March 9, 2026
Retro clicks, spicy takes
ma
‘ma’ brings Plan 9’s chill mouse-driven editing back — nostalgia hits hard
TLDR: A tiny editor called “ma” revives Acme’s retro, mouse-driven style from Plan 9 with a chill, single-window approach. Commenters gush over the look, ask if it can live on everyday systems, and drop alternatives like Wily—fueling a nostalgia-meets-practicality debate that hits both hearts and keyboards.
Old-school cool alert: “ma” just dropped, a tiny text tool that copies the vibe of Acme from Plan 9—an old Bell Labs project known for its click-everything interface. It’s minimal, mouse-first, and single-window, which means it leans into calm over speed. The dev even admits it’s slower but less frantic, and fans are vibing. One commenter basically swooned over the aesthetic, sharing a Plan 9 screenshot and wondering if this mood can exist on everyday laptops.
Cue the mini culture clash. The keyboard diehards (think: shortcut ninjas) mutter “why click when you can key?”, while the Zen click crowd loves the “single-handed editing” lifestyle. The big mainstream question pops up: can this retro feel actually run on normal systems without pain? Meanwhile, a helpful drop-in links to Wily, another Acme-inspired path, because of course the rabbit hole goes deeper. Users joke about “carpal tunnel rehab software,” and marvel at the quirky “everything is text, and text is clickable” idea—Plan 9’s legendary “plumbing” of text to actions. It’s minimalism vs convenience, clicks vs keys, and it’s all wrapped in cozy retro UI energy. Verdict from the crowd: fewer tabs, more vibes—and yes, please bring those Plan 9 looks to the rest of us.
Key Points
- •“ma” is a Tcl/Tk-based minimal clone of the Plan 9 acme editor, emphasizing a mouse-driven, text-centric interface.
- •Tested with Tcl/Tk 8.5 on Linux and OpenBSD; runs on macOS with XQuartz and works best with a tiling window manager.
- •The editor is single-window-based and relies on the window manager; configuration is via ~/.ma (Tcl code) and command-line options.
- •A registry mode (ma -registry &) uses Tk send to locate open files and coordinate window context; disabled if X-forwarding is active.
- •Companion tools include B (file/window activation), win/pty (interactive terminals), ma-eval (remote Tcl eval), awd (labeling), and plumb (regex-based plumbing).