Fair question. The scene-referred design is modelled on darktable’s, and darktable deserves the credit for it. My very first prototype ported some of darktable’s algorithms, and I replaced that with an independent implementation before releasing. Both projects are GPL-3.0, and the README now credits darktable directly.
I built Rembrandt because darktable’s learning curve kept me from using it, not because it’s worse; it has far more control. The goal here is approachability: fewer, broader controls, on-device AI for masks and denoise, and Lightroom catalog import.
Stack: the engine is JavaScript with WebGL/WebGPU shaders, in a small Rust (Tauri) desktop shell. LibRaw (C++) decodes RAW files.
Edit: corrected my earlier reply. I wrongly said it was written in C++, and I overstated the darktable answer.
The only surprising thing in your comment is that the day's latest vibe coded app actually got upvoted.
I mean really, you had to ask Claude whether the workflow was Darktable-inspired. The people in this thread who read Claude's README probably know more about how "your" software works than you do.
Hate more.
I think it's great that the era of bespoke software is here. I have always had a political stance against intellectual property and I think AI will cause an explosion in self directed learning.
I think it's asinine that HN of all places upvotes every vibe coded bespoke app and with a straight face compares it to decades old projects whether open or closed source.
I could have my own version of this app for the effort I've put into writing comments about it.
I too hate how intellectual property has been abused by capital to exploit labor. However, what I hate more then intellectual property is straight up theft of labor. Vibecoders are doing the latter.