''This''...is a story about an app.
an app called MouseCatcher
and it's creator Terry.
It is a story, how a simple, elegant little app, designed for one specific purpose, became a behemoth of features and chrome, comparable only to vanilla EMACS.
be warned, [[BE WARNED->2]]
Terry was a simple developer, with dual 4K monitors running at maximum resolution of whatever 4K is.
Terry noted that he had a peculiar [[problem->2_1]]
Lucklilly for the purposes of the story, Terry was a programmer with proper knowledge of the system he was using.
So Terry decided to program a little [[app->3]]
Ever used a mouse on dual 4K displays? with it's default size? How on eart are you supposed to [[2<-find it?]]
Because Terry was raised by (damn)''HIPPIES'' and by (actually not that bad) ''BSD'' distributions, Terry decided that it would be a good idea to release the software of open source.
Whether or not said software ''needed'' to be released as open source is another twine entirely.
Nevertheless, Terry put it all on [[github->4]]
With the release of the first stable version on GitHub, the MouseCatcher was a simple software: All it really did was render a crosshair centering on the mouse, thus making it easier to see where the mouse cursor was on a given display.
There was also a mode where a circular pulse was rendered with a keypressing, thus allowing the user to find the mouse faster.
Said App was pretty popular: lots of fake gitHub points, several pull requests and downloads, and ports for *NIX systems and other obscure OSes and computer [[platforms->5]]
People with 4K dual monitors and other such bearded fellows praised Terry for his small app. Even though it wasn't nowhere near the size and influence of Linux (even though Linus Torvalds himself was a user of the app), it was still a ''pretty big deal''.
Then...people started to think up things they wanted [[the app to do->6]]
The first additions to Terry's app weren't big. Just some ways to find the mouse, even a key combo that would center the mouse cursor on display one or on display two.
People deemed this to be a [[Good Thing->7]]
Slowly, but surely, there were signs of [[feature creep->7_1]].
Bells, whistles, chrome, and a wax shine on the UI. There started to be macros, options, things to control the color of the mouse cursor (another feature that was good at the time...)...
Then...Some maniac decided to create a [[scripting language for the damn thing->8]]. ''Based on LISP'', as is the way of our people.
''Feature creep, creeping featurism'' or ''featuritis'' is the ongoing expansion or addition of new features in a product, such as in computer software. Extra features go beyond the basic function of the product and so can result in software bloat and over-complication rather than [[7<-simple design.]]
Thanks wikipedia!
Soon there was a text editor, a calculator, various MLG Montage parody effects, even a email re-mailer.
But for what?
How did this thing become so...[[bloated?->9]]
Well young Skippy ('my name's not skippy') ('IT IS NOW'), Terry didn't really think that the app would grow so big. there was no ''single author voice'' in the app. People just took it, and after adding features to it that they themselves needed, they just ''continued to add things''. As it [[goes->10]]
Moral of the story is this, kids:
''If you release something as open source and it catches on, you got to lead it. You gotta. Gotta do it, you gotta.''
[[Optional credits->11]]
<p><h1>Credits</h1></p>
Original idea: Leo Loikkanen
The person who did all the work: Leo Loikkanen
Editing: Leo Loikkanen
Produced by: Leo Loikkanen
Distributed by: Some website
Catering by: M'bogo's dry cleaning & catering