What 4 builders share, ranked
Rewritten on every build from data/themes.yml and each builder's themes. 12 themes are shared by two or more people who never compared notes.
Agents run as a team
One model plans, another does, another checks. Each builder got there on their own.
“I never trust, um, one—one AI. I always get one to check the other.”Lee Shand
“turn it into issues, and then go do a PR stack, solving each issue in sequence.”Michael Hurley
AI removed the implementation wall
The loudest Omarchy fans are veterans and non-coders with decades of ideas who got their hands back.
“I'm s*** at implementation”Lee Shand
“I just built s***, right?”James Tervit
“I just went in always with the attitude that this is a tool that I'm going to use to my advantage.”Michael Hurley
“I love to design much more than I love programming, but I'm good at the programming thing.”Michael Hurley
Cost-aware model routing, invented independently
Pick the cheapest model that can do the job, and let usage decide.
Filling the app gaps that kept people on Mac
The community is rebuilding the Mac reasons one app at a time.
“my Mac can literally just stay closed in the corner.”Michael Hurley
It feels like being a kid again
First computers, BBS nights and dial-up at 5am. Nostalgia plus community is the emotional core.
“This is how it used to be on BBS with community. Everybody was sharing”James Tervit
“He's revived the whole, um, thing about community”James Tervit
“this thing got me hooked on how I used to be when I was a kid”Yasir Malik
Linux on the desktop was a toy until Omarchy
Omarchy is the first Linux desktop these people use for real work.
“the way that I've been, um, significantly more productive has been when I installed Omarchy”Lee Shand
“if I don't know any other application that's better than the terminal, um, it's my go-to.”James Tervit
“Linux felt like a toy until Omarchy 3, really. And then it was, okay, I can use this for work.”Michael Hurley
Memory and context are the real product
Writing things down is easy. Recall in the right context is the hard part.
“For people like me, if I don't have AI anymore, I don't have a life.”Lee Shand
“That's where all my cognitive function lives, is within Obsidian.”Lee Shand
“My goal with Obsidian is I never want to be in that application”Lee Shand
The AI Vampire
Everyone feels this is once in a lifetime, and trades sleep and hobbies for it.
“This is— this is just fun”James Tervit
“I just don't feel there are enough hours in a day. That's my only complaint.”Yasir Malik
“I'm so glad that I'm living in this day and age where technology is just like moving at the pace it is.”Yasir Malik
The looks get them in, the AI keeps them
Aesthetics are the hook. Low friction plus built-in AI is the retention.
“To be honest, the looks were the first thing that got me.”Yasir Malik
“With Omarchy, any issues that I had, it's AI is built in.”Yasir Malik
X is hard, sincerity is the answer
Builders feel invisible on X. Curating to builders and being sincere is what works.
“I better get my finger out because I saw your website.”James Tervit
Omarchy as an accessibility tool
Keyboard-driven, no mouse hunting, and problems fixed by asking an agent.
“how you almost don't have to think to use it”Lee Shand