"6 months of open-source development. 1 first .exe.
4 real testers. Here's what happened..."
TL;DR:
PC_Workman v1.6.3+ shipped as .exe yesterdayFirst real users found bugs immediatelyFixed and shipped same dayThis is how solo development actually works
The .EXE Moment
For 6 months, PC_Workman lived on GitHub.
Code worked. Architecture solid. Documentation complete.
But it wasn't real until you could download it,
install it, run it without Python.
That happened yesterday.
PyInstaller. 8 hours. One .exe.
The moment I ran it on a clean machine—no Python,
no dependencies, just the executable—something clicked.
This wasn't my, Marcin project anymore.
This was software.
What Changed Immediately
Within hours:
3 real testers, 3 real machines, 3 real results:
Tester #1: "No errors, everything works perfectly"
Tester #2: "Works great, but window sizing needs work
for custom resolutions"
Tester #3: "No issues. Ran all alpha features for hours.
Everything stable."
That feedback loop?
That's gold.
The First Real Bug (And Why It Matters)
One tester reported:
"Optimization settings reset when I restart the app"
Why this matters:
I was storing optimization state in memory (perfect for development, useless for production).
Real user is **total **reality check.
Fix:
Added persistent JSON config file (30 lines of code).
Time: 2 hours
Shipped: Same day
This is the moment you stop building for users and start building with them.
What This .EXE Means
For Users:
Download _(one click, no Python)_
Install _(automated)_
Run _(immediate)_
Report bugs _(help development. PC Workman have console and logs!)_
For Developers:
Real-world testing data
Performance metrics from actual hardware
Bug reports that matter
Validation that it works beyond your machine
For PC_Workman:
SourceForge: Live
GitHub: Live
Microsoft Store: Coming soon
Google Ranking: #1 (for "PC Workman")
v1.6.3+ Includes new alpha features.
- YOUR PC Dashboard (hardware health in one place)
- Statistics & Monitoring (weeks of historical data)
- Optimization Dashboard (configure once, runs daily)
- System Cleanup (Cortana, OneDrive, Game Bar, services)
- hck_GPT (AI that explains why, not just what)
- Zero dependencies (just download and run)
Download Now
SourceForge: First PC Workman between tools lists!
GitHub: PC Workman - GitHub Releases
Website: First dedicated product page
For Solo Developers
If you're months into a project and haven't shipped an executable yet:
Don't panic.
Sometimes that's wisdom. Sometimes it's perfectionism.
The .exe moment is where you find out which.
For me? It was wisdom. Waiting until it didn't suck.
But yesterday, it became real.
What's Next
v1.6.4:
Early February (User feedback fixes)
Stages 2 & 3:
March-April (Full monitoring + AI analytics)
Microsoft Store: July
But immediate priority: Real user feedback.
More users is more bugs. So better fixes = better product.
My final Thought.
6 months. 680+ hours. 4 complete rebuilds. 16,000 lines deleted.
1 first .exe.
Not bad for working alone on a dying laptop.
If you just to support me. Im here :)
And You can find me everywhere on socials!
Ko-Fi - If you want :)
About the Author
I’m Marcin Firmuga. Solo developer and founder of HCK_Labs.
I created PC Workman , an open-source, AI-powered
PC resource monitor
built entirely from scratch on dying hardware during warehouse
shifts in the Netherlands.
This is the first time I’ve given one of my projects a real, dedicated home.
Before this:
game translations, PC technician internships, warehouse operations in multiple countries, and countless failed projects I never finished.
But this one? This one stuck.
700+ hours of code. 4 complete UI rebuilds. 16,000 lines deleted.
3 AM all-nighters. Energy drinks and toast.
And finally, an app I wouldn’t close in 5 seconds.
That’s the difference between building and shipping.
PC_Workman is the result.
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