Someone just clean-room ported seven Adobe apps to Rust, and Wes is shocked at how good it is. Scott and Wes break down what it gets right, what’s still missing, and why copying software is easy but inventing what comes next is the hard part.
Show Notes
00:00 Welcome to Syntax!
00:12 Adobe Is in Trouble: A Clean Room Port of the Entire Suite
ArtCraft
02:22 Scott’s Long Running Adobe Grudge Since 2017
03:42 Figma Is Not a Raster Tool: Why Every Alternative Falls Short
04:40 Opening Real Photoshop Files: Masks, Half Tones and Blend Modes
PhotoCraft Github
06:30 What Clean Room Porting Actually Means
09:54 A Familiar Interface, Entirely Built in Rust
10:15 Don’t Trash the Whole Thing Over One or Two Bugs
12:14 What’s Missing: Artboards and the Tiny UI Interactions
13:53 Where Are the Vibe Coded Photoshops? Four Months Later
14:33 Figma’s Locked Down MCP and the Backlash
17:22 Dylan’s Clap Back at Anthropic’s Own Closed Ecosystem
18:08 The Real Photoshop Replacement Will Be a New Way of Working
21:35 Good UI Is Still the Moat
22:28 Caring About Your Project Past Two Days
23:05 Audio Crackles and Paper Cuts: The Bugs Only Humans Chase
24:56 Brought to you by Sentry!
26:28 Copying Is Easy: The Hard Part Is Inventing What Comes Next
27:28 DaVinci Resolve Keeps Shipping Useful Releases
28:26 Sick Picks + Shameless Plugs
Sick Picks
Scott: KWS V2 Rack
Wes: Insta360 Luna
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