When did we stop dreaming?

Growing up in the wild west internet of the early 2000s, we thought we could change the world. If only we adapt modern standards and designs fast enough, and offer competitive features, we can take on Big Tech. Maybe Bad Mergentheim will become Silicon Valley 2.0, who knows? Some day, big dreams had to meet with the cold reality. No, we won't take over the world. We now have boring full-time jobs, few spare time, and our big dreams are gone. The internet went downhill an ever-accelerating enshittification process, and we couldn't stop it. We're now living in 2026 and computers just aren't fun anymore.

...but what if there's still hope?

That we can't change the world doesn't mean we can't try. While the mainstream internet is drowning in slop, mainstream software becomes "simplified" so much that basic features are missing and designers are chasing the trend for smartphones while forgetting about the good old desktop computer, there are still some small outstanding projects that are aiming for a better future.

We realized that "Welcome to the future" is probably not what we should aim for, because the past was better in so many ways. The past wasn't perfect, computers have never been perfect, but the past was fun. It was a whole world to be discovered, with surprising websites you came across, with little gimmicks hidden in major software projects. Each website had an identity and personality, designed with love in every detail. Nowadays, 90% of the web seems to use the same boring style frameworks in one way or another.

Let's just build our own future!

We at Nikisoft are now focusing primarily on native applications for Haiku, a modern desktop operating system that still looks like it's from the 90s. Besides that, we're contributing to Haiku and operate a code search site that makes life easier for Haiku developers. No, there probably won't be a "Year of the Haiku desktop", but Haiku puts the fun back into computing, and that's what matters. We don't profit from the software we create, so we don't depend on millions of people using our software. We profit from our boring full-time jobs, so that we can do the fun stuff in our spare time.

Our current projects

BumbleBe - Chat like it's 1999

Chat like it's 1999, on your modern Haiku computer. BumbleBe is a native instant messenger application for Haiku that, by default, connects to the Phoenix messenger network. BumbleBe is under active development with support for group chats, voice calls and video calls planned, but personal chats are fully supported already. Check it out and feel the nostalgia from your childhood. It's free and open-source.

BeGroups - Your door to the Usenet

Imagine using a forum without needing a webbrowser. Imagine Reddit, but decentralized as an open standard, and you can access the whole network no matter on which server you have your account. That's the Usenet, a great open discussion network that the mainstream has mostly forgotten about. BeGroups is a native Haiku application that lets you access the Usenet. It's still under active development, but reading and writing articles already works. It's free and open-source.

BePuyo - Let's have some fun!

Bored? BePuyo is a very simple game for Haiku to quickly waste some time. It's a bit similar to Tetris. The project is pretty complete already, but if you have new ideas or find bugs, please let us know. Of course it's also free and open-source.

Dev-Wiki.de - The developers home

Dev-Wiki originally was a developer forum started in 2017. After some break, we brought it back online as a whole knowledge and community platform for developers in 2025, based on another software that is open-source and customizable for our needs. It doesn't have much content yet, but that can be changed. It's right there, waiting for you. Ask your programming- or free-software-related questions, show your own open-source projects or share useful tips and tricks. The Dev-Wiki platform is exclusively for German-speaking users.

Interested in free software development?

...or in learning it? Join Team Nikisoft! There's still so much left to do to create a excellent desktop computer experience, for Haiku or for traditional non-bloat webservices. Help us improving our applications, learn creating own apps with our help, adopt a old abandoned HaikuArchives application with our support, or simply discuss ideas for future applications with us.

You're more into web development? That's fine, too. The modern web sucks. Let's make surfing great again! Simple websites that get their job done. No useless Javascript-bloat, no annoying effects that steal your performance, no year-long page load times. Unfortunately, these qualities got lost over the years, as computers became more powerful and fast internet became cheaper. Don't forget, there are still countries where not everyone can afford the fastest computer or internet connection.

If you have some spare time left and make the computer world a little bit better, we'd love to hear from you. Simply use our contact form.

Check out these projects!

Finding great software and webservices that keep the spirit of the long gone days alive isn't as easy as you may think. Besides our own projects, we also want to show you a few software and web projects that we think you may like, as they follow the same spirit. They may recreate websites or services of the past, or simply have a great no-bloat appearance, or allow you to view the web in a more private or lightweight way. Beware, not all of what we show here is open-source software, but we always tell you if something is.

One random tip to check out: Operating Systems

Haiku - The modern retro-style desktop

Haiku is a open-source operating system dedicated to desktop computers and laptops. The project was started in 2001, one day after it was clear that BeOS had no future. Haiku is a full operating system that consists of its own kernel, desktop environment, libraries and a good set of default applications built by the Haiku project itself. Many applications known from Linux can be used as well. It's actively maintained and supports modern technologies. Its oldschool but timeless design lets you get work done without getting in your way and may remind you of the good old days when functionality was more important than bloat and effects. For Haiku, it still is.

Downsides: Driver support is sometimes a problem, especially on very new devices.