Omakase Computing #

Omacom stands for Omakase Computing. The word Omakase means "I'll leave it up to you" or "chef's choice" in Japanese.

It's the idea that most people don't actually know what they want, at least not at first. That they're better off getting something beautifully curated and integrated from someone they trust to make competent, tasteful decisions rather than suffer from the paradox of choice.

It's the same principle that Ruby on Rails was built on.

It doesn't mean there isn't room for substitutions. It doesn't mean you can't develop your own taste and opinions. It just means that when you're starting out, you don't even have to know what all the different options are to enjoy an integrated, cohesive computing experience.

Once you develop your competence and knowledge, you may well want to tinker and tailor your computing environment to your specific liking. Or not! Plenty of great programmers prefer to stick with a set of well-maintained defaults. But you always have the option.

In some ways, this is anathema to some branches of classic Linux culture. Where there's been a strong belief that everyone should know everything about all of their tools, and that they should preferably configure every last one from them from scratch.

The irony is that this atomized approach is exactly what's allowed Omacom, and Omarchy in particular, to put it all together in a delightfully integrated way! And what's allowing you to make tiny substitutions on the parts where you have a strong opinion without having to give up on the rest of the omakase menu.

Besides, the wonderful thing about Linux is that there's always another option. If you don't like my opinions, my omakase menus, you'll find a hundred other chef's catering to your liking. Isn't that great?