Daily issue / 2026-04-16
Useful things that surfaced in Hacker News discussions on 2026-04-16. Open the context to see why each one caught our attention—or jump straight to the original thread.
What we found
Open-source scheduling tool positioned as a Cal.com replacement.
Source discussion: Cal.com is going closed source
Editorial paraphrase
“Our scheduling tool, Thunderbird Appointment, will always be open source” and “We’ll help you replace Cal.com”.
Read the original threadSmall self-hosted scheduling tool built to replace a Cal.com instance.
Source discussion: Cal.com is going closed source
Editorial paraphrase
“replace my Cal.com instance with a smaller, simpler self-hosted tool”.
Read the original threadThe Cal.com fork commenters pointed to as the obvious alternative.
Source discussion: Cal.com is going closed source
Editorial paraphrase
“anyone who cares would just use cal.diy as they were prior to this announcement”.
Read the original threadAn immutable Tiny Core Linux port for Raspberry Pi hardware.
Source discussion: PiCore - Raspberry Pi Port of Tiny Core Linux
A Pi-based Squeezebox/Lyrion client/server setup that commenters love.
Source discussion: PiCore - Raspberry Pi Port of Tiny Core Linux
Editorial paraphrase
“the basis for the excellent PiCorePlayer, a favourite of mine to run Squeezebox clients (and/or Lyrion music server) on any Pi”.
Read the original threadAn Android/TV YouTube client people use specifically to avoid Shorts.
Source discussion: YouTube now lets you turn off Shorts
Editorial paraphrase
“#1 reason I switched to the SmartTube app on my Chromecast. No more Shorts.”
Read the original threadCrowd-sourced sponsor skipping for YouTube.
Source discussion: YouTube now lets you turn off Shorts
A tool for making YouTube thumbnails less clickbait-y.
Source discussion: YouTube now lets you turn off Shorts
A Firefox extension for hiding Shorts and tailoring YouTube’s UI.
Source discussion: YouTube now lets you turn off Shorts
Editorial paraphrase
“I use the ‘Unhook’ Firefox extension to customize the YouTube page. You can hide shorts…”.
Read the original threadA uBlock Origin filter repo for hiding YouTube Shorts.
Source discussion: YouTube now lets you turn off Shorts
Editorial paraphrase
“Just use uBlock origin and this filter: https://github.com/i5heu/ublock-hide-yt-shorts”.
Read the original threadA privacy-friendly YouTube frontend used as an alternative to the main site.
Source discussion: YouTube now lets you turn off Shorts
Editorial paraphrase
“I deleted my Google account and now occasionally use Invidious with LibRedirect”.
Read the original threadA browser extension that redirects services to privacy-friendly frontends.
Source discussion: YouTube now lets you turn off Shorts
An AI tool with active users saying it remains helpful and compelling.
Source discussion: Ask HN: Who is using OpenClaw?
Editorial paraphrase
Users said they “still use it and find it helpful” and that it is “compelling”.
Read the original threadAn AI agent platform praised for being easier to keep working than predecessors.
Source discussion: Ask HN: Who is using OpenClaw?
Editorial paraphrase
“it didn’t feel like I was constantly needing to fix it, so at the moment I’m happy with it”.
Read the original threadA deck-generation tool praised for both content and design quality.
Source discussion: ChatGPT for Excel
Editorial paraphrase
“I was stunned by the content as well as design quality of the deck it produced”.
Read the original threadA spreadsheet assistant commenters say is already very capable.
Source discussion: ChatGPT for Excel
Editorial paraphrase
“Claude for excel is already amazing. Fully capable of doing junior work.”
Read the original threadA spreadsheet-oriented ChatGPT experience that commenters want to try and like on complex sheets.
Source discussion: ChatGPT for Excel
Editorial paraphrase
One commenter said they were looking forward to trying it, and another said it “does really well on complex sheets.”
Read the original threadGoogle’s Gemini app on macOS drew positive comparisons to Claude.
Source discussion: The Gemini app is now on Mac
Classic compiler text recommended as a good introductory book.
Source discussion: Want to write a compiler? Just read these two papers (2008)
Editorial paraphrase
“Chapter 2 is a self-sufficient introduction into compilers” and “I found it to be a good introductory text.”
Read the original threadA short compiler book praised for clarity and completeness.
Source discussion: Want to write a compiler? Just read these two papers (2008)
Editorial paraphrase
“Another fantastic intro to compiler writing is the short little book ‘Compilers’ by Niklaus Wirth” with “pristine clarity”.
Read the original thread