companies they keep you locked in their infrastructure and you are willingly accept this and rent your software now forever.

Good Luck

Alternatives

There is usually one or more alternatives out there that will solve the same problems without Subscriptions, being open source, licensed or free versions.

Now at OlympStack we're developing an API Client that comes with a One-Time Payment License and a "product lifetime license".

My idea is, I provide a piece of Software like OlympAPI which is available for ~€29.- and for Major Features we plan to make a new Major Version which can be upgraded from the previous Major Version, but is not necessary.

Our Approach

Basic API Client goes from version 1.0.x to version 1.9.0 ~€29.-
Version 2.0.0 Drops now with a awesome new Feature its now version 2.0.0, the API Client cost now ~€49 or an Upgrade from Version 1 ~€20.- and instead of forcing everyone to the new version, the upgrade to 2.0 is optional.

You don't need the features of Version 2? Then stay with Version 1.x.x you bought for ~€29.-
You need that feature? Upgrade and only pay ~€20.-
You are a new Customer? You can decide between Version 1 and 2 now which fits better for you.

What do you see in this?

Let me know what you think about that, this are my thoughts, im not an editor or writer, so have mercy.

What is it that you keep paying for unnecessary Subscriptions? Are you attached? Are you lazy to change? It doesn't bother you? You are locked deeply inside their Cloud?

Did you also think about the data you give to all those Companies when using their Cloud / Infrastructure? Which raises real questions about Ownership of the data, privacy questions and much more.

OlympStack

Check out our Website for more Details on the approach of going back to old school licensing and a model were the user owns not only the software and his license, no also owns and keeps his data safe and private!

Website: https://olympstack.com
OlympAPI: https://olympstack.com/olympapi

have a great day on your journey!

[Boost]

OlympStack — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 17:57:45 +0000

OlympStack

Jun 8

Not Everything Needs a Subscription - Small manifesto against renting software

#discuss #devops #productivity #software

4 min read

Someone asked me if I knew of an alternative project management tool, so I developed one in about 24 hours.

OlympStack — Tue, 30 Jun 2026 21:14:37 +0000

AI is transforming the way we develop software. In the past, creating specific software required an entire team and months of work; AI has accelerated this process a hundredfold—the speed at which software with specific requirements can be developed today is simply immense.

You need to understand the entire process, from the initial sketch to the software's release. It isn't enough to simply say, "I want this app with these features." Technical implementation requires solid expertise—ranging from capturing customer requirements and selecting the right technology to designing features and setting up a fully automated release workflow.

I am looking to take more custom software projects. If you’d like to challenge me, send your software idea to contact@olympstack.com and i might take your Idea from finish to start.

If I believe I can bring your idea to life quickly, I will build it and look forward to your feedback on the software and the final result. Maybe we can iterate together through, connect and share experiences.

The scope of a software should be worth to be published later on our Website and Product Directories.

under the individual software section you can learn more about my way of providing people affordable Software without SUBSCRIPTIONS ; FORCED ACCOUNTS ; FORCED SYNC WITH EXTERNAL CLOUDS

https://olympstack.com/individual-software/we-create-your-software

The Story behind

A friend approached me and asked if I knew of an alternative to Trello; he had bought a house and wanted to completely renovate it.
For this project, they searched online for a project management tool, came across Trello, and started using it. But they didn’t like it at all—it was complicated and didn’t really meet their needs.

So I said, “There are plenty of SaaS project management tools, as well as self-hosted ones. But they’ll all be similar to Trello. The strength of these tools is that you can use them for anything, but they aren’t perfectly suited for anything in particular.”

I asked what the problem with Trello was, and the answer was: “Nothing specific—it’s just complicated and doesn’t really match what we were looking for.”

I asked him to describe the desired workflow in one sentence.

Original German: Eine App wo man Projekte Anlegen kann mit Räumen in denen man Todos und Photos für die Räume hinterlegen kann, am besten mit Sync für zusammenarbeit, und einer Report Funktion damit wir für Externe reports über Kosten und Zustand erstellen können.

Translation English: An app for creating projects with rooms where to-dos and photos can be stored—ideally with synchronization for collaboration—and a reporting function that allows us to generate reports on costs and status for external parties.

So I already had a general idea of what they were planning, and I asked him, “What if I could develop the software you need?”
He replied, “You can do that?” he was even willing to pay for it.

I looked into the details more closely and asked a few more questions about his vision for the software—for example, which platforms were desired and how quickly it was needed—and while I was asking these questions, I booted up my development environment to lay the groundwork for my Flutter/Dart app, with my AI Agent, ready for the next project, and entered the new information about what we were planning into the app.

RenovoDoc

An app for renovation projects with rooms, photos, to-do lists and Kanban board, materials, and PDF reports—all in one native app.

I've extended the Functionality with material and cost tracking, overview Screens for Todos and Materials with filters across al projects.
A Kanban Board with full Functionality, Detailed Reports with Filters for the Export and a Comment Function on Todos and Materials

Within 24 Hours the Software they needed was already fully functional designed for their workflow. I finished the Product by putting it into my CI/CDI, to match the workflows of all other Apps I have created so far.

