Retiring Script Debugger | Late Night Software
I ran into this post the other day about Script Debugger getting retired.
I just bought the app about 2-3 years ago, but in the short amount of time it became such an important part of my workflow.
I learned AppleScript with the help of the awesome live inspection feature of Script Debugger. Since then, I used this app to build a lot of scripts that I use in my everyday job.
I don’t know the state of AppleScript inside Apple, but the difference between Script Debugger and Script Editor is night and day. Script Editor should be part of the system.
This is why I feel sad that another great Mac app is getting retired. Especially one which has such a long history.
I’m not sure how the app could be saved. Someone could buy it. Open sourcing is not going to work, since there are some licensing issues.
But it makes me wonder why we have Emacs and Vim still around alive and well.
The problem with Script Debugger is that any macOS update could break it in the future. It’s not like 1Password 7 which I still keep around, because I’m not going to migrate to their stupid Electron app.
Script Debugger is a complex beast, so any new Windows Vista “security” dialog could kill it in an upcoming version. And boy, Apple really into “Cancel or Allow” lately.
So the proper way to keep it around would be some company buying and maintaining it, or open-sourcing it.
Or maybe we have a couple of people in the Macscripter.net community who can take care of it.
I don’t know yet, but I’ll be pretty sad the day when Script Debugger stops working.