Daily issue / 2026-05-01
Useful things that surfaced in Hacker News discussions on 2026-05-01. Open the context to see why each one caught our attention—or jump straight to the original thread.
What we found
Tiny macOS utility that reads what USB-C cables can actually do.
Source discussion: Show HN: WhatCable, a tiny menu bar app for inspecting USB-C cables
Editorial paraphrase
The thread quickly turned into requests for CLI, KDE/GNOME, Homebrew, MacPorts, and regular-app modes.
Read the original threadCAD agent that edits existing Fusion and Onshape models.
Source discussion: Show HN: AI CAD Harness
Editorial paraphrase
Comments focused on CAD-as-code, feature-tree edits, and beta integrations for Fusion and Onshape.
Read the original threadPostgres-backed Git server designed around database backups.
Source discussion: Show HN: My Private GitHub on Postgres
Editorial paraphrase
Commenters liked the backup integration and kept comparing it to Fossil and GitLab/Forgejo/Gitea.
Read the original threadCross-distro package-search CLI that reduces distro-hopping.
Source discussion: whohas – Command-line utility for cross-distro, cross-repository package search
Editorial paraphrase
The thread cited Repology, pkgs.org, and nix-locate as alternatives or complements.
Read the original threadAll-in-one SCM with hosting, tracking, wiki, and chat.
Source discussion: Show HN: My Private GitHub on Postgres
Editorial paraphrase
Commenters said “Fossil really has it all” and “Just use Fossil at this point.”
Read the original threadPackage manager option people said now fits everyday Linux workflows.
Source discussion: whohas – Command-line utility for cross-distro, cross-repository package search
Editorial paraphrase
One comment said switching to Homebrew for Linux and Flatpak made distro choice mostly about desktop environment.
Read the original threadPackage metadata index with an hourly-updated API.
Source discussion: whohas – Command-line utility for cross-distro, cross-repository package search
Editorial paraphrase
A commenter said Repology provides an API, though unstable.
Read the original threadCross-distro package lookup site with broad repo coverage.
Source discussion: whohas – Command-line utility for cross-distro, cross-repository package search
Editorial paraphrase
The whohas thread explicitly linked pkgs.org right after discussing Repology.
Read the original threadNix package locator behind the nix-locate command.
Source discussion: whohas – Command-line utility for cross-distro, cross-repository package search
Editorial paraphrase
A commenter pointed to `nix-locate -r 'bin/foo$'` as the command-line alternative.
Read the original threadGraphing calculator users praised as cheaper and better than TI.
Source discussion: Ti-84 Evo
Editorial paraphrase
Multiple comments said NumWorks is similar but more reasonably priced, and one said it is much better.
Read the original thread