My anecdotal experience is rather different.

I write a lot of C++ and QML code. Codex 5.3, only released in Feb, is the the first model I've used that would regularly generate code that passes my 25 years expert smell test and has turned generative coding from a timesap/nuisance into a tool I can somewhat rely on not to set me back.

Claude still wasn't quite there at the time, but I haven't tried 4.6 yet.

QML is a declarative-first markup language that is a superset of the JavaScript syntax. It's niche and doesn't have a giant amount of training data in the corpus. Codex 5.3 is the first model that doesn't super botch it or prefers to write reams of procedural JS embeds (yes, after steering). Much reduced is also the tendency to go overboard on spamming everything with clouds of helper functions/methods in both C++ and QML. It knows when to stop, so to speak, and is either trained or able to reason toward a more idiomatic ideal, with far less explicit instruction / AGENTS.md wrangling.

It's a huge difference. It might be the result of very specific optimization, or perhaps simultaneous advancements in the harness play a bigger role, but in my books my kneck of the woods (or place on the long tail) only really came online in 2026 as far as LLMs are concerned.

The module that does the annual donation thingie should also load here, there isn't really any differentiation by the shell package as it's handled elsewhere via a mechanism that's agnostic to it.

Just to manage expectations: Big Screen is a fairly old project at this point, that has always had a relatively small number of people showing it some love (though I understand recently there's been an uptick again). This is not a new product announcement from us, nor a key focus of the community. That is not the disparage the work being done there in any way, but this most likely isn't quite Kodi just yet.

> so many developers and other tech nerds - the type who post on HN

The average developer stopped being a "tech nerd" around 2010 or so. I think older developers sometimes don't understand how the ranks have swollen and how many, many more people are in software now that don't have the "I was a nerdy kid in the 90s, loved computers and chose the career" upbringing.

The average developer now has a MacBook, went to a bunch of bootcamps and writes TypeScript. Or enterprise Java if they got unlucky.

The EUV and other factory equipment everyone's using is predominantly European. High-end testing tools used in R&D are largely European.

The fabs aren't, and that is no small thing. The tech stack is there though.

It's pretty tiresome that the HN audience keeps assuming Europe doesn't have "tech" because it doesn't have Facebook. Where do you think all the wealth comes from? Europe is all over everyone's R&D and supply chain.