About Lince
Lince is more than software — it's a philosophy of personal data ownership, transparent development, and community-driven innovation. Here's everything you need to know.
Our Mission
We believe personal productivity tools should be owned by users, not corporations. Lince exists to provide a powerful, flexible, and completely free alternative to proprietary task managers, habit trackers, and automation tools. We're committed to: never charging for core features, never selling user data (we don't collect any), keeping development open and transparent, empowering users with full control over their digital lives. This isn't a business — it's a community project. We're funded by donations and volunteer contributions, not investors seeking returns.
The DNA Registry
When you first launch Lince, it creates a personal database stored locally on your system. On UNIX systems (Linux, macOS), it's located at ~/.config/lince/lince.db. This SQLite database is your 'DNA' — a flexible data structure that can be shaped to represent virtually anything. Tasks, habits, inventories, projects, economic transactions, automation rules — your DNA adapts to your use case. The beauty of SQLite is portability: your entire personal system is a single file you can backup, sync, copy, or share. No cloud lock-in, no account required. Your data travels with you.
The Needs & Contributions Model
Every behavior in Lince reduces to a simple concept: Quantity. Negative values represent Needs — things you must acquire or accomplish. Positive values represent Contributions — things you have or have completed. Need 2 apples? That's -2 Apples in your DNA. Ate one? Increment by 1 to -1 Apples. This elegantly simple model unifies: Task management (Need = -1 'Complete report'), Habit tracking (Daily reset to -1 'Exercise'), Inventory management (Need = -3 'Milk gallons'), Resource tracking (Contribution = +500 'Budget dollars'). Everything is a number. Simple, but incredibly powerful.
Automation & Triggers
If there's predictability in your life, Lince can automate it. Fixed Frequencies automatically adjust quantities on a schedule — reset your 'Study Spanish' habit to -1 every morning, decrement 'Days until deadline' every 24 hours. State Triggers execute system commands when conditions are met — when 'Focus Mode' equals -1, run a script to block distracting websites; when 'Backup Needed' reaches -7, trigger your backup routine. The automation layer connects your personal data to your computer's capabilities. Combined with shell scripts, this becomes incredibly powerful: notifications, application control, system maintenance, custom workflows. The limit is your imagination.
Shareable DNA Patterns
Great organizational systems often die with their creators. Knowledge gets lost, workflows forgotten. Lince solves this with shareable DNA patterns — pre-built database templates for common activities. Import a morning routine DNA to kickstart your day. Load a project management template with task dependencies. Get a home inventory system with common items pre-configured. Share your custom productivity DNA with the community. Patterns let you start from proven systems rather than building from scratch. As the community grows, so does the library of shared patterns.
Economic Transactions
The Needs/Contributions model naturally extends to economics. Trade is simply the transfer of quantities between parties. Model purchases, sales, debts, and credits. Track inventory across multiple locations. Manage shared resources in households or organizations. Handle multi-party transactions with clear accountability. Lince isn't accounting software, but it can model economic relationships when you need it.
Technical Foundation
Lince is built with Rust, chosen for performance, reliability, and memory safety. The compile-time guarantees prevent entire classes of bugs common in other languages. Data lives in SQLite, the most deployed database in the world. Battle-tested, lightweight, and completely self-contained — no database server required. The architecture is intentionally simple: a local binary, a local database, local processing. No microservices, no containers, no cloud dependencies. Install and run. Works offline forever. The codebase is thoroughly documented and welcoming to contributors. Whether you're fixing bugs, adding features, or learning Rust, there's a place for you.
Our Philosophy
Software should serve users, not exploit them. Productivity tools shouldn't require subscriptions, shouldn't harvest data, shouldn't lock you into ecosystems. We build Lince because we want to use it ourselves. Every feature exists because a real person needed it. Every design decision prioritizes user freedom. This is software by people, for people. Join us in building something different. Something that respects you. Something that's truly yours.