January 1, 2026
The 90s just rebooted in your browser
Show HN: Feather – a fresh Tcl reimplementation (WASM, Go)
Nerds Lose Their Minds Over a ‘New Old’ Programming Language That Runs in Your Browser
TLDR: Feather is a new remake of an old-school scripting language that lets apps have built‑in command consoles, even in the browser. Developers in the comments are split between geeking out over the tech, warning about name confusion with an older project, and nostalgically dreaming of 90s browser plugins returning.
A new project called Feather just dropped, promising an easy way to bolt a command console onto your apps, and the developer world is already in the comments arguing, reminiscing, and low‑key flirting with nostalgia. Feather is basically a modern remake of Tcl, a 90s scripting language, rebuilt to run inside apps and even right in your browser through WebAssembly (tech that lets other languages run on the web). Think: secret developer console in your game, or live control panel inside your app.
One commenter shows up like an overexcited lab partner: they’re also secretly building their own Tcl from scratch and vent about how “reference counting” (a memory bookkeeping trick) is “a pain in the neck.” It’s half therapy session, half geek flex. Another commenter immediately slams the brakes on the hype train, pointing out Feather already existed 20 years ago under the same name, basically shouting, “Guys, we’ve seen this movie!” Meanwhile, an old‑timer appears from the mists of Netscape Navigator days, gleefully asking if this means the legendary Tcl browser plugin is back from the dead via WebAssembly.
The vibe: half retro reunion, half naming drama, with everyone oddly excited about a language that proudly says “don’t use me for big serious stuff.” It’s lightweight glue code, but the community is treating it like a surprise reboot of a cult classic.
Key Points
- •Feather is an embeddable, TCL-compatible scripting language designed to add an interactive command shell to host applications.
- •It emphasizes host control and inspectability, with no built-in I/O or event loop, and provides a browser-based playground via WebAssembly.
- •Feather targets short, interactive programs for tasks like runtime configuration, in-app consoles, configuration files, and user scripting.
- •It omits packaging/import systems and does not prioritize performance; Lua is recommended for large-scale, performant embedded programming.
- •Host integrations include Go (reference implementation), JavaScript/WASM (browser and Node.js), Swift, and Java; Ruby and Python are intentionally not supported.