The Hardware Liberation Front

I’ve been spending some of my free time writing software to keep perfectly good hardware from becoming e-waste.

Some of that work includes:

• Writing modern DriverKit (USB & Thunderbolt) audio drivers and companion desktop software for a legacy audio interface that was sunset by its original developers. It now works again on macOS 26, and hopefully future releases as well. Currently in active testing before proposing to the rights owner next steps and how it might be publicly released.
• Working with a company on new firmware for a hardware sequencer that is no longer being maintained. Still in the exploratory phase, with source code access expected soon.
• Releasing Printer Bridge, a macOS utility that enables AirPrint support for printers that already work with a Mac. A small afternoon side project that came together quickly while I was doing other things.

It took about six months of outreach to build enough trust with one of these companies for them to feel comfortable sharing the source code with me. The process taught me a lot—especially about diplomacy and how to earn support from companies who have very little direct upside and every reason to be hesitant.

When I mentioned the timeline to someone who doesn’t know me well, they laughed at me and said that I don’t value my time.

I disagree.

One of the best things we can do as stewards of the planet is keep useful things alive for as long as possible. Not only that, I love learning how things work by cracking them open and rebuilding them!

There is so much hardware that still works. It still sounds great, prints fine, feels good to use, or solves a real problem. What usually disappears isn’t the hardware — it’s the software around it. A driver stops getting updated. A desktop app falls behind. A missing feature makes something harder to use in a modern setup. Slowly, something valuable starts looking obsolete.

The good news is that software has never been easier to make. The tools are better, iteration is faster, and more people have the skills to build software that extends the life of existing devices.

Sometimes I reach out to companies that can no longer maintain older products and ask if they’d consider letting me help. The goal is simple: earn trust from the team, move slowly, and explore whether the software can be modernized without creating any work for them. If open sourcing becomes possible, even better. It's early days but I've done this a few times in the past 6-months and hope to do it a lot more!

There are enthusiastic users, customers, and developers who would gladly help keep great hardware alive. That’s good for the hardware, good for the people who bought it, and good for the companies that made it.

Lately I’ve been calling this idea the Hardware Liberation Front.

A loose group of people who write software to keep great hardware alive for as long as possible—drivers, firmware updates, utilities, compatibility layers, bridges between old devices and modern systems.

This idea isn’t new. People like Yvon Chouinard have encouraged repairing and extending the life of things for decades. And the open-source community has long done the same in software, maintaining the code much of the modern world runs on. What’s changing now is that better tools—and AI in particular—make it possible for many more people (like me) to easily participate.

If the idea resonates with you, join in.

Keep your gear alive.
Help someone else keep theirs alive.
Write an update. Share the tool. Open source the fix.

A little software can go a long way.