Awal argues plain-text files face existential risk
1Sep 22 1:14 PM · 1d ago · 1 post · 1 comment · 1 source · development 1 of 11
A Lobsters user published an essay contending that plain-text files—the "only real universal data interface we have had so far"—are at risk of abandonment. The argument centers on two trends: smartphones replacing desktops for mass users (who have "essentially forgotten about plain-text files"), and the rise of LLM-mediated interfaces that may make direct file editing obsolete even for programmers.
“Plain-text files, with their many encodings and layered formats, are the only real universal data interface we have had so far.”
> Just 20 years ago, it was normal to use such editors regularly, even if you were a layperson. This does not reflect my experience; the last time I saw a layperson using plain text was in the 1990s.