April 6, 2026
The elephant in the app: Electron?
Show HN: Tusk for macOS and Gnome
New Postgres app Tusk drops; fans cheer, purists shout 'Electron'
TLDR: Tusk is a new free, open-source Postgres app for Mac and GNOME that brings a slick browser and SQL editor to your database. The community’s hyped to try it, but a loud debate erupted over the app being built with Electron after the site called it “native,” sparking purist vs pragmatist drama.
A shiny new database app just lumbered into town: Tusk for macOS and GNOME, a free, open-source tool for poking around your Postgres data. Think: connection profiles, an easy schema browser, a tidy SQL editor, and a data grid that actually looks friendly. The devs say it’s “native,” and that’s where the comments went from polite golf clap to popcorn time.
Early reactions are glowing. One veteran says they’ll “take it for a spin tomorrow,” even though they’ve spent a decade living in the command line with vim and psql (that’s the old-school terminal tool). Another fan asks about plug-and-play with Postgres.app, the Mac bundle—translation: people want Tusk to slide into their existing setup without drama. Nostalgia surfaced too: someone pined for Microsoft’s 2000-era Query Analyzer like it was a lost love.
Then came the record scratch: a commenter called out that the website says “native,” but the mac app is built with Electron—basically a web-based wrapper popular for desktop apps. Cue the eternal dev flame war: smooth features vs. the “is it truly native?” purity test. Meanwhile, screenshots of the macOS and GNOME versions had folks bookmarking. Whether you’re a terminal warrior or a click-happy modernist, Tusk just stomped into your timeline—and the elephant-sized question is: do you care what it’s built with if it’s good?
Key Points
- •Tusk is a free, open-source PostgreSQL client available for macOS and GNOME/Linux.
- •Both editions include schema browsing, table inspection, data editing, and a full-featured SQL editor.
- •Connection management supports profiles, keyring storage, SSH tunnels, testing, read-only mode, and URI import; each platform adds unique options.
- •macOS adds features like SSL/TLS toggle, multiple simultaneous connections, relations radial graph, JSON/JSONB tree view, and an Activity Monitor.
- •GNOME adds features like .pgpass import, role browser, schema management, cancel running query, pinned columns, and system dark/light mode.