Decker: HyperCard-inspired multimedia authoring platform
Original: Decker, a platform that builds on the legacy of Hypercard and classic macOS
Why This Matters
Decker revives accessible, user-driven software creation tools in an era dominated by cloud-based, ad-supported platforms.
Decker is a free, open-source multimedia platform inspired by HyperCard and classic macOS. It allows users to create interactive documents with sound, images, hypertext, and scripted behavior, running in browsers or natively on macOS, Windows, Linux, and BSD.
Decker is a multimedia authoring tool that builds on the legacy of Apple's HyperCard, retaining its simplicity while adding modern features such as deep undo history, scroll wheel and touchscreen support, and bulk editing operations. Users can create e-zines, presentations, adventure games, notes, and pixel art using a distinctive '1-bit ditherpunk' visual aesthetic. Finished projects are saved as standalone HTML files that run in any web browser, making sharing straightforward. For scripting, Decker includes Lil, a novel language influenced by Lua and Q (an APL-family language), featuring implicit scalar-vector arithmetic and an integrated SQL-like query syntax. Decker also ships with Lilt, a command-line Lil interpreter capable of headlessly reading and executing Decker documents. Decks are stored in a line-oriented text format compatible with Git and SVN. The platform includes no advertising, telemetry, or AI-generated content integration, emphasizing user privacy and autonomy. A library of community-contributed modules covers graphing, PDF export, pathfinding, sound generation, and more.