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Small Tech

Jan 02, 2026

Few months ago I decided to watch “Andor” on the recommendation of a friend. It’s a TV series in the Star Wars universe, and I think it may have put me into a state of semi-depression.

There is a quote which really hit me hard (SPOILERS!!):

There will be times when the struggle seems impossible. I know this already. Alone, unsure, dwarfed by the scale of the enemy.

Remember this, Freedom is a pure idea. It occurs spontaneously and without instruction. Random acts of insurrection are occurring constantly throughout the galaxy. There are whole armies, battalions that have no idea that they’ve already enlisted in the cause.

Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.

And remember this: the Imperial need for control is so desperate because it is so unnatural. Tyranny requires constant effort. It breaks, it leaks. Authority is brittle. Oppression is the mask of fear.

Remember that. And know this, the day will come when all these skirmishes and battles, these moments of defiance will have flooded the banks of the Empires’s authority and then there will be one too many. One single thing will break the siege.

Remember this: Try.

This is exactly how I feel about the state of technology and the web in 2026. And where my place is in this rebellion.

Our control and basic rights around technology is slipping away into the hands of mega corporations. Power is consolidating among a few giants. The FOSS movement has only been a pipedream amongst the very few rebels who care. But they do care. And every bit counts. These moments of defiance _IS_ the reason the world hasn’t fallen apart yet. There is enough good in the world that opression hasn’t won, and it never will.

I keep wondering why do we always choose bigtech with their dark patterns and give up our freedom when really good alternatives exist.

And I keep coming back to the same answer: convenience.

Convenience is king. It beats everything.

It makes you choose evil over good. It subverts you into going against your freedom. It makes you think you’re winning when you’re really losing.

There is light at the end of the tunnel though. It’s a fight to take back our freedom. We at Gaiwan call it “small tech”.

Small tech is technology and software which is easy to use, forkable, shareable, delightful, not built for exploitation, works in your favour, empowers and fuels curiosity. Tech which doesn’t do everything, but it does a few things well. Tech for the common folks, an enabler in it’s true sense. Tech which will help us build the blessed realm, a place akin to Valinor.

But there is a big problem with small tech, it’s not yet convenient enough for people to switch to. This is a problem worth solving.

Problems we need to overcome

Stability over features. I really applaud the zest of open source developers, but too often they fall under the trap of more is better. But in reality what we need is software with small surface area, software which lasts for decades without breaking. Coming from Clojure I really value stability and backward compatiblity which is essential to develop trust and mastery in your tools.
- Identity, all FOSS selfhosted solutions have different ways to authenticate. We need to make IDP dead easy.

Remember this, Freedom is a pure idea … Remember this, try. - Nemik