I gave them the GitHub Link https://github.com/OlympProject/renovodoc-release for Download the software.

They downloaded it and start using it and were really happy with the result that it works on their computer and on their android phones so smooth.

Afterword

The functionality has been thoroughly tested and works flawlessly; the client is satisfied and hadn't expected to receive such high-quality software in such a short time.

Over time, there is certainly room to optimize RenovoDoc further, but I already appreciate that it isn't limited to renovation projects—the software can also be used to manage other smaller projects.

And best of all: your data remains entirely with you and is not synchronized to the cloud—unless you consciously choose to use the Google Drive synchronization feature integrated into RenovoDoc.

https://olympstack.com/renovodoc

Submit a Software Idea

Additional Info if you send a Software Idea you want to become realtity:

The Software needs to work fully Local, this means no Account Gates, Syncs or Running Costs are allowed for this Apps.
Windows, Linux, Android Apps, No macOS or iOS Apps

We will not build anything that need us to setup infrastructure for accounts or hosting data from our customers.

OlympStack follows the approach to builds practical software with Free Tier and Pro Tiers with a Lifetime* License and One-Time Payment

*lifetime means the lifetime of the software product, not the user

Not Everything Needs a Subscription - Small manifesto against renting software

OlympStack — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 07:30:44 +0000

Why I'm building OlympStack — tools you own, for developers who run their own infrastructure. A small manifesto against renting software you'll use unchanged for the next decade.

I opened SSH into a server this morning the same way I did in 2014. Same command. Same workflow. The protocol turns 32 next year and it has not fundamentally changed in my lifetime as a developer.

So here's a question I can't stop asking:
why am I being asked to pay monthly for tools wrapped around workflows that haven't moved in a decade?

That question is the whole reason OlympStack exists. This is my first post here, so let me lay out what I'm building and the opinion underneath it.

The workflow hasn't changed. The pricing model did.

Connecting to servers. Testing an API endpoint. Watching logs. Managing keys. These are some of the oldest, most stable workflows in our entire profession. The way you do them now is recognizably the way you did them ten years ago, and it'll be recognizable ten years from now.

What did change is how the tools around them get sold. Somewhere in the last decade, "buy a tool" quietly became "rent a tool, forever." A connection manager became a $12/month seat. An API client locked its history behind a login and a plan tier. The thing you opened a hundred times a week became a recurring line item with a roadmap of features you never asked for.

I have nothing against SaaS. Subscriptions make perfect sense when they’re backed by an active service that’s actually needed—something that’s hosted, constantly changing, and incurs ongoing costs. A backup destination. A monitoring pipeline. A managed database. You pay for the service that’s actually running. But some of these tools don’t need such services at all, yet they’re forced upon you.

And a desktop tool that talks to your servers, on your machine, doing a job that was solved years ago? That's not a service. That's a tool. And tools are something you should be able to own.

What OlympStack is

OlympStack is a solo developer project — built by one person, for developers who run their own infrastructure without enterprise overhead. The tagline on everything I make is deliberately plain: tools I use every day myself and am proud of.

That's not marketing. It's the actual filter. I don't build something unless I'm already reaching for it daily. Right now that means:

Pro Tools released

OlympSSH Commander — managing SSH connections and sessions the way I actually work, not the way a pricing tier wants me to.
OlympAPI — testing and working with APIs without my request history being held hostage by a login screen.

The common thread is ownership. Your connection list, your request history, your keys — those live with you, not on my servers behind a paywall. A tool you bought should keep working whether or not I'm having a good quarter.

Free Tools released

OlympCron Manager - accessing your Linux Server through SSH and check the Cron Jobs, edit them and use the cron builder for human readable Crons.
OlympTest Manager - A simple yet powerful manual QA tool. Easy to work with, Easy to create Test Scenarios with AI and then you can do structured End User Tests for the Application.

The opinion I'll plant a flag on

The industry trained a whole generation of developers to accept that software is something you rent indefinitely. I think that's a default worth questioning, not a law of nature.

Some software genuinely earns a subscription. A lot of it just adopted one because the market let it, bringing Cloud Features you don't need and asked, lock you inside their infrastructure and tell you the subscription is worth the payment.

When the underlying workflow is stable — and ours often is — "you own this" is not a quaint throwback. It's the honest model. But honesty don't sell very well.

I’m not naive about this. It’s harder to build a business based on perpetual licenses. Recurring revenue is reliable and predictable, which is why almost everyone relies on it as the default these days—from newspaper subscriptions to all kinds of software, as well as computer and mobile games; subscriptions are everywhere these days. I’m consciously choosing the harder path, because as a developer who pays for my own software, that’s the model I actually want. So I’m building it.

Where this goes

This account is going to be the build log. Expect posts on the tools themselves, the decisions behind them, and the occasional sharp opinion about how developer software gets made and sold. Some of it will be technical. Some of it will be me arguing with the status quo. Probably both at once.

If you also run your own infrastructure and you're a little tired of renting your toolbox — we're going to get along. Tell me where you've drawn your own subscription-or-not line in the comments. I genuinely want to know if I'm the only one keeping a tally.

— OlympStack

🔗 olympstack.com · github.com/OlympProject