February 16, 2026
Crows vs. code showdown
The Sideprocalypse
Dev side‑hustle dreams “dead”? Commenters split between doom, “quality wins,” and selling real stuff
TLDR: A viral rant says indie software side-hustles are toast unless you buddy up to big companies, claiming quality no longer matters. The comments erupted: some call that defeatist, others say global distribution is easier now, one guy left for physical products, and many insist great quality still wins.
The post dubbed “The Sideprocalypse” basically tells indie app makers to bury their side projects and go work for Big Tech, because quality doesn’t matter and only enterprise deals pay. Cue chaos in the comments. One user, 0x303, agreed with the diagnosis but called the “cling to corporations” advice depressing, while others said the doom is overcooked and the future isn’t just gated by tech giants.
The pushback got spicy. Gud staked out the craft-is-king hill: “make it great and people will notice,” especially when competitors ship junk. Meanwhile, debo_ reframed the whole game: distribution—the painful, expensive task of getting your product in front of people—“just got a lot easier,” meaning niche products can go global without burning the team to ashes. And then there’s the plot twist: alangibson bailed on software entirely for physical goods, claiming they’re simply easier to sell, even if profits are thinner. Imagine swapping your app for mugs—and sleeping better.
Readers also roasted the author’s crows metaphor when bryanrasmussen noticed a plug for GitHub stars, quipping it’s just more “breadcrumbs for the crows.” Expect crow emojis, backyard‑funeral memes, and a split between doomers, builders, and craft purists. The only consensus? The hustle got weird—fast.
Key Points
- •The article argues small, independent side‑project SaaS businesses are no longer viable in today’s ecosystem.
- •It claims distribution and platform control outweigh product quality, making best practices and performance less decisive.
- •The author asserts React’s dominance, Safari’s constraints, and Google’s search changes have undermined the open web’s discoverability.
- •It recommends high‑touch enterprise sales and aligning with major platforms as the remaining viable paths to revenue online.
- •The piece criticizes AI boosterism, citing models like Claude and Gemini, and argues the marginal value of code is declining.