Gladly! Automerge on its own is just a library that makes local-first data structures possible.
Ethersync uses this library for a concrete purpose: Collaborating on local text files. We wrote editor plugins and a daemon that runs on your computer, to enable you to type in plaintext files/source code together, from the editors you already know.
Yep! Daemons on multiple computers speak the Automerge sync protocol. Between daemon and editors, we use a "one-sided operational transform" approach, in an attempt to offload as much work as possible into the daemon (and out of the plugin). If you're interested, you can learn more about Ethersync's architecture in the documentation: https://ethersync.github.io/ethersync/
Hey :) I don't know how familiar you are with Nix, but the process I describe in the blog post works almost exactly as you describe:
The command `nix shell nixpkgs#qemu` puts the qemu binaries in your $PATH temporarily, you can hit Ctrl-D to leave that environment. And the Nix flake I show works similarly – the specified tools are only available to you when entering the directory where the .envrc file is.
These techniques work without other special shell/terminal software, and you can use Nix on any operating system, not only on NixOS. This is my favorite introduction to the ecosystem, I think you might like it: https://zero-to-nix.com
Author here :) I paid $70 for the section from New York to Chicago, because I slept in the coach section there. For the section from Chicago to Emeryville, I treated myself to a roomette, and paid $775 – so $845 in total.
Yeah, I also think it's unfortunate that flying is so much more affordable. But, as another passenger said on the train, taking the train is also three times the experience!
And when you have a sleeper ticket, three meals a day are included.
Also, I gave a 10-minute talk version of this post at !!Con last year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xic63tHw2Bo