Software used to be extensible. In the desktop era, we could inject code or patch any software on our machines. We could use this code to bend the software to our will and create new things that the creators couldn’t imagine. This freedom made the whole ecosystem better. We can still see this today in many desktop applications we use daily. For example, users of Chrome can alter the browser to complete change its functionality through its “extension” system, even block ads from Google!
What happened? The web made software *rigid*. You can’t customize applications beyond some blessed “settings” screens. Many applications provide HTTP APIs, but this only allows you to customize functionality on the surface. But what would it look like to make web software extensible again?
This talk will explore the past, present, and future of extensible software. We’ll explore a demo to see what this new breed of applications will look like and we’ll see how LLMs are the key to unlocking this future.
