After reading today's post "Curl is just the hobby," I stumbled upon Ludvig Strigeus while researching Daniel Stenberg (connection: both have won the Polhem Prize). I'm somewhat astonished by his life's work so far. Here are some of his key creations:
μTorrent - a small footprint BitTorrent client for Microsoft Windows and OS X
ScummVM - an interpreter for adventure game engines, notably LucasArts's SCUMM
OpenTTD - a reverse-engineered game engine of Transport Tycoon, which led to numerous ports and improvements over the original
Ports of Dr. Mario and Kwirk for the TI-89 calculator
"The Idiot" - a card game for Windows
WebWorks - a text HTML editor
Spotify - a commercial music streaming service
Spotiamp - a lightweight Spotify Premium client for Windows, created as a tribute to Winamp
TunSafe - a VPN client for Windows using the WireGuard protocol
It's clear that some programmers have far-above-average productivity and a keen sense for solutions that the world still needs. Having success with one program might be luck or coincidence, but there seems to be a system to this series of successes. Any of the above programs could easily become the life's work for many developers.
What's the secret